Down to Business on the Farm: Woody Woodroof Traded in His Camera for Agriculture

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WOODY WOODROOF WAS GOING to be an artist — specifically, a photographer. With a 1988 fine-arts degree from Ohio's Denison University, he served as staff photographer for the Valentine Richmond History Center in his hometown, did "dreamlike imagery" with a plastic camera in Guatamala, took history-of-photography classes in Arizona and experimented with making cameras out of suitcases and trash cans.

But as fun as all this was, Woodroof's cash flow was in slow motion. To make ends meet, he compressed a full-time job into three days at a Tucson group home for the developmentally disabled. "Almost immediately, I realized these were fascinating people with new ways of seeing the world — which is really what photography is all about," he says. "The job was educational and enriching; everything I'd been trying to get out of photography I was getting out of working with these guys." Noticing how poorly the residents ate, Woodroof decided to create a community garden. A family friend offered $10,000 in "seed money" to take the concept further. Woodroof mulled it over while he traveled east in late 1995 to photograph two weddings, crashing in another friend's barn near Clarksburg, Md. It turns out that the friend, who had run a community-supported agriculture program (CSA) for three years, wanted to move. Woodroof agreed to take over, and by January 1996 he approached the Arc of Montgomery County with the $10,000, asking to hire developmentally disabled farm workers. With Red Wiggler Community Farm, Woodroof aims to employ developmentally disabled people, provide healthy food to group homes and food banks, educate young volunteers in environmental stewardship and keep rural areas farmed while selling produce to support the operation.

But that first year, only 12 households bought into Red Wiggler's CSA. As a nonprofit director, Woodroof was out of his element. "I was just an artist," he says. "There wasn't a lot of salesmanship there." An employee's mother suggested that Woodroof apply to Leadership Montgomery's 1998-99 class. Leadership Montgomery is an intensive, hands-on, 10-month leadership-development program in which people who live or work in the county explore and discuss community concerns.

"We educate, connect and inspire community leaders," says founder Esther Newman.

Similar programs exist in most area jurisdictions; Newman says there are 2,500 across the country.

Each year's class of 45 to 49 is diverse in vocation, ethnicity, gender, geography, age and income. Those chosen must have a record of community service. Financial assistance means no one is turned away who can't afford the $3,850 fee, though all must put up at least $375 themselves to show commitment. The application deadline for 2010's class is May 7 (see Leader
shipmontgomerymd.org).

Each class has an overnight retreat at the beginning and end, and a full day together each month from October through May. It's very experiential: On the popular public-service day, for example, homework alone includes a police ride-along, a fire ride-along and a tour of the county's emergency management center. On class day, participants hear from the police and fire chiefs and may take part in a shoot/don't-shoot scenario, try the police firing range, see how mass-casualty emergencies are dealt with and so on.

What they gain is a comprehensive view of public and private enterprise and access to a network of leaders in every line of work. About 1,500 graduates are leaders in state and local government, businesses large and small, nonprofits, the arts, banking, utilities, transportation, etc. Woodroof calls the program "incredibly helpful; it really connected me to the fabric of Montgomery County." Three of Red Wiggler's experienced board members are from Leadership Montgomery. "I would never have known these people otherwise," Woodroof says.

Traveling to County Council and General Assembly meetings paid off when Woodroof later asked both for funds. When lack of a long-term lease kept Red Wiggler from winning grant money, Leadership Montgomery work and contacts helped Woodruff arrange a $1-a-year lease on a segment of county parkland. A classmate even helped him snag his solar house, built by University of Maryland students for a green competition.

"Woody is an example of someone who tapped the network beautifully," Newman says.

This summer, the award-winning farm earned organic status; it now sells CSA produce to 120 households and 70 group homes. With 740 volunteers and 15 developmentally disabled workers, it's planning a LEED-certified greenhouse/office, and its donor rolls grew even during this year's recession. "I started Red Wiggler without all the skills needed to carry it forward," says Woodroof, who hosts each year's Leadership Montgomery class for a barn lunch. Thanks to the program, he says with a grin, "I'm now a farmer who wears a suit."

Written by Express contributor Ellen Ryan
Photos by Kris Tripplaar for Express