Life is Better on the Farm
CREEK IS AN EXAMPLE OF COLLABORATION, PERSISTENCE IN TACKLING ABANDONED MINE DRAINAGE ISSUES
KEEPING THE SUSTAINABLE FARMING TRADITION ALIVE
by Linda Sones
Forks Farm Market is one of the best-known markets in our area. Although hundreds of people enjoy it throughout the year, most have no idea how it all came to be, why it recently sold, or what its future holds. So, let’s take a walk into life on Forks Farm. In the 1980s, John Hopkins and his wife Emily (better known as “Todd”) were interns on a cattle ranch in Colorado, doing whatever jobs needed to be done. Life was good, but they decided they wanted to be closer to their Pennsylvania family. So, in 1986, they purchased 86 acres in rural Columbia County near the village of Forks. They started raising beef, but the land was overused and needed rehabilitation. Soon, they joined a grass-roots organization and attended several sustainable agriculture conferences, which drove their change to grass-fed, organic farming, in turn healing their land. They believe that grass farming allows them to place their animals in their natural environment, eat food that they were born to eat, and be stress-free. This all leads to their meat being the very best nature would allow it to be.
Emily “Todd” and John Hopkins on their new farm.
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