FAQs About The Farm Community

Frequently Asked Question About The Farm
•	Basic Beliefs and Agreements of the Farm Community
	- As a church we live in community, and our reverence for life has always been central to our community ways. Within the Farm community people can live together and pursue a spiritual path that includes... more >>
•	How do people support themselves?
	- About a third of the adults in the community work in nearby towns to support themselves and their families. Some work as independent contractors, while others work in local shops and industries.... more >>
•	How have things been with local relations? How were they early on, and how have they shifted over time?
	- In general we have good relations. In the early days there was more effort to connect with our immediate neighbors. Now our neighbor relations extend to the local businesses and banks in nearby towns... more >>
•	How is the community managed?
	- All members of The Farm are expected to contribute to the financial upkeep of the community through their earnings. Since our community operates like a small town, it has some of the same needs. We... more >>
•	Is it accurate to say that when the Farm started Stephen was your leader?
	- Stephen always used the line, "I am not a leader, I am a teacher. If you lose your leader you are leaderless. If you lose your teacher hopefully they taught you something." This was a more accurate... more >>
•	What about visitors?
	- We enjoy having visitors who write ahead to make arrangements. We have a primitive campground with running water and an outhouse. Some lodging is available in cabins and homes at reasonable rates. The... more >>
•	What are our religious beliefs?
	- The Farm is a nondenominational church. We like to call ourselves "free thinkers," because we discuss religion and philosophy in terms that do not exclude any possibilities. People come to the Farm... more >>
•	What are your thoughts on the "cult" label?
	- Although we had our own jargon and other social eccentricities, in my opinion we did not cross the line to true cult status. Anyone was free to go at any time. We encouraged and valued relationships... more >>
•	What are your thoughts on/memories of the economic change in the 80's?
	- If we had been smarter it might not have been necessary. However it much easier to manage a collective income on the smaller farms of 20 to 60 people than it was for the 1200 we grew into. The changeover... more >>
•	What is involved in establishing something the size of The Farm?
	- Most of the early settlers of The Farm arrived with only the clothes on their backs and a pocketful of dreams. Many life savings had been spent to get to Tennessee, find and acquire the land, and make... more >>
•	What is the architecture of The Farm?
	- Twenty-seven multifamily residential buildings built between 1974 and 1978 experimented with two inexpensive and cost-effective elements of design, direct solar gain and superinsulation. Since 1978,... more >>
•	What is the economic commitment of membership?
	- All members of The Farm pay weekly or monthly dues which contribute to the upkeep of the community. We call it our "rent." The level of individual contribution, which is usually between $75 and $125... more >>
•	What is the Farm up to these days?
	- The 150 present-day residents of The Farm have not rested on their laurels, but continue to create and demonstrate low-consumption, high-fulfillment lifestyles within a caring, socially active community;... more >>
•	What is the Farm?
	- The Farm community is a cooperative enterprise of families and friends living on three square miles in southern middle Tennessee. We started the Farm in the hope of establishing a strongly cohesive,... more >>
•	What was so compelling about Stephen, why were people so captivated?
	- He was charismatic, but he also had a track record of recognizing people's strength's and weaknesses, cutting through ego bullshit but usually (but not always) with compassion. Being older, he also... more >>
•	What was the change The Farm went through in 1983?
	- By 1980, the population had swelled to over 1200, but a series of reverses in agriculture and other enterprises led to a scaling back in the early '80s. "Human-scale" for that size parcel of land had... more >>
•	What was the vision of the Farm the people who started it came with?
	- To live a "back to the land" lifestyle while still remaining engaged in social change to make the world a better place. To create a new social experiment based on compassion and a spiritual relationship... more >>
•	Where is the Farm?
	- The Farm was settled near Summertown on 1750 acres of rolling hilltops in the poorest county in rural Tennessee. It is 30 miles from the nearest hospital, 50 miles from the nearest interstate highway,... more >>
•	Why did it happen and what were the social dynamics surrounding it?
	- We were over $400,000 in debt. Some from bad investments, such as trying to be commercial vegetable farmers. We did not have insurance and had very large medical bills. We were concerned that we would... more >>
•	Why do it?
	- Since we first came here, we've had the satisfaction of realizing many of the dreams and aspirations with which we began. After more than three decades on this land, we appreciate even more the security... more >>
•	Why is it called The Farm?
	- Like most things on the Farm, people called it just what it was, with little embellishment. For examples: Main Road, First Road, Second Road, etc.; the Book Publishing Company, the Soy Dairy, the Tempeh... more >>
•	Why Tennessee?
	- In the mid - 1960s, many people went through a cultural change that took them away from their roots and cast them adrift, searching for something better. Disillusioned by the Vietnam War, disturbed... more >>

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