Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Fellowship delivers important person-focused workshops for farmers and agricultural advisors.
Working in agriculture is demanding.
It is often packed with long hours, unpredictable weather, and financial stress. The end of summer can be particularly challenging for farmers. They may be burned out physically and mentally. These feelings can be heightened as farmers face more extreme weather and increased uncertainty from climate change.
This past August, a four-part mini-series focused on mental and physical health for climate resilience was organized for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Fellowship (CAMF) participants.
Over 60 Fellows from the peer-to-peer learning program joined live for the series. The first two sessions focused on mental health: climate grief and stress management. Led by American Farmland Trust’s Women for the Land Director, Gabrielle Roesch-McNalley and Pacific Northwest Regional Director, Addie Candib, participants learned how to define specific climate-related emotions and strategies to reduce stress. There were breathing exercises, small breakout room conversations, and large-group discussions. When asked “What have you lost due to climate change?” answers ranged from “the ice-skating pond behind my childhood home,” to “my confidence in mentoring young farmers,” to “certainty that I want to have a family.” The group talked about methods to cope with the heavy emotions that come with climate grief, and generated a list of strategies for resilience.
“I experienced a welling up of emotion I think I usually suppress. What an incredible space to address some of these feelings.” – CAMF Educator
The third session switched gears to focus on physical health.
Cynthia Flores of Labor-Movement presented on movement patterns and taking care of one’s body while farming. She discussed stress, sleep, hydration, nutrition, and other factors that can affect the body’s capacity for work. She shared tips for improving body mechanics on the farm (for example, elevating a workstation to avoid a neck bend while seeding).
“I cannot state enough how welcome sitting down and listening to this recording is after a long season when my body was running down. Really great content!” - Farmer Fellow
The final session focused on staying safe during extreme heat and air quality events.
Kent Boyd, Climate Adaptation, Resilience, & Public Health Educator with the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership discussed prevention, identification, and treatment for heat illness. He shared individual actions as well as steps that can be taken by the workplace/employer for dealing with extreme weather. Fellows were asked to consider questions like, ‘how does air pollution affect my health?’ and ‘how do you interpret the Air Quality Index?’ Boyd also shared a framework to create an extreme weather action plan standard operating procedure (SOP).
Mental health was a throughline in every session.
The presenters repeatedly emphasized the importance of community in addressing mental health. During the sessions with Zoom cameras on, participants teared up, asked questions, and shared stories. Fellows in the CAMF program have been participating in online workshops together since January. Peer networks such as CAMF can provide not only an opportunity to share information, but also the space to acknowledge the deeper challenges of working in agriculture today.