Homework

Posts in category: work

intro to documentary studies

by crop mobfilmsphoto essaysworkyoung farmers

Intro to Documentary Studies

Posted on November 8, 2011 by

For the last nine Saturdays I have attended my second class at the Center for Documentary Studies here in Durham. The class is one of only two required courses in the certificate program. It is titled, appropriately, Introductory Seminar in Documentary Studies.

(My first course was a weekend spent learning alternative print processes – cyanotype and van dyke – with Leah Sobsey.)

For the Intro class when had to do a short presentation, up to five minutes on a documentary idea. It could be any form, and I chose to make a short film. I filmed the Crop Mob in Carrboro, read the New Blood for the Old Body essay into a narration track, strummed on the banjo to make a 30 second loop and came out with this –

Crop Mob: An Introduction from Cricket Bread on Vimeo.

Crop Mob is primarily a group of young, landless, and wannabe farmers who come together to work and build an interconnected agrarian community. Crop Mob is also a group of experienced farmers and gardeners sharing knowledge with their peers and the next generation of agrarians. The Crop Mob is open to all regardless of experience, background or age as it is intended to be a community effort.

This entry was posted in crop mobs, films, photo essays, work, young farmers. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Intro to Documentary Studies

  1. Oliver Atom says:


    November 10, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    This is beautiful … we miss you! (all of you)

this is the point this is the manifest

by biographicalwork

This is the point, this is the manifest

Posted on October 27, 2009 by

Hardly recognize simple things anymore
I don’t want to be defeated

What else is there to do
But go outside and look around*

*Lyrics taken from Bed for the Scraping – Fugazi

This entry was posted in biographical, work. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.

eastern carolina organics

by biographicalECOwork

Eastern Carolina Organics

Posted on August 29, 2008 by

On Monday I start work at Eastern Carolina Organics.  Yes, I’m really finally moving to the farm.  Yes, I’m really going to start driving again after all these years.  Yes, I hope my current internal-combustion mule has what it takes to commute a couple dozen miles a day.  No radio, no AC or heat, bad wiring and the previous owner’s silver bullet lock pins – what could go wrong?

Anyway, as produce manager for Tidal Creek I purchased small amounts from Eastern Carolina Organics over the years through various means of transport.  When I was in Pittsboro (home of ECO) I would try to haul home a carload of veggies or try to convince a friend or two to do the same.

The ECO model is pretty straightforward, but not simple – farmers get together with a manager who focuses on the marketing and sales.  This leaves the farmer to do what they do best – grow food – instead of trying to sell their goods all over the place.  The manager focuses on what they do best, which is getting the produce into the hands of chefs and retailers.  This model simplifies the process on both ends of the sale.  The farmer gets a distributor and the buyer gets a place that offers produce from a couple dozen of those farmers.

I was at the CFSA Sustainable Agriculture Conference in 2004 when the creation of ECO was announced.  ECO was born out of a modest grant from the Tobacco Trust Fund awarded in late 2003.  ECO became its own farmer-owned LLC in 2005 and hasn’t looked back.

I’m excited to become a larger part of the local food system, excited to get to know more North Carolina farmers personally and continue being part of something I believe in.  I’m also excited to be working at The Plant, an eco-industrial park of sorts with a farm, a biodiesel plant, a hydroponic greenhouse, a vermicomposting greenhouse and a billion energetic and dedicated people all over the place.  Count me in…

This entry was posted in biographical, ECO, work. Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Eastern Carolina Organics

  1. mike says:


    August 30, 2008 at 8:16 pm

    awesome job Trace! They’ll never know what hit ‘em…

  2. April says:


    September 2, 2008 at 2:18 pm

    I’m excited for this! I hope today is going well!

  3. Carson Jewell says:


    March 5, 2009 at 12:26 am

    Hello, my name is Carson and I heard of you through my cousin Matt Jewell. I have a restaurant idea that I think you would like and I need a little guidance. Please contact me at the above email address at your convenience. Thanks a bunch!

last day at work

by biographicalwork

Last day at work

Posted on August 21, 2008 by

Today was my last full day at work in Wilmington.  I have a meeting to attend next Thursday, and then I am on to more and different things.

