ASLF Enters Year Three
As the dust settles after our 2023 benefit and as we launch into our third year, I am pondering the questions of who we are and what the principles are that guide our decisions each day. I believe part of the answer lies in something Patrick once told me about Anne…Anne always said yes! She always said yes to giving her time and resources to customers and chefs wanting to learn more about domestic cheese, and also to aspiring cheesemongers who time and time again sought her out for advice.* Anne was constantly connecting people to each other, infusing her magical energy into everything she touched.
On Wednesday September 13th at Chelsea Market for our 2nd Benefit, this magic was in full force as 100 plus chefs and mixologists as well as volunteers, trade schools, apprentices, farmers, friends and many more gave their time to honor Anne – they all said YES without hesitation and made possible an evening for the ages, where 3000 guests feasted on so many freshly made creative dishes and beautifully conceived crafted cocktails! The generosity and spirit that surrounded us that night was not to be believed! Everywhere you turned there was a familiar beaming face in a packed vastly diverse crowd filled with love.
As we enter year 3, how do we take these treasured seeds and use them to grow? As we have learned from our ASLF host farmers — some of the most important teachers in the world — we just keep working to keep it all going. This coming summer our goal is to send 100 apprentices to 60 farms in 20 states.
It costs an average of $6,000 to send an apprentice to a fully paid farm stay. A significant chunk of this figure is travel related costs for it is ASLF's desire to transport our apprentices to new worlds whenever possible, even though we could place many apprentices locally to where they live — Anne always believed a dramatic culture change brought out the best in her and taught her the most.
This means we need to raise $600,000 by next June! We need your help! And the help of all the people in your network! Please don’t forget us this end of year!
We look forward to sharing storytelling projects from the farms soon. And updates on work with our alumni to advance good causes related to sustainable agriculture.
Susie