Multicultural Hippie Roots and
Spiritual Foundations of The Farm Community
By Douglas Stevenson
Kids from homeless shelters and inner-city
Nashville pose with Kids To The Country
counselors at The Farm’s
“swimming hole.”
T
he Hippie movement that came into being at the end of the
1960s was spawned in part by a direct rejection of the consum-
er-driven materialism embraced by their parents’ post-Depres-
sion-era generation, and it was elevated by an awareness of the essential
spiritual nature and oneness of the universe and all people.
At the same time, the civil rights movement opened the eyes of young
people developing a broader sense of cultural oppression. This awaken-
ing made it possible to recognize the expanding corporate influence as a
shiny veneer of an ever-expanding military-industrial complex that was
sending the youth of the nation to maintain colonial dominance over
socialist movements around the globe.
Without waiting for society at large to change, the youth of white
America took a fast track to integration through music. Blues begot rock
and roll, with stages at clubs and festivals able to showcase artists of all
ethnicities, changing hearts, minds, and lives on many levels.
The original founders of The Farm who left San Francisco were aware
from the very beginning that the hippie movement was primarily a white
phenomenon. The hippie culture’s step away from privilege and wealth was
in direct contrast to the trajectory of many in Black America, seeking to
claim their fair share of the American Dream. Consequently, the commu-
nity demographic was and remains primarily from the white middle class.
Our naive idealism aided what some might call the bravery it took to
settle just 35 miles from where the Ku Klux Klan was founded. We were
attracted to the beauty of the land, the climate and length of growing sea-
sons, and the fact that we were able to acquire 1000 acres for only $70 an
acre. We were less sensitive to the fact that the deeper, underlying racism
embedded into the Southern culture at that time would make people of
color uncomfortable anywhere outside the community, and so they would
be less drawn to live here. While much has changed over the ensuing de-
cades, the Confederate flag still flies outside numerous homes around us.
In those early days, we recognized that in order to survive, The Farm
Spring 2018 • Number 178
Photos courtesy of Plenty International
would have to make peace with our neighbors. It was a time when the
children of rural America were leaving family farms for factory jobs in
the cities. Here we were, a bunch of city kids, anxious to learn the home-
steading skills the local folks took for granted. In a way, the community
served as bridge to our neighbors’ understanding of the greater cultural
revolution that was taking place elsewhere in the country. Fortunately
for us, a nearby Amish settlement that had come to the area before us
had paved the way, demonstrating that hard work and honesty could
surmount differences and generate respect, a standard we embraced.
The Vow of Poverty
For the first 12 years, members of The Farm signed a vow of poverty,
affirming a commitment of a life in service to humankind. It was good for
our souls to get a taste of being poor, something we called living as “vol-
untary peasants.” Those drawn to The Farm were heeding an inner call, to
drop out of college, out of prescribed career paths, and leave lives of rela-
tive privilege to live in tents and old buses, deep in the woods, immersed
in nature. Many inheritances were absorbed by the communal economic
structure, donated to the dream of a society where all were equal, and as it
said in the Bible’s Book of Acts, “given to each as they had need.”
After a few years, as the community got on its feet and felt solid, there
was a recognition that the purpose was not just to establish the ultimate
hippie commune. As the benefactors of western dominance over indig-
enous people both in our country and around the world, we recognized
a responsibility to give back. The success of the revolution would come
about, not by “bringing the top down, but by bringing the bottom up.”
The Farm established a nonprofit called Plenty, based on the idea that
there is enough for everyone, if we just share. An opportunity came to
express our ideals in a real way, after a devastating earthquake in Guate-
mala in 1976. A couple of folks were sent down to see if there might be
something we could do to help, and they came back with an important
Communities 60
observation. If our experiment as voluntary peasants were to fail, we
could always run back to our parents and reclaim our position of privi-
lege. If life fails you as an involuntary peasant, you die. The earthquake
in Guatemala had left a lot of people homeless who might not make it
through the approaching rainy season.
The dozens of Farm community volunteers who went to work in Gua-
temala returned with firsthand experience of true endemic poverty. We
gained a deeper understanding of the entrenched colonial racism that
still existed in the form of a 20 percent Latino society and government
which maintained dominance over the 80 percent Mayan population.
The experience in Guatemala transformed the energy of the commu-
nity, and we looked for more places to serve. Our work with Plenty took
Farm members to the slums of Bangladesh and to the depths of despera-
tion in Haiti. In 1978, a group of mostly white hippie volunteers moved
into the heart of the South Bronx, taking over an abandoned building to
start a free ambulance service. In the South Bronx it was apparent that
our black neighbors, though materially poor, benefited from their strong
community ties, and the hippies from Tennessee were welcomed into that
community because they were there to help. Plenty’s work came to define
what The Farm was about and represented the best of who we were.
Things Change
Bad luck, bad investments, poor management, and youthful inex-
perience came head-to-head with the US recession of the early 1980s.
Creditors came knocking at The Farm’s doors, and it became clear the
community had to either change or lose everything. Our economic and
societal structure changed in the ’80s, from an income-sharing model,
where no one held personal money, to more of a democratic coopera-
tive, where adult members were expected to contribute financially to the
community budget. It was up to each individual to maintain a commit-
Clifford Figallo (center), director of Plenty Guatemala,
1978-1980, stands with volunteers from the village of San Bar-
tolo, as water from the first village water system built by Plenty
and local Mayan volunteers flows from
the pipeline.
Plenty crew
kids and
local Mayan
kids in
Guatemala;
Deborah Flowers,
wife of the article author,
and their two children
(plus a third child
from the Plenty crew)
and local Mayan
girls watch as
water sprays
from a new spigot.  members and emergency medical
Spring 2018 • Number 178
ment to service in their own way, and together in smaller circles.
