"Women are the teachers of the present and the future and must join with men to heal the planet." - Janet Allen, Laughing Acres Family Farm, East Lansing, Michigan

Interview with Janet Allen

Janet Allen has six acres in East Lansing she and her husband have named "Laughing Acres Family Farm." The farm is about half wetland, which leaves one good acre to grow vegetables and small fruit. Janet's husband, Mark Gillen, is a graduate of Michael Fields Biodynamic school in Wisconsin and, while not certified, the couple does practice the techniques given to them by Rudolf Steiner. They have grown food for farmer's markets and health food stores. They are considering purchasing more land to establish a community garden and preserve land from chemicals and developers.

Janet has been excited about sustainable agriculture since she was in high school and read "Five Acres and Independence" by M.G. Kains and "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson. Wherever she has lived, from student housing at the University of California-San Francisco to the Mojave Desert to northern Michigan, she has had an organic garden and grown much of her own food, raising her two children on homegrown vegetables and raw goat milk.

A gynecology nurse practitioner since 1976, Janet is now working on a research study for her PhD dissertation in Holistic Wellness at Sancta Sophia Seminary in Oklahoma. Her research, after witnessing miracles in herself and others, is titled "The physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual effects of eating a raw food diet." This blends nicely with her personal life as a vegetable grower and her professional career in contemporary medicine.

Janet does see most of our society as having a history of being male-dominated, but she thinks women are learning to ignore that and to do what is right anyway. Women are finding our hearts and our mouths. Janet's advice is to keep your eye on the future for our daughters who must eat in coming generations. Learn to take advantage of our strengths: the use of words (write a grant to get what you want), relationship skills (sell yourself and your products), and intuition (follow your heart). Women are the teachers of the present and the future and must join with men to heal the planet.