By Maria Gaura
This story originally appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle
SANTA CRUZ, Ca. - (Feb. 2003) - When Jeff Larkey began farming near Santa Cruz two decades ago, he found he didn't have to compete hard for the San Francisco shoppers eager to pony up premium prices for his chemical-free veggies. "You could sell pretty much anything organic 15 or 20 years ago," Larkey said. "And it didn't matter that much if it wasn't really great-looking."
Organic lettuce, a small-farm staple, reliably sold for $12 per 24-head box --
far more than the going rate for conventional lettuce.
Since that sweet beginning, the lure of profit has drawn agribusiness into
organics -- and small organic farms are now feeling the sort of dread that a
mom-and-pop grocery gets watching a brand-new Wal-Mart go up down the street.
As large organic operations snap up contracts with grocery chains, drive down
prices and dominate basic crops such as lettuce and carrots, small farmers have
to be creative to survive.
Many have not.
"I personally know six or seven small growers who have completely quit
farming," said Larkey, co-owner of Route One Farms. "It gets harder every year.
The organic lettuce that used to be so lucrative for Larkey
is a case in point. Competition has slashed prices as low as $4 a box, making
it one of an increasing number of crops that he can no longer afford to grow
for wholesale distribution.
"In America, if you do something really well and make a good profit on it,
you'd better be thinking about what comes next," said Bob Scowcroft, executive
director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation. "Because someone out there
will do it bigger and more efficiently."
Since Larkey got his start, the organic farming industry has expanded
lavishly, with revenues billowing 20 percent a year for the past decade to an
estimated high of $10 billion in 2002. But the hard feelings between small and
large farmers date back to the industry's early days, according to Scowcroft.
"Back in '87, I was director of the California Certified Organic Farmers,
and we would have these terribly tense meetings, where the farmers with 2 and 3
acres would accuse the 10- and 20-acre guys of throwing their weight around, "
Scowcroft said. "Now you have companies like Grimmway and Earthbound Farms with
thousands of certified (organic) acres -- they're some of the biggest farmers
in the world."
The pressures making life difficult for small and medium-size organic
growers mirror those faced by conventional family