Village cooperative taps into health trends
Author(s): William R. Wood bwood@kalamazoogazette.com
Date: May 15, 2006 Kalamazoo Gazette
Twelve children and a few adults entered the dim, cluttered farm kitchen, not knowing they were about to partake of a culinary surprise.
Plates dotted with bits of cheese and small chunks of hot dogs and salami sat on a table. Paper cups filled with milk were lined up on the table beside the plates.
The cheese was made from the milk of cows and goats on the farm, Lake Village Homestead Cooperative of Pavilion Township. The hot dogs and salami were made from cattle slaughtered there. The milk had come from a goat in a nearby barn earlier in the day, had been put through a filter and then cooled.
This was artisan fare, made without chemicals or hormones.
The milk was the big hit. The adults present to look after the children were as pleasantly surprised by the milk as the kids.
"This is good!" said adult Addie Warren, pulling a cup of goat's milk from her lips after taking a sip.
"I was afraid to taste it at first, but it really is good," she said to several other adults in the group, who had been focused on serving the children. "Try it, and you'll never want regular milk again."
Visits like the one by this group from Kalamazoo's Learning Village, 215 Lake St., are becoming more common at Lake Village, 7943 S. 25th St., as Lake Village reaches out to the community to let the public know about its services.
For a membership fee of $200, families can come to the farm and spend time with the animals there -- horses, cows, goats, chickens, pigs, ducks, turkeys, cats, dogs and peacocks. On prearranged visits, those who are not members can buy food that the farm produces, including steaks, chops, chickens, soup bones, ground beef and sausage as well as eggs, wildflower honey, maple syrup, vegetables and popcorn.
Lake Village, eight miles southeast of downtown Kalamazoo, is a working farm and educational center for all ages that offers the opportunity to experience all aspects of farming, including building construction, livestock management, gardening, hunting and fishing.
"This is a real farm, not no show stuff," said Nate Butler, another adult with the Learning Village group, as he took pictures with a cell phone of his son Cameron and other children who rode ponies, played with newborn chicks and milked a goat.
"This is the furthest thing from a factory farm you'll ever see," said Roger Ulrich, president of the Behavior Development Corp., a nonprofit group that serves as an umbrella organization for Lake Village.
Back in the 1970s, a commune that emerged on this 300-acre section of forest, meadow, wetlands and farmland was not a popular subject in Kalamazoo. The people who lived and worked there were called "hippies."
But both the people on the land and those who once had negative views of them have changed with the times.
The 60 people who help out at Lake Village Homestead, some of whom established the People's Food Co-op in downtown Kalamazoo, are now part of "the establishment." Some are parents who worry about the influence pop culture will have on their kids.
About 45 people connected with the farm who live in houses that ring the property include doctors and educators, roofers and concrete workers. Another 15 people live on the farm .
"This is kind of like coming out of the closet for us," said Ulrich, as he walked down a dirt path on the farm, explaining Lake Village history.
Lake Village is just now spreading the word about its services because many people here, like others across the nation, have grown receptive to the things Lake Village people have recognized for years -- the benefits and importance of organic foods, milk free of hormones, locally produced foods and the exposure of children to farm life.
Some of the foods at Lake Village are what some would consider expensive. On the day of the class visit, items in a Lake Village freezer included a whole, five-pound, free-range chicken for $22, a pound of ground beef for $6, two pounds of beef soup bones for $6 and a pound of homemade hot dogs for $8.
Yet the hot dogs alone, slender and long, with a thick texture similar to that of salami, impressed those who came to the farm from the Learning Village. Both adults and children enjoyed the flavor of the hot dogs, which were eaten without having been warmed through.
Lake Farm supporters don't mind the higher prices of the farm's foods because the foods reflect their views of how humans should treat animals and land and how people can live healthy lives, Ulrich said.
It may be trendy now to talk about healthy eating and being conscious about the environment, but that doesn't mean people follow through with actions, Ulrich said.
"There's a dysfunctional gap between our thinking, writing and actual behavior," he said.
He's proud that those associated with Lake Village Homestead not only talk the talk, but walk the walk.
Lake Village Homestead Cooperative
Where: 7943 S. 25th St., Kalamazoo, about eight miles southeast of downtown Kalamazoo.
Services: Members can participate in activities on the farm such as managing livestock, gardening, hunting and fishing. Foods grown or made from animals on the farm is sold to members and the general public.
Cost: Memberships cost $100 for individuals and $200 for families. Members get a 20 percent discount on food purchases. Nonmembers who wish to purchase food can get share certificates that allow them to purchase $100 worth of food for $90.
How to visit: People interested in memberships and share certificates are asked to make an appointment for an introductory visit by calling (269) 323-3629 or by e-mailing Lake Village at info@lakevillagehomestead.org.
