culture EVA SOLLBERGER
Kid Loves Dropping off Christmas trees at Pine Island Community Farm in Colchester
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or about eight years now, the annual Christmas tree drop-off at Pine Island Community Farm in Colchester has been a favorite tradition for families. Vermonters bring as many as 800 trees to the farm to be eaten by hungry, photogenic goats. The 230-acre parcel of land is owned by the Vermont Land Trust and farmed by new Americans, people who came to the state as refugees, many with farming roots. Started in 2013 and originally called the Vermont Goat Collaborative, Pine Island began because the new American community had difficulty finding fresh goat meat locally. Chuda Dhaurali, who is Bhutanese, has been with the farm since its founding and lives there with his family. He has increased his herd of goats from fewer than 100 to 440. Families purchase goats — which cost between $450 and $500 each — for graduation, wedding and funeral celebrations. Sometimes they butcher the animals themselves. There is a state-sanctioned slaughter facility on-site at Pine Island. Volunteers from Burlington’s City Market, Onion River Co-op memberworker program help out at the farm year-round, and they were on hand on January 7 to facilitate the Christmas tree drop-off, manage an endless line of cars, and help families feed and take selfies with the goats. Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger was there to capture the action.
Episode 681: Christmas Trees for Goats
SEVEN DAYS: Happy New Year! How were your holidays? EVA SOLLBERGER: Meh, not great. I caught COVID -19 for Christmas and passed it on to my family: Merry Christmas! Then my mom broke her ankle, and it officially became the worst holiday on record. The silver lining was our friends and neighbors who kept us going and brought us groceries and chicken soup. And we all feel better now. SD: Yikes, sorry to hear that. Bet you were ready to give your Christmas tree to the goats, too! How did you pick this video subject? ES: I saw this event mentioned on Facebook and have always wanted to learn more about Pine Island Community Farm. I’d love to go back in the summer to see the community gardens, which have 60 to 80 garden plots that support just as many families. I’d also like to see the goats grazing in the verdant pastures. I’m grateful to photographers Caleb Kenna and James Buck, who allowed me to use their photos of summer life on the farm in this video. It helped give a fuller picture of what happens on the farm year-round. I also used a photo from 2013, when the farm was founded, by late Seven Days staff photographer Matthew Thorsen, who passed away in 2019.
PINE ISLAND ROAD WAS LIKE ENTERING ANOTHER WORLD, WITH FARMLAND STRETCHING OUT FOR MILES.
SD: So, did you know the purpose of the goats? ES: Yes, I read our former coverage about Pine Island and knew the goats were being raised for meat. Although many people around the world eat goat, it is less common in the States. That was a huge issue for local new Americans; they had to travel to Massachusetts to purchase a fresh goat. Chuda also told me that sometimes they would drive to Boston, find out the supply was exhausted and return home empty-handed. Burlington resident Karen Freudenberger recognized this issue before founding Pine Island Community Farm and helping Chuda start his goat operation. The pair talked to goat dairy farmers and discovered that the male animals were
a drain on their resources. Raising them for goat meat was a practical solution that solved two problems at once: finding a use for young male goats, aka bucklings, and providing new Americans with fresh, locally raised meat. Karen passed away in 2016, but the farm is carrying on her mission. Chuda says customers are very excited to pick out the goat they want and to slaughter it on-site. Again, this is something most Americans don’t have a lot of familiarity with, as many of us are disconnected from our food systems. I have never butchered an animal and eaten it. Not sure I would have the guts to do it, either. But I have a great deal of respect for other cultures where this is more common. It connects families to the local food systems and makes you aware of where your food comes from. That connection is also something Chuda mentions at the end of the video. He wants the younger generations to be educated about it, as well. SD: Any regrets from this video? ES: I was hoping to film Chuda doing some of his daily chores with the goats. I got there early on Saturday, but the timing didn’t work out. If I’d had the stamina, I would have gone back on another occasion to film him working with the animals. I have never eaten goat meat, and I’d like to try some. Chuda plans to sell smaller cuts of meat in the future, so that might be an opportunity for people who can’t consume an entire goat. This video was filmed with my iPhone, and there are a few GoPro shots, as well. I was using a body mic for my interviews with Chuda and Abby White of the Vermont Land Trust, but I used the iPhone audio for the other interviews, which was a big mistake. You can hear a lot of wind and interference. With every shoot, I learn new lessons. Never again will I rely on my camera’s shoddy audio. SD: What else did you learn? ES: I live in Burlington and have visited the Intervale Center many times over the years. I did not realize there was so much farmland on the east side of the Winooski River. Once I turned left onto Pine Island Road, it was like entering another world, with farmland stretching out for miles on either side of the road. Colchester resident Ben YouseyHindes said it was awesome to have part of the diversified agriculture economy so close to Burlington. I could not agree more. ➆
Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger has been making her award-winning video series, “Stuck in Vermont,” since 2007. New episodes appear on the Seven Days website every other Thursday and air the following night on the WCAX evening news. Sign up at sevendaysvt.com to receive an email alert each time a new one drops. And check these pages every other week for insights on the episodes.
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SEVEN DAYS JANUARY 18-25, 2023