Grinnell, Iowa is a small, tight-knit agricultural community. Home to Grinnell College, the area harbors liberal-leaning young minds and conservative-leaning residents.

“We’re a small liberal arts college,” said Molly Nelson, a freshman at Grinnell. “Most of us are going to be pretty far left on the spectrum compared to small-town conservatives.”

This sentiment was echoed by town residents as well.

Melissa Dunham and her husband, Andrew, own and operate the 80-acre Grinnell Heritage Farm. Twenty-five acres of this farm is cultivated organically. The business has been in the Dunham family for more than 150 years, and the Dunhams made connecting to the community a priority when they took responsibility of the farm more than 10 years ago.

After the 2016 presidential election, Melissa noticed a significant and polarized shift in attitude among the community.

When Melissa Dunham inherited her family’s farm 10 years ago, she knew she wanted to change the narrative about traditional farming.
Courtesy of Grinnell Heritage Farms

The Dunhams decided to take action against the divide while simultaneously encouraging people to engage in conversation about the changing landscape of farming.

They began holding “Wood-Fired HaPIZZAness” nights at their farm on the second and fourth Fridays of every month.

“It’s become a huge gathering point for the community on these Fridays,” said Susan Sanning, director of service and social innovation at Grinnell College. “It’s a safe place to come and gather and, even if we’re different, break bread and have meaningful conversation.”

From a student’s perspective, Nelson said she felt the pizza nights helped break down the barriers between students and Grinnell residents.

“We’re all human, we’re not a different species,” Nelson said.

That was exactly what Dunham had in mind when the farm began holding pizza nights — to point out that everyone living in Grinnell has a lot in common.

By inviting people to the farm, the couple’s goal was to welcome people to have conversations about both agriculture and politics, topics that are often taboo in Iowa.

“I was raised that there are two things you don’t talk about, and oftentimes it’s politics and religion,” Melissa said. “There’s a third one, and in Iowa, it’s agriculture.”

She expressed her frustration with the limited organic farming in Iowa and how there is significant pressure on farmers to “get big or get out.”

While the topic of conversation at pizza nights often related to the immediate aftermath of the presidential election, Sanning echoed that the Dunhams’ greater goal was to spark conversation on agriculture.

“They’re not only saying there’s another way to farm other than corporate (agriculture) with pesticides,” Sanning said. “They’re also saying, ‘What does it mean to live sustainably as a community?’”

Published on October 16, 2017 at 8:47 pm

Contact Jordan: jslazins@syr.edu