He retired from the city. Now he farms to feed Long Islanders in need
Jim is spending his fifth season volunteering at Island Harvest’s Healthy Harvest Farm in Brentwood.
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Retirement can mean slowing down. For Jim Silberger, it means showing up at the farm.
Jim is spending his fifth season volunteering at Island Harvest’s Healthy Harvest Farm in Brentwood. In fact, the day we visited, he was marking his 100th day at the farm.
“I’m here if the farm is open,” Jim tells us.
The two-acre organic farm grows fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs that are distributed to Island Harvest pantry clients and people facing food insecurity on Long Island. The farm depends heavily on volunteers to plant, maintain and harvest the crops.
Jim says he was not a gardener before he started volunteering.
Before retirement, he worked in facilities and maintenance in Manhattan. After retiring, he wanted to find a way to give back.
“And there was nothing more important or more needed than food and conquering food insecurity,” Jim explains.
Five seasons later, he has become a fixture at the farm.
“There is not a piece of this farm that Jim hasn’t mowed, planted, fixed, turned around,” said Cassidy Kirch, the farm manager. “He supports this farm. We could not do any of this without him.”
The work can be demanding, but for Jim, that is part of the reward.
“There’s a certain degree of reward that you don’t find everywhere else,” he said.
And the work has a tangible impact. Island Harvest volunteers help grow and harvest fresh produce at the Healthy Harvest Farm, which is then distributed to the community. The organization says its volunteers contribute more than 60,000 hours of service each year across its hunger-relief programs.
For Jim, retirement has not meant stepping away from work. It has meant finding work that feeds something bigger than himself.
And every day at the farm, there is another crop to plant, an irrigation line to fix and another harvest that can help a Long Island family in need.