The ensuing years were a time when The Farm had to pull itself out
of poverty and its members establish lives that were truly sustainable,
developing skills that could support a family in modern times, while
continuing to stay true to the core principle of Right Livelihood, work
that is seamless with your ideals.
Plenty International
Plenty International remains as a means for expressing those ideals.
Plenty continues to manage and maintain a variety of programs and proj-
ects that support economic self-sufficiency, cultural integrity, and envi-
ronmental responsibility in partnership with families, community groups,
and other organizations in Central America, the US, the Caribbean, and
Africa. Its base of support comes from people all across the country and
around the world, and its volunteers and staff include people who no
longer, or have never lived at The Farm Community. Ultimately Plenty is
a tool that allows individuals to channel their beliefs into action.
Plenty’s first soy nutrition project in Guatemala has been in continu-
ous operation now for over 37 years. The Asociacion Dearrollo Integral
de Belen or ADIBE functions as a village cottage industry, marketing soy
products like tofu and soy ice cream or “ice bean” throughout Guatemala.
Karen’s Soy Nutrition Project works in the slums of Guatemala City,
providing biweekly servings of fortified milk and cookies for the chil-
dren of families living off what they are able to salvage and recycle from
the Guatemala City dump.
In towns and villages of southern Belize, Plenty provides educational
and technical support to primary schools, women’s groups, and com-
munity efforts to reduce poverty, produce food, clean energy, water,
and protect the environment. Gardens were started at all 50 schools in
the Toledo District, teaching organic growing methods while supplying
Plenty International soy technician
Chuck Haren in 2016 working with some of the
staff of Karen’s Soy Nutrition Project (KSNP)
to supplement the diets of children of families
living off the dump in Guatemala City.
Plenty Ambulance crew
trainees in the South Bronx.
Communities 61
fruits and vegetables for healthy lunches. Students learn solar technol-
ogy installing panels to provide light and power for classrooms, and to
run pumps for village-wide water systems.
Since its inception Plenty has worked alongside Native American
partners on a variety of projects. The Slim Buttes Agricultural Develop-
ment Project at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota provides seeds,
tools, soil preparation, and garden support so that Oglala Lakota fami-
lies can augment their diets with fresh organic produce. Over the years,
the project has grown from a humble start of six gardens in 1985, to as
many as 400 gardens, involving up to 2500 tribal members in eight of
the nine Pine Ridge Reservation districts.
Since its first response to the earthquake in Guatemala in 1976, Plen-
ty International has continued to be an avenue for relief efforts after
national disasters. Much of this is driven by the volunteers themselves,
who come to Plenty as a way to facilitate their desire to help, after Hur-
ricanes Mitch (Nicaragua 1998) and Iris (Belize 2001), in India and Sri
Lanka following the tsunami of 2004, and more recent earthquakes in
Haiti (2010) and Nepal (2015).
Relief efforts after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Gustav developed
into a decade-long series of projects along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast. Work-
ing with tribal leaders, Plenty provided emergency distributions of food
and clothing to some of the most impacted Biloxi-Chitimacha Indian
families. Since 2008, thanks to the efforts of Plenty volunteers, the an-
nual “Bayou Christmas” has provided toys, books, groceries, and other
aid to over 100 families.
Books To Kids was started after learning that virtually all of the books
in New Orleans’ libraries and public schools were destroyed after Ka-
trina. Since 2006, Books To Kids volunteers have distributed free, qual-
ity books to disadvantaged children in Louisiana, Tennessee, and most
recently, rural Kentucky. Over 250,000 books have been provided to
children through schools, families, community centers, and libraries.
Plenty volunteers
and Mayan friends giving
out tofu samples in
Solola,
Guatemala,
1980.
Plenty Lesotho
volunteers at a soy
foods home demonstration
in a Basotho village in
Lesotho,
Southern Africa.
Spring 2018 • Number 178
At The Farm Community in Tennessee, Plenty’s Kids To The Coun-
try (KTC) program offers children from the homeless shelters and ref-
ugee centers in Nashville week-long experiences immersed in nature,
a chance to explore creativity and learn conflict resolution skills away
from the pressures of inner-city strife. Teachers and students from The
Farm School, along with other volunteers, serve as counselors. Operat-
ing continuously now for over 30 years, KTC provides a valuable cultur-
al exchange between urban children of color and the children growing
up in the rural surroundings of The Farm Community.
A Life Seamless with Your Ideals
Understanding your position of privilege is not about feeling guilt. It is
about finding and acting on opportunities to make a difference. The ide-
als and beliefs we shared from the beginning still persist today: if you want
to create peace in the world, be peaceful, and if you want to get along with
your neighbors, be loving and respectful. Every one of us has the power
and potential to make positive change, starting with how we treat those
closest to us. From this strength comes our ability to leverage our efforts
for greater impact, reaching across cultures to build community.
You can learn more about Plenty International and Kids To The
Country at www.plenty.org, and Karen’s Soy Nutrition Project in Gua-
temala at www.ksnp.org. n
Douglas Stevenson is the principal volunteer media interface and spokes-
person at The Farm, once recognized as the world’s largest hippie commune,
now one of the most widely known ecovillage intentional communities. He
is the author of two books, Out to Change the World and The Farm
Then and Now, a Model for Sustainable Living, where he shares insights
developed from over 40 years of life in community. Plenty has just released
its own book, The Roots of Plenty: Tales from the “Hippie Peace Corps”;
see plenty.org/book-roots-plenty.
Farm member/
Plenty volunteer
and registered nurse,
Elaine Langley,
gives oral medicine
to a child at an
emergency response
clinic in Haiti,
after the earthquake
of 2010.
Soybean ice cream for
school kids in Guatemala.
Communities 62
Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction
prohibited without permission.