I worked at Tidal Creek for most of five years.  Well, I took a few months off in 2004 for a short lived veggie-oil fueled car trip, but other than that have been on the clock at the co-op.  Here is the notice that went into the latest co-op newsletter:

In December of 2003 I found myself working a register at Tidal Creek Cooperative Food Market.  I was happily unemployed up to that point, earning my rent and food money by finding things in the trash and selling them on eBay.  I also ran an organic produce buying club and converted a few old diesel cars to run on used vegetable oil, forming the idea that would become Cape Fear Biofuels.  It was an interesting life even after the point where I decided to hold onto a time card again.

A year or so later I was produce manager.

As manager I have had some profound experiences that have shaped my life and my philosophy of community and food.  I have met and talked to a great many of you.  Those conversations shaped the way the produce department evolved over the years and determined the priorities for bringing in products.  You wanted organic; you wanted local; you wanted trust in the food and the systems and people that provide it.  Hopefully I have given you what you wanted.

It is now time for me to move on and take on new challenges.  I leave for my land in Chatham County to start a farm and get back into the dirt.

Nicole, my long time right hand in the produce department, is also leaving at the same time as I am.

I leave the department in the hands of a new staff and manager who will lead you into a new era.  Please welcome Stephen Chu (manager), Buddy and Stephen K. Embrace them as you have me and all the other produce folks over the years – Mike S, Sasha, Matt, Peter, Nathaniel, Stacey, Daniel, Brad, Shannon, and Nicole B.

Just to add on a bit to this, Mike, my previous right hand in the produce department, has moved to Chatham to get into the sustainable agriculture program.  So there will be a bit of the old with the new…

This entry was posted in biographical, work. Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Last day at work

  1. mike says:


    August 24, 2008 at 9:16 pm

    this is good…so close!

  2. April Marlow says:


    August 25, 2008 at 4:49 pm

    Ugh. So sad. Awesome for you! So sad for me.

  3. Nicole says:


    August 26, 2008 at 12:03 am

    I almost shed a tear. “Don’t liberate me…I’ll take care of that”. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

AAC block

the big move

by biographicalcircle acreswork

The big move

Posted on July 28, 2008 by

On August 31st we leave Wilmington for the land in Silk Hope. The replacement produce manager has been hired on at Tidal Creek. Kristin is working out her work plans. Inspections for septic and electric are going on this week, and we hope to have final house plans in our hands by this Friday.

The plan is to live in part of the old house while we build the new house. We’ll work on parts of the old house in order that it is more livable for Danielle and Noel when they arrive in the winter. For now we are ripping out the water logged wall boards, fixing the leaky roof and generally making the house not so much of a mold and mildew factory. The hope is to make the place livable for friends and family in the future, so repairs need to be of pretty consistent quality.

I spent some of this weekend clearing some of the vines that had grown into all of the windows and parts of the roof. The porch roof is starting to separate from the house because the vines grew up between the house and the singles.

The roof on the back of the house has some bad leak issues. Some old fixes have no become real problems.

And siding is coming apart where water now runs into the house…

…exposing insulation and interior wood…

…providing great habitat for termites.

And the worst part is the unintentional skylight in the side porch’s roof. It really adds aesthetic value to the place. And the aesthetic smell of wet fiberglass insulation makes it a real keeper.

The inside of the house is another battle. From a neighbor’s description of the place, it is basically layer upon layer of fixes, cover-ups and DIY patches. Once I started tearing out some old paperboard, I could see what he was talking about. The existing roof is built over at least one other roof. I haven’t gotten far enough into to everything to see what else is involved. It is quite funny so far. How all the pieces of wood fit together is also great comedy. I felt like I was in a tree fort that a bunch of neighborhood kids put together out of scrap board and bent nails.

But all is not old. We received our first delivery of AAC block which will become the first floor of the new house.

AAC block

While all this fixing up of the old house, building the new house and starting the new job is going on, we’re also supposed to be starting a farm. More on that soon…

This entry was posted in biographical, circle acres, work. Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to The big move

  1. stew says:


    July 28, 2008 at 9:22 pm

    Looks like you have some adventures on the horizon. Good on you. Let me know if you want some extra hands at any point in the house restoration.

  2. April says:


    July 29, 2008 at 2:42 pm

    You are so brave!!

  3. mike says:


    July 29, 2008 at 4:02 pm

    THis is…….exciting?

Shopping Basket