Start American Bamboo Farm Network
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The world needs bamboo. America <really> needs bamboo. It builds our soil, purifies our water, sequesters carbon, supplies oxygen, furnishes sustainable products like flooring and renewable paper, and even nourishes our bodies with healing tea and edible shoots.
I've dedicated the last 5 years of my life to help establish the American bamboo economy. I've spent untold hours educating, equipping and encouraging key stakeholders to get involved: everyone from farmers to landowners, investors, municipalities, homeowners, manufacturers, organizations, and of course customers.
More than a few people are interested in farming bamboo. We've done the proof of concept to know that it works, and the numbers back it up. This isn't just another pipe dream. This can happen.
However, it hasn't. Why? Because there hasn’t been a bamboo farm to point to and say: "See? This is how you do it." A model farm that brings all the pieces together and demonstrates the true value. A farm like this doesn't exist in America. Not yet, anyway.
The good news: we're in the right place to make this happen. Central North Carolina would be the ideal location to install a flagship bamboo farm. Sitting within the "bamboo belt" (which runs from Raleigh, NC to Jackson, MS and roughly 100 miles on all sides), it is easily accessible from numerous major metropolitan areas. We also have access to state university help, progressive local markets in the Triad and Triangle, and are the closest to the coveted Northeast metro mega-markets for edible shoots.
Some of the "big boys" like Kimberly Clark have started making moves in the domestic bamboo arena. I, for one, am not interested in letting them have all the fun, make all the money, and get all the credit for the real work done by decades of activists, workers, and dedicated enthusiasts. We can't let the corporate giants plantation-ize the revolution.
The South has had its fill of plantations, thank you. The solution is real farms: a network of permaculture-based, bamboo-centered, privately and cooperatively owned farms throughout the region. With a united vision, this network will collectively market and deliver local and domestic bamboo products including timber, edible shoots, biochar, and other fiber-based products and materials. As with any farm, there will also be a multitude of other functions such as livestock, food forests, market gardens, timber tracts, commodity crops, etc. We just need to start with one farm.
Farm One will be the primary resource to train the first generation of American bamboo farmers, to serve as a source of planting stock for other farmers, and to firmly establish bamboo in the American timber and agricultural landscape.
Bamboo has an American legacy going back thousands of years, (yes we also plan to grow our native bamboos). Many believe America has lost the values of our agrarian roots. I say, this is our finest hour.
I've dedicated the last 5 years of my life to help establish the American bamboo economy. I've spent untold hours educating, equipping and encouraging key stakeholders to get involved: everyone from farmers to landowners, investors, municipalities, homeowners, manufacturers, organizations, and of course customers.
More than a few people are interested in farming bamboo. We've done the proof of concept to know that it works, and the numbers back it up. This isn't just another pipe dream. This can happen.
However, it hasn't. Why? Because there hasn’t been a bamboo farm to point to and say: "See? This is how you do it." A model farm that brings all the pieces together and demonstrates the true value. A farm like this doesn't exist in America. Not yet, anyway.
The good news: we're in the right place to make this happen. Central North Carolina would be the ideal location to install a flagship bamboo farm. Sitting within the "bamboo belt" (which runs from Raleigh, NC to Jackson, MS and roughly 100 miles on all sides), it is easily accessible from numerous major metropolitan areas. We also have access to state university help, progressive local markets in the Triad and Triangle, and are the closest to the coveted Northeast metro mega-markets for edible shoots.
Some of the "big boys" like Kimberly Clark have started making moves in the domestic bamboo arena. I, for one, am not interested in letting them have all the fun, make all the money, and get all the credit for the real work done by decades of activists, workers, and dedicated enthusiasts. We can't let the corporate giants plantation-ize the revolution.
The South has had its fill of plantations, thank you. The solution is real farms: a network of permaculture-based, bamboo-centered, privately and cooperatively owned farms throughout the region. With a united vision, this network will collectively market and deliver local and domestic bamboo products including timber, edible shoots, biochar, and other fiber-based products and materials. As with any farm, there will also be a multitude of other functions such as livestock, food forests, market gardens, timber tracts, commodity crops, etc. We just need to start with one farm.
Farm One will be the primary resource to train the first generation of American bamboo farmers, to serve as a source of planting stock for other farmers, and to firmly establish bamboo in the American timber and agricultural landscape.
Bamboo has an American legacy going back thousands of years, (yes we also plan to grow our native bamboos). Many believe America has lost the values of our agrarian roots. I say, this is our finest hour.
Organizer
David Benfield
Organizer
Saxapahaw, NC
