Wellness Toolbox
Information, support and resource sharing to help us preserve and protect our most important farming tool...ourselves.
Are you a woman farmer (or hope to be) who wants to physically keep your business running in a healthy manner for a long time?
How can we as women farmers manage risk by using best practices for ergonomics and body mechanics — especially as we age?
This Wellness Toolbox compiles a range of inspiring and practical advice and ideas for protecting that most important tool we have on your farm: ourselves!
These resources cover both mental and physical health topics along with movement exercises that came together through the launch and growth of the Women Farmers Aging Strong program (read the history here).
The unique and exceptional fact about these resources: they are ALL developed and designed for women farmers, by women farmers. As we together share our experiences, learnings and lives, we collaboratively grow stronger as together we cultivate a healthy food system.
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Each topic below contains:
Opening meditation reading
Resources and comments from attendees
Movement video by Ellen Petrick
​Topic content slide deck​
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“Rose, Thorn, Bud and Peach” slide deck
Rose: Something good happening right now; something you are proud of; something working for you
Thorn: Something stressful happening; something that takes your brain and heart space
Bud: Something upcoming for you, new and forthcoming. Could be positive or negative.
Juicy Peach: The fun wild card! Something fun and practical under the wellness, body mechanics and mental health category that you think others will find helpful.
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The topics below are from eight of the Learning Circles (learn more here) from Women Farmers Aging Strong.
You will see various names of women farmers on our team throughout these resources for sections they contributed.
Monthly Accountability Planning Sheets
As further support for the Women Farmers Aging Strong Learning Circle Series and with a goal of collaboratively helping women prioritize that most important tool — ourselves — we created a free accountability template for anyone to print/download and use to set weekly goals and reflections for improving physical and mental health. These templates are customized with seasonal graphics, adding up to a year-long resource for personal planning, tracking and self-learning.
In partnership with:
This work is supported by the North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center, project award no. 2024-70027-42470 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
