Young Charlotters – Becca von Trapp
Full Belly Farm is a very important place to Becca Von Trapp. She has been farming there for the past seven years. Full Belly is a 400-acre, certified organic farm in the Capay Valley in Northern California (not to be confused with a farm with the same name in Hinesburg) that has produced organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and a variety of meats for over 30 years. Becca was an intern on the farm for two years, and she has been the co-manager of the animal husbandry program for the past five years. In this program, she works with cows, sheep, chickens and pigs, using them in the crop rotation as recyclers and fertilizers. She also harvests eggs to sell at farmers markets and to their CSA members.
In the CSA (community supported agriculture) model, members pay in advance for a weekly box of vegetables. The vegetables are picked and packed on the farm, and the boxes are delivered to a site located near the membership. It is an affordable and more convenient way for members to eat good food from Full Belly Farm. Becca says, “Aside from the convenience of not having to personally shop for veggies every week, people feel a much stronger connection to the farm through their membership. It’s nice to know exactly where your food comes from!”
Becca was inspired to farm after graduating from Colorado College and living in San Francisco for a year. Growing up in the Charlotte community made living in a city difficult for her. So in the summer of 2010, she left San Francisco and moved to Waltham to help her stepmother tend to her vegetable garden. She loved it and came to understand that farming was a good match for her. During that time she learned about Full Belly Farm from a close friend who was interning there, applied and was eventually accepted to the program.
Becca met her husband, Rye, at Full Belly. He is the son of two of the farm founders, and he had returned from college to work on the farm about six months before Becca’s first time visiting there. They are now married, have a two-year old-son, Waylon, and are expecting a second child.
Farming is a very demanding area of work, but Becca finds it rewarding. She feels that organic farming is a noble profession, and she loves that she is able to grow high-quality foods for her community. According to Becca, “None of us can do any of what we do without food, and I believe we perform at our absolute best when fueling our bodies with organic food that grows in healthy soil or freely grazes on fertile, green pastures.”