Home Grown Institute Gears Up For Retreat-Like Conference

It was about six years ago that Sarah Gabriel had an epiphany.

"I couldn't believe I had reached that point in my life and didn't know about soil, or growing food," she said.

Fast forward a bit. After studying food systems, beekeeping and composting, Gabriel reached a point where she felt comfortable in her knowledge about such things.

She also realized she hadn't been alone in her curiosity. Gabriel consistently met people who had been like her—wanting to know more about living sustainably but not totally sure where to turn.

"There's clearly a yearning to offer to people what I had learned," she said.

So Gabriel decided to found the Home Grown Institute. The entity is hosting a conference in Chestnut Hill March 24 and 25 at that is intended to be a retreat of sorts to show people how they can exist in a more sustainable way.

Core areas

The gathering is designed to be a sensory experience in a lot of ways, and that starts with its orientation. Participants will spend 20 to 30 minutes during the process learning different sayings from a variety of religions about being responsible stewards of the planet (provided by the ). They'll also designate on a map which watershed their home is a part of and will decorate their nametag with something they're interested in learning about during the conference (beekeeping, for example).

Gabriel has set up a system where people will receive a free Chipotle burrito if they bring five of eight designated items with them, like their own bowl, water bottle, utensils and so on.

She hopes that people will learn specifically about four key areas: Composting, water stewardship, growing food and conscious consumption.

After the orientation, people will do the types of things they often do at a conference, like listen to presenters and attend sessions. But there won't be a class specifically on a category like conscious consumption.

"Instead of offering a class, we weave (the theme) throughout the program," Gabriel said.

That approach, Gabriel hopes, will allow people to take what they learn and turn that into regular, sustainable practice once the conference is over.

Other intentions

Amy Steffen, who is on the conference's planning committee, said she was drawn to Home Grown because of some of the other opportunities it provides.

Similar gatherings often happen far from Philadelphia. This one, though, is clearly happening locally, and Steffen, who raises chickens, was excited about the prospect of meeting others who do the same or are interested in learning more about it.

"My goal was to connect more with people who do these things locally," she said.

The conference will allow people to explore their interests in that way. During lunch, you have the option of taking food, or you can participate in a contemplative meal, in which participants will take their food in silence and will attempt to create a particularly sensory experience while doing so.

People will have the opportunity to take home free rainbarrels and compost buckets. One of Gabriel's biggest budget for the conference is worms—about 50,000 of them, in fact, which will go into those buckets for people to take home. People will be trained on how to use them as well.

It's all part of the conference's attempt to provide people with access to resources and the social support to make changes.

Organizers, for example, polled attendees on whether they would prefer bringing their own plate to the event, relying on compostable paper plates or using rented plates.

The crowd was overwhelmingly in favor of the first option—82 percent said they would bring their own plate. When sustainability gets normalized like that, Steffen said, it becomes routine more easily, since, as she puts it, it's sometimes easy "to feel like a crazy person for caring about these things, because people don't care about them in general."

"That's how change happens," Gabriel said. "It's how people make and stick with healthy habits."

Saturday night

The event's first day will culminate at night with a reception. There will be a resource center for people to learn about things ranging from composting to eco-funerals.

Various community businesses have donated to a silent auction (you can see a full list of partners and sponsors here). There will be a storytelling center, and others, like Chipotle, will offer demos on guacamole-making and other similar things.

The Home Grown Institute has extended free invitations to groups that are often underrepresented at such conferences. It's giving eight students, for example, a chance to attend.

It's also giving out a few community awards. (We'll soon have a list on the site of who won them.)

Sunday's activities will mirror Saturday's during the day, although there won't be a reception at night.

The jury is still out on what Home Grown will do once the conference is over. Gabriel said she has started to gather a focus group about the sort of work it might be able to accomplish.

For now, though, it's just trying to help people make changes on a micro level and to create connections among like-minded people.

"It's about coming together and building a strong community," Steffen said.