Q Farms to end retail operation, form a nonprofit

SHARON — After eight years of an ecologically forward-thinking enterprise known as Q Farms, owners Linda and James Quella have decided to suspend the retail farm store aspect of their business and instead form a nonprofit organization to serve area farmers and consumers.

“We are still actively working with food systems, but just in a different way,” said Linda Quella, who has operated Q Farms with her husband, championing soil health, restoration and carbon capture along the way.

The retail farm store operation on Jackson Hill Road in Sharon will close on Sunday, June 18, and a new nonprofit enterprise will emerge. Tri Corner F.E.E.D. will promote food equity, education and distribution, Linda Quella explained during a recent interview.  The farm’s acreage will be leased to area farmers.

“Food is a basic human right,” she said. One of the aims of her organization will be to pay farmers a fair price for their products and channel those products to existing area food pantries, including The Corner Pantry in Lakeville and St. Thomas Pantry in Amenia, for  distribution to those in need. Others might participate by paying reduced prices according to their financial ability.

The new organization is working toward a partnership with North East Community Center in Millerton to establish a sliding scale pricing system through a federal Local Food Promotion grant program.

The Quellas initiated Q Farms to foster and promote the principle of regenerative farming, mindful of soil health and measures toward carbon capture to protect the environment. One of the techniques used was rotational grazing for the pasture-raised livestock and free-range poultry.

Based on what they learned as they shepherded Q Farms, Quella said that they envision making a more meaningful impact on the problem of food insecurity by helping farmers to overcome the challenge of distribution flow, thereby offering those who consume the products the gift of farm-fresh produce.

As the nonprofit takes shape, the Quellas will plan to offer information sessions for residents to describe the work of Tri Corner F.E.E.D.  For more information now, go to: www.tricornerfeed.org.