Peaceful Belly is a 60-acre family-owned organic farm in a primarily residential area of Boise, ID. It supplies produce to farmers’ market and 160 families enrolled in the community supported agriculture (CSA) program, which is priced at around 50% less than the average prices of organic food sold in grocery stores: while the farm makes little-to-no profit, it also carries no rotating debt from year to year, so that it breaks even. Peaceful Belly, founded by Josie and Clay Erskine in 2002, raises pastured poultry and over 90 different kinds of produce, herbs, and flowers. The farm also allows local food bank representatives to “glean” the fields behind the combine harvester, in addition to donating 453.592 kilograms (1000 pounds) of food into food-related outreach programs.
The farmers of Peaceful Belly also work to bring Boise residents closer to their food. Peaceful Belly features an educational center, where community members can participate in classes and workshops on growing home gardens and other homesteading topics. The farm also hosts Farm to Fork dinner events and tours. In an interview with Seedstock, Josie Erskine said that urban agriculture “plays a very legitimate role in any type of long term food policy that is created anywhere in the United States,” pointing out that urban farmers are the often only first-hand exposure to agriculture that many city-dwelling Americans have.
