Farmhouse Café at the 2007 National Training Workshop

On the first morning of our 2007 National Training Workshop in Sacramento California we held a two-hour Farmhouse Café discussion intended to get all workshop attendees talking to each other about issues that matter to them as AgrAbility professionals, farmers, and stakeholders.

The discussion format was based on the World Café methodology developed by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs in 1955 and is based on the following hypotheses:

• Compelling questions encourage collective learning.
• Collectively, we have access to all the wisdom and resources we need.  

To learn more about the World Café method click here: http://www.theworldcafe.com/

Our Farmhouse Café discussion opened with a series of questions designed to encourage people to share their experiences of AgrAbility. After each question, participants were asked to switch tables and engage with as many different individuals as possible. Attendees were asked to record their thoughts and discussions in words or pictures on paper place mats.

The three questions were:

1. Why is AgrAbility important to you?

1B. Think of a time when you felt excited, energized and proud to be part of the AgrAbility Program. As you reflect on this experience, you realize it was a time you were certain that your approach had made a difference.

2. This morning we’ve talked a lot about our successes both as individuals and as groups over the course of AgrAbility’s 17 years of existence. Given what you’ve heard so far:

1. What do you think was the core factor that made these experiences successful?
2. If you had three wishes for ensuring more of these experiences, what would they be?

3. What is the one seed from our time together that we should plant, cultivate and grow that would make a difference in the future of our AgrAbility Program?

Overall, participants enjoyed the farmhouse café and found it to be an innovative way to meet others, share information and discuss new ideas.

A few comments from the Farmhouse Café session evaluations are shown here:

“This was a great way to meet and mingle with people from different states and agencies. It is amazing what a table full of individuals can come up with in solving problems and sharing experiences.”

“I thought the farmhouse cafe was an excellent idea. It got people involved in a positive way, and gave a great opportunity to meet a lot of people whom you might not have otherwise taken the time to talk to personally.”

“Well, I generally don't like this kind of thing, but I believe it produced some interesting discussions, and did help us all to understand that there are many different viewpoint and ideas in our group....”

“I felt the relaxed atmosphere made the discussions more open and honest.”    

After examining participants’ responses to each question, several themes emerged.  Overwhelmingly, people felt that AgrAbility was important to them because it allowed them to give and receive help and feel hope. Core factors that participants felt had made their successes possible were trust and understanding; cooperation, collaboration, and teamwork; and perseverance and commitment. Finally, participants’ greatest wish to ensure AgrAbility’s success was to have more money.

The final question was intended to get people to reflect on their discussions and pick a single seed that would help us grow as a program. This discussion led to the idea that AgrAbility needs “more bushel per acre”. In the context of the Farmhouse Café discussion, “more bushels per acre” is a metaphor for our common goal for AgrAbility. Working smarter, more synergistically, and with a broader knowledge base allows us to achieve more with less. During a discussion involving the entire group at the end of the café, we identified the seeds we can harvest now that will allow us to produce more bushels per acre in the future. Below is a summary of this discussion, and some of the “seeds” that came out of it.

1. Who will we work with?

• Stay in touch with what USDA CSREES wants, and what our clients need
• Build and maintain relationships with partners.
• Social Security Disability, Medicaid, other government service providers
• Need for ADA educated Extension professionals & AgrAbility info in every Extension office
• Need for mortgage deferment program for agriculture
• Work hand in hand with farmers and their peers
• Vocational Rehabilitation programs.
• Independent Living Centers
• Sources of funding for assistive technology and equipment
• Communities and the public

2. How will we work?

• Increase effective collaboration in true partnerships
• Promote open mindedness, teamwork, & trust
• Work together to increase communication between ALL
• A positive attitude helps us work together as resources for one another
• Using our empathy and compassion
• Communication vs. Competition for money
• Doing things smarter, safer and more sustainably
• Building relationships at all levels to create an environment of understanding
• Gleaning insight from all environments
• Cooperation not conflict

3. What tools will we use?

• Sustainability-building supportive infrastructures through utilization of national/state resources
• Increased funding/Money
• Public education about agricultural processes and how producers with disabilities contribute
• Quality of life definition
• Marketing/Public Awareness and outreach strategies
• Seamless collaboration - breakdown barriers
• Build on project strengths while maintaining focus on client
• Awareness building
• Qualitative and quantitative data collection
• Training for VR staff to increase awareness of farmer needs.