Chiseled Ep 129 - From Wall Street to God’s Harvest: The Story of First Fruits Farm - Rich Bernstein

Rich Bernstein always wanted to get back to his roots. Born into a Jewish family in a rural area up north and originally expecting to become a farmer, Rich ended up in Baltimore, MD, as a pre-med student at Johns Hopkins University. Detouring from that plan, he instead became a highly successful financial analyst and funds manager. Rich then took another unexpected route: he converted to Christianity and moved his family onto a farm."I'd always been interested in agriculture," he said. "I never lost that love for farming."His wife, Carol, who was supportive of the move, insisted they don't just buy more land to have more stuff but to till it for the glory of God. So, after Rich got baptized in 1997, he asked six worshipers from his church — all of whom had grown up on farms — to help him launch a project to provide fresh, nutritious food for the needy.Between his management expertise, the group's agriculture acumen, and evidently some help from above, Rich and his fellow "pioneers," all of whom are still involved in the project, turned a garden that was just one-third of an acre into a 281-acre farming interest producing three million pounds-plus of food annually. All of it feeds the hungry, but First Fruits Farm distinguishes itself from other meal services by nourishing the spirit as well as the body. "God knew what he was doing. I wasn't going to have a vocational career in agriculture. I was going to have a ministerial career," he said.Run entirely on volunteers, Rich says in addition to food, First Fruit Farms offers educational programming that attracts students from all over the area, whether kids attending wealthy private schools or children who have never seen a farm living in the inner city. All the students visiting the farm learn the same lessons: they are uniquely individual souls for whom God has a plan — and the place isn't called "First Fruits" for nothing."We're not giving people rotting vegetables and saying, 'Hope you're OK with that,'" he said. "Jesus is pretty clear: 'Whatever you do for people, it's as if you did that to me.' ... I wouldn't dream of giving Jesus apples that were smashed by a bulldozer."Little-known fact: according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Baltimore County has more than 70,000 acres of farmland producing $93 million in agriculture sales each year. If a small piece of that market is going to establish God's kingdom on earth here in Baltimore, then the produce from First Fruits surely tastes delicious.I have volunteered at Fresh Fruits Farm, and it was a meaningful experience that I hope to do again. I encourage you to get out there sometime and try a little harvesting of your own. In the meantime, you can reap the benefits of Rich's wisdom on this week's episode of Chiseled.