Assembling A Team

What happens at Polyface during the winter?  

Perhaps the single biggest activity is selecting our stewardship team for the next year.  

We normally do this the first couple of weeks in December, but this year, due to several scheduling conflicts, we picked the first two weeks of January.

When you visit Polyface, you will immediately be struck by the attitude and work ethic of our farm crew.  Nearly all these team members started as stewards.  Other outfits might call them interns, but we prefer stewards because it better connotes our vision.

The mission statement is simple:  "Come for a summer and find out if you have what it takes to be a successful farmer."  

From May 1 to September 30 (5 months), 10-11 stewards immerse themselves into our farm work, fellowship, and education.  Nearly every farm visitor, upon seeing the stewards, asks, "Where do you find these kinds of people?"

As most folks know, farming as a vocation is gravely underappreciated in modern American society.  And most farmers, after complaining about the weather, quickly move to complaining about "can't get no help."

Here at Polyface, we believe plenty of young people would enter agriculture as a vocation if they believed they could make a decent living.  

Fortunately, you, our patron base, believe with us that respectfully-paid farmers might make more respectful food.  Thank you for connecting those dots.

Today, as of this blog's posting, we're completely immersed in the first week of what we call our "two-day checkouts."  The process started Aug. 1-10 when we opened a special email on our website to accept queries.  At the end of that window, all queries receive a 10-question application.  This year, we received about 135 applications for the 11 positions.

Our leadership team reviews all the applications and selects about 45 to invite for the two-day "checkout".  

Over two weeks, these 45 applicants will rotate through the farm for two days apiece to sleep, work, and eat here.  Obviously they're checking us out to see if we have two heads, and we're checking them out to see if they fit the Polyface culture and community.

The number of aspirants varies from 4 or 5 at a time to 10 or 12 at peak.  

Preparing for this influx of eager beavers involves selecting work projects, accommodations, meals, and airport runs.  We'll run to the Charlottesville airport, 50 miles away, 25 times in 12 days to pick up folks and take them back.  Of course, some of them drive, so don't need airport delivery.  

Two of our team members will fix the meals; during this time, we change our schedule to a brunch and dinner--two meals a day.  That way, we can work early in the morning, take a leisurely brunch, then go back at it in the afternoon until dinner. We have snack options if the two-meal plan is inadequate.

It's a bit like being descended on by an army--a friendly army.  Everyone is excited to be here and jumps into tasks enthusiastically.  When selecting projects, we have several things to think about:  inside or outside (what can be done if it rains?), time for completion, and the number of people allocated.  

As you can imagine, most of the projects we pick for this time period are not sophisticated; many would call it grunt work.

But few things bring out someone's attitude as quickly as good old drudgery grunt work. Sweating alongside someone for a day reveals quickly what they're made of and if you'd like to spend the summer with them.  

At the same time, they're looking over the leaders, asking themselves, "Is this where I want to spend my summer?  Can I learn what I want to here?  Are these people jerks or pretty good eggs?"

All of us have things going through our minds, but I think one of the most misunderstood aspects of Polyface is the investment we make to choose fantastic team members.  This two-week period is by far our most hectic and risky (physical safety, logistics, hospitality) period of time, but it's the platform that launches the upcoming season.

After we go through the check-out period, our leadership team convenes to make the final picks.  We've honed and streamlined the process to keep it from being arduous or contentious.  For the leadership team, it's one of the most exciting moments of the year - to see who God has steered our direction and what kind of options we'll have for the season.

Amazingly, applicants come from all ages, all places, all backgrounds.  They have to be 18 on May 1 as a minimum, but we have no maximum.  The oldest one we've ever taken was 62.  Launching young farmers is now a cultural imperative since the average farmer is now 60 years old.  We need somebody besides Monsanto and Bill Gates to raise our food.

Some of these stewards do indeed go on to build their own farm careers.  Others find success in various vocations, but most of them fondly remember the sacred and noble work on the farm.  And others join our team, even permanently.  

Perhaps the single most consistent affirmation comes toward the end of the season when they realize they've never felt healthier and more vibrant.  Tanned, toned, and radiant, Polyface stewards are one of the most attractive aspects of the farm.  They're almost as handsome and beautiful as the cows . . . almost.

Thank you for your patronage that makes them feel special about their endeavors.  Getting to interact with you closes their loop of production to plate.  Come see us when you can and meet our next stewardship team.

Joel