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For close to two decades,
educators at a California community-based organization have
taught production and marketing skills to hundreds of immigrant
farm laborers from Central America. Many have since become profitable
independent farmers.
– Photo by Jerry DeWitt |
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In the mountains of southwestern Virginia, where jobs are scarce
and the living is hard, agricultural educators and community advocates
trying to encourage farmers to grow something other than tobacco
or grain have a tough sell. Despite that mindset, a dynamic partnership
known as Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD) improves conditions
for farmers living on the economic edge. They provide training in
sustainable vegetable growing and, possibly more important, ferret
out new markets – health food stores and restaurants in what’s
known as the tri-city area of Appalachian Virginia – willing
to buy from them at a premium.
Today, southwest Virginia farmers sell a variety of produce, from
cucumbers to watermelon, and have improved their net returns by
a few to several thousand dollars per year, according to ASD. The
effort, which the group hopes will expand, provides a successful
model for extension educators, nonprofit organizations and other
groups trying to improve agricultural economies using environmentally
friendly practices as a hook.
“We had a basic idea at the beginning – to create local
economies that are better for people and better for the environment,”
said ASD director Anthony Flaccavento. “In agriculture, that
translates to creating markets that reward sustainable practices
and make farming economically viable.”
This bulletin was written for agricultural educators who want to
improve their outreach to farmers and ranchers who do not usually
participate in traditional government educational programs. It showcases
innovative educational approaches for use by Extension, government
agencies and community-based organizations trying to better connect
with and improve the lives of diverse farmers and ranchers.
The Appalachian Sustainable Development story “describes a
mountain county in southwest Virginia, but it could be in any county
in the U.S.,” said John O’Sullivan, a state extension
specialist with North Carolina A&T State University. “In
many counties, there are two economies – one very successful
and well-connected, the other poor and inhabited by limited-resource
families. Small farmers frequently live in this ‘other’
economy.”
Sustainable agriculture, with its emphasis on profits, not farm
size, offers a range of possibilities for producers with varied
resources. Many sustainable methods, such as rotational grazing
systems for livestock, inexpensive “high tunnel”-like
greenhouses for vegetables and local marketing strategies for farm
products, are more realistic for producers of limited means than
embarking upon larger, more capital-intensive production systems.
Initially, the market for the new crops grown by the Appalachian
farmers was small, limiting the number who could participate. In
1999, ASD offered to supply local tomatoes to a small, family-owned
chain of supermarkets that was planning to introduce a limited line
of organic produce. It was a gamble.
“There’s a high expectation that you’ll deliver,”
Flaccavento said. “We had a huge risk because we had to fill
the shelf space with a solid supply.”
When the group started their sustainable vegetable production project
in 1997, partially funded by USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education (SARE) program, tobacco farmers were looking
for profitable alternatives, and ASD was providing them one, if
they were willing to take the financial risk.
ASD’s series of about 75 hands-on workshops in sustainable
vegetable growing, which were held mostly on farms and taught both
by trained educators and farmer collaborators, yielded a pool of
interested farmers.
When two of the more traditional farmers from their workshops agreed
to grow tomatoes for the local grocery chain, Flaccavento knew the
venture would work. As de facto leaders in the community, the two
influenced others to grow tomatoes, and what had been an ambitious
scheme became reality.
“We had enough success with solid on-farm workshops reaching
farmers that we were able to get our first tobacco farmers to come
on,” Flaccavento said. “The early adopters were young
and willing to take risks.”
By 2002, 25 farmers affiliated with ASD were growing vegetables
on up to 16 acres on their small, diversified farms. Their earnings
provide a real success story for those working with growers of limited
means who fall beneath the radar screen of many public programs.
(Click here for a complete story about
this project.)
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