Self-Sufficiency Summits in Ohio Reflect Surging Interest in Homesteading

‘We are now ... generations removed from commonly knowing how to gut a chicken, tap a maple tree, and plant tomatoes,’ regenerative farmer Joel Salatin said.

Joel Salatin, founder of Polyface Farm and an organic farming expert, takes a break from his presentations at the Food Independence Summit. Courtesy of Emma Low/Food Independence Summit

Decades ago, many Americans lived on farms and in small towns, and they grew and raised the food that they consumed. After an age of reliance on store-bought items, many Americans are returning to those roots.

Two June gatherings in Ohio—the Heritage Skills USA Homesteading Summit and the Food Independence Summit—represent an emerging trend of events focused on teaching a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, is regarded by many as one of the nation’s foremost experts on regenerative farming. Salatin has authored more than a dozen books on the topic and travels the world speaking at conferences and serving as a paid consultant.

Polyface Farm provides beef, pork, poultry, turkey, and eggs for more than 5,000 families, 50 restaurants, 10 retail outlets, and a farmers market.

Salatin will speak and conduct classes at the Food Independence Summit in Walnut Creek, Ohio, on June 18 and June 19.

“There is a homesteading tsunami because there is a deep intuitive understanding that society is heading in a way where it is better to be in the country than in the city,” Salatin told The Epoch Times.

“The problem is we are now several generations removed from commonly knowing how to gut a chicken, tap a maple tree, and plant tomatoes. When you make a change from your routine in life, you need support, and that is why events like these summits are important.”

Relearning Lost Skills

Bob and Tara Dodrill are the founders of the Heritage Skills USA Homesteading Summit.

The Dodrills live on a 60-acre homestead in Vinton County, Ohio, five miles from the fairgrounds where the summit is held. The closest community is McArthur, a one-stoplight village a few miles away.

The hands-on butchering class is a favorite at the Heritage Skills USA Homesteading Summit. Photo by Tim Evans

This year’s event will attract people from all walks of life, across 25 states and Canada.

Heritage Skills USA features more than 140 classes taught by instructors from around the country. Topics include butchering, canning, foraging, herbalism, emergency medicine techniques, food preservation, blacksmithing, beekeeping, and gardening.

Tara Dodrill told The Epoch Times that the couple changed the name from “Old School Survival Boot Camp” to better reflect the event’s purpose.

“There is a misconception that self-reliance is synonymous with fully living off-grid,” she said. “Some people thought that ‘boot camp’ meant it was an event just about survival skills. We do have instructors who teach survival, but ‘heritage skills’ reflects how these are lost skills that were once part of everyday life, and we want them to be again.”

Tara Dodrill is a freelance writer who has authored articles about self-reliance. The couple attended a prepper gathering in North Carolina five years ago, which inspired them to start the homesteading summit.

“We’ve lost our way as a society because it is less common to know how to provide your own resources than it was even 75 or 100 years ago,” she said.

“The summit is a hands-on, interactive event. You learn better from hands-on experiences, and the more you do something, the more comfortable you get.”

Tara Dodrill said some attendees stay on-site at the campground during the boot camp, while others make cabins and cottages their home base. Attendees develop camaraderie amid classes, events, and entertainment.

“We also see people from all experience levels, including homesteaders who have lived in rural areas for years, city dwellers who want to learn how to become self-sufficient, and people who are ready to make a change and get property and learn how to lead a self-sustaining lifestyle,” she said.

From Seed to Spoon

The Food Independence Summit is held at Timbercrest Camp and RV Park, located amid the rolling green hills of eastern Ohio. Amish and Mennonite farms dot the landscape along roads traveled by horse-drawn buggies as well as automobiles.

The community is widely known as an Amish Country tourist mecca, but Holmes County and neighboring Tuscarawas County are also teeming with entrepreneurs focused on sustainable living products and services.

Here, self-sufficient living is a way of life for both Amish and “English”—the Amish term for those who do not belong to the Amish community.

That is one reason why the Food Independence Summit has already become one of the country’s largest sustainable living events, where experts provide insight and hands-on demonstrations about organic farming and food preservation.

This year, co-founders John Miller and Marcus Wengerd expect that as many as 5,000 attendees will take part in the event. Miller is CEO of Superb Industries and Wengerd owns Berlin Seeds, both located in the area.

Berlin Seeds provides seeds to 30,000 Amish and English families nationwide. Superb makes high-tech parts for the auto industry.

