Save Vermont Farmland Forever
Help Build Peaceful Warrior Farm
Across Vermont and throughout our country, productive farmland faces increasing pressure from development, speculation, and large-scale commercial projects including data centers that are destroying large portions of our environment, while stripping communities of their vital natural resources.
Once our farmland is lost, it is rarely recovered.
We have an opportunity to save a piece of productive Vermont farmland so that it will be conserved for generations. By helping us protect land and begin building a sustainable farm, you are investing in a mission that puts people over profit, ensuring that fertile farmland remains available and affordable to the farmers of our future. We hope you will join us in saving this land and delicate ecosystem from development.
Together we can begin building a better world, one piece of farmland at a time.
The Meaning Behind Peaceful Warrior Farm
The name Peaceful Warrior Farm reflects a part of my own journey, and is meant to honor the determination, resilience, and care that farmers practice every day.
A warrior is often imagined as someone who fights. But over the years, I have come to believe that some of the most important battles are waged through patience, respect, and perseverance.
After being discharged from the military for being gay, I found myself struggling with depression, feeling completely alone, and searching for purpose, belonging, and a place where I could rebuild my life.
I found that place on a farm and in the fields, and it saved my life.
Through farming, I discovered that healing happens much like a garden grows—slowly, season by season. Over many years, the land has taught me resilience. It taught me humility. It taught me the value of showing up every day to care for something larger than yourself. I believe that is something worth saving.
For more than 20 years, I have dedicated my life to organic farming, helping grow food for my community while serving as a steward of the land. For me and many of the farmers I know, this is not simply a job; it is a calling, a vocation rooted in deep respect for the land, the environment, and the communities we serve.
That respect is shared by my husband James Crews. As a writer, he believes in this mission of service to nature, and growing hope through a deeper connection to the Earth.
Growing food, protecting farmland, preserving wildlife habitat, caring for the land, and serving community are all acts of quiet determination.
They are the work of a peaceful warrior.
The Vision
Peaceful Warrior Farm is raising funds to acquire and permanently preserve productive Vermont farmland, while also building the initial infrastructure needed to begin growing food.
We envision a farm where fresh fruits and vegetables are grown using organic and regenerative practices, wildlife habitat is enhanced, pollinators are protected, and future generations can experience a meaningful connection to the land.
We see a farm that not only feeds our community with nutritious produce, but also shares a portion of its harvest with local food pantries and other organizations, helping increase access to healthy food for all of our neighbors.
The farm will also serve as a gathering place where people from across Vermont and beyond can come together, learn, volunteer, and reconnect with the land through educational programs, workshops, retreats, and shared experiences.
Our goal is to work with Vermont Land Trust and other conservation organizations, with the purpose of permanently conserving the farmland. This will ensure that the land remains accessible to generations of future farmers.
Peaceful Warrior Farm holds an intention that goes beyond the farm itself. This project is about protecting farmland forever, strengthening community, creating a lasting model of sustainable agriculture, and providing land for other farmers to learn, grow, and begin their own farming journeys.
The Future of Farming Begins With What We Choose to Protect Today
Due to pressures from development, large scale commercial projects, and especially data centers, rapidly increasing land values are making it extremely difficult for working farmers like me to secure permanent access to affordable farmland. For many—especially those without substantial financial resources, or generational wealth—the dream of owning and caring for a piece of farmland is increasingly out of reach.
In my 20 years of farming, I have witnessed and lived these experiences firsthand. In Vermont and across our country, the loss of affordable land and the many financial barriers facing working farmers represent one of the most urgent challenges confronting agriculture, our environment, and our food security today.
I feel this is an inflection point for our nation, and for future generations. Do we want our landscapes developed by massive distribution and data centers, using up vital natural resources, damaging our environment, and taking over productive farmland? Or do we come together for a common cause and begin creating something lasting that will continue serving people, the land, wildlife, and our communities for generations to come?
Creating a Lasting Legacy
We believe farmland is more than a resource for today—it is a legacy for tomorrow.
The decisions we make in this moment will shape the world we leave behind. I like to think of it this way: we are all the farmers of our future. Each one of us has the ability to help plant the seeds of change that, with proper care, can grow into the legacy we leave behind.
This project is about more than protecting land. It is about protecting opportunity.
- Opportunity for the next generation of farmers.
- Opportunity for local food production and education.
- Opportunity for conservation, and community.
- Opportunity for others to experience the same sense of connection, purpose, and belonging that farming has given to me.
Why Your Support Matters
The vision for Peaceful Warrior Farm begins with securing the land itself. If we are unable to do so, a vital piece of Vermont farmland will stay unprotected from development.
Your support will help us:
- Secure and save productive farmland before it is lost to development or other non-agricultural uses
- Advance future conservation efforts that help ensure the land remains in agriculture
- Establish a sustainable farm rooted in organic, and regenerative practices, with strong community values
- Support wildlife habitat, pollinators, and our ecosystem
- Improve access to healthy locally grown fruits and vegetables while strengthening local food systems
- Provide land for other farmers to learn, grow, and begin their own farming journeys
- Ensure farmland affordability for future generations
While this campaign will not fully fund the project, it will provide an essential foundation and move us meaningfully closer to achieving our goals.
Whether large or small, every contribution helps move Peaceful Warrior Farm one step closer to reality. Thank you for helping to build this farm, and protect farmland forever.
To learn more about Peaceful Warrior Farm and our vision, please visit our website.
To find out more about James and his work as a writer and teacher, please visit his website.
If you would like to send a donation or words of encouragement by mail, we would love to hear from you!
Peaceful Warrior Farm
PO Box 147
Shaftsbury, VT 05262