Martha Polkey learned about what Fibershed was doing in California and decided to bring its message home . They applied to be affiliates and the Chesapeake Fibershed was born .
The Chesapeake Fibershed , fittingly , is composed of the land in the Chesapeake watershed — DC , Baltimore as well as portions of Virginia , Maryland , Delaware , Pennsylvania , and West Virginia .
“ The Fibershed out there in California is defined as a radius from a certain point ,” Marian said . “ But on the East Coast , we ' re closer together , partly because of how our resources are organized . So , instead of having some artificial circle , we decided to follow the lay of the land . And that ' s when we decided on using the Chesapeake Bay Watershed .”
Marian says that right now , the Chesapeake Fibershed has a solid number of fiber producers with a variety of different types of wool . However , the area lacks processors . This makes it difficult to create the product from start to finish locally .
“ A lot of our national local mills , most of which have been on the East Coast , have ceased operations because of competition from China ,” she said . “ So , these factories are sitting there and not doing anything . And it ' s going to take a really special effort to get
The Chesapeake Fibershed has a solid number of fiber producers with a variety of different types of wool . However , the area lacks processors . This makes it difficult to create the product from start to finish locally .
them going again .
Lisa Check , owner of Flying Goat Farms and a member of the Chesapeake Fibershed , said she noticed an uptick in local mills about 12 years ago , but progress on the processing front has been difficult .
“ It ' s a really big learning curve to be able to make nice yarn , and the equipment is expensive as well ,” Lisa said . “ Unfortunately , lately we ' ve seen a lot of these mini mills going out of business somewhat because of the pandemic and also just because of the lack of business .”
Martha Polkey , owner of Black Sheep Farms and self-proclaimed realist , believes there is hope .
“ We ' ve lost infrastructure over the decades , we ' ve lost a lot of wool mills to foreign production ,” she said . “ I hope we can see a surge in buying American and supporting local , not only to be patriotic , but for the climate and our resources . What we ' re doing is incremental , but that ' s how change happens .”
Since becoming involved with the Chesapeake Fibershed , Martha says she has become more attuned to the environmental factors at play on her own farm .
“ I certainly have become more aware of the ecological importance of a well-run farm , beginning with making sure your soil is healthy , and understanding that the way you manage your pastures maximizes not only animal health , but soil health ,” she said .
One of the biggest aspects of Fibershed is empowering people to purchase locally produced textiles and support their communities . This year , the Chesapeake Fibershed will be hosting a competition to energize these efforts .
“ We want to invite artisans and makers to come up with an item of clothing or home textile so that people can see that having something that ' s made locally cannot only be beautiful , but could be something worth having ,” Marian Bruno explained .
The details of the challenge , set to launch this fall , are still in the works , but creators will have a year to create a product from start to finish within the Chesapeake Fibershed .
“ I ’ m really interested in helping to educate people about sustainable textiles ,” Lisa said . “ I started working on my project for the challenge , which will be my second sweater that is made in the Fibershed , so I keep trying to promote that to educate others and having them ask questions like ‘ why is it important to buy local , buy quality ?’”
For local fiber growers , artisans , and mills , the benefits of regional textile economies are crystal clear . However , convincing consumers to kick their fast fashion habit is the biggest challenge groups like Fibershed face .
“ We ' re all conditioned to expect the least possible cost for something ,” Mary Kingsley said .
20 wander I fall • winter 2021