When there was a shortage of canning lids during the COVID-19 pandemic, a few local companies approached Miller about manufacturing the lids at his facility in Sugarcreek, Ohio. That led to the launch of Superb Canning, which is part of Superb Industries.

John Miller (front) and Marcus Wengerd (back), co-founders of the Food Independence Summit, speak at the June 2024 event. Courtesy of Food Independence Summit

One day back in 2022, Miller was driving to dinner with the company’s business unit manager, Dave Greer. They passed a golf course where there was a micro camping festival.

“We thought about having a canning festival,” Miller said. Then he talked to Wengerd.

“Marcus told me, ‘John, you’re thinking too small,‘“ Miller said. ”’We need to have a summit where we bring together people who grow their own food and show them how to do it—all the way from seed and soil to preservation.”

Wengerd owns the campground and RV park where they hosted the event.

“We had all the resources we needed, and we put together the first summit in 2022 in six weeks,” Miller said. “We sought as many experts and influencers in sustainable living as we could find, and now we have plans to keep growing every year.”

Homegrown food is one of the keys to healthier communities, Wengerd said.

“The summit focuses on seed to spoon,” he told The Epoch Times. “Seed is the currency of our planet. If we don’t have seed, then we go hungry. And if we don’t properly preserve what we harvest, that food will go to waste.”

This year’s event features exhibitors and experts who offer instruction on beekeeping, cheesemaking, candle making, broom making, canning, fermenting, meat processing, and chicken butchering—among other skills and tasks.

David Stelzer is founder and CEO of Azure Farm and Azure Standard, a leading producer and nationwide distributor of natural, organic, and non-genetically modified food. He is a speaker at the Food Independence Summit.

“After World War II, there was a huge move to cities from farms,“ he said. ”As the years passed, small and mid-sized farms became less frequent, replaced by a smaller number of large farms.

“When there was an economic downturn in 2008, we saw a resurgence of people getting property on the edge of town or out in the country so they could plant a garden and grow their own food. Now, more people are seeing the importance of becoming more self-sufficient.

“We have seen our customer base have a huge exodus to the country. Many people are rethinking their lifestyle, and coming together with an event where you can learn from people who know the skills [is] valuable.”

David Stelzer and his son, Zechariah, carry on the family's farming tradition. Cole Gorman

Amish Heritage

The region where the Food Independence Summit is held includes the second-largest community of Amish in the world. And most live in and around Holmes County, which has the highest concentration of Amish of any U.S. county. Half of the county’s population is Amish, and many members of closely related denominations such as the Mennonites reside here, too.

Amish Country is one of Ohio’s most visited tourist areas. Visitors flock here to experience farm attractions and museums and buy a wide assortment of handmade goods and artisan products.

Bed-and-breakfasts and historic inns dot the landscape amid sprawling, meticulously maintained farms. Horse-drawn buggies are just as common as automobiles on some of the roads.

Miller said that he appreciates the tourism support and traffic but that what makes this area “perfect” for an event that encourages gardening and homesteading is its heritage.

“We live in a community where homesteading is a way of life,“ Miller told The Epoch Times. ”The notion of sustainable living is a deeply entrenched tradition dating back several hundreds of years. This is a community that encourages and embraces entrepreneurial endeavors.

“Take a drive down these roads, and you can find food producers and manufacturers of barns, lumber, tools, and farming supplies.

“[The summit] brings together people who want to become more proficient at leading a self-sufficient lifestyle, and they can get all the supplies they need with the businesses that are here.”

A Return to Basics

Born and raised in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio, where she still resides, Samantha Rayburn is the founder of Hadassah’s Herbs for Health and Healing.

She will teach classes and hold demonstrations on foraging and making herbal tinctures at the Heritage Skills USA Homesteading Summit. She will also have a booth at the Food Independence Summit and educate visitors about the benefits of using herbs.

Rayburn developed an interest in foraging for herbs and plants when she was a child. She was inspired to make her first tincture when her oldest son caught whooping cough at age 2. He is now 18.

Events such as the Heritage Skills USA Homesteading Summit and the Food Independence Summit reflect “a return to the basics,” Rayburn told The Epoch Times.

“It’s getting back to when we knew what was in our food, because we grew it and got what we didn’t have from local farmers,” Rayburn said.

“God has given us everything we need right in front of us, if we only look and learn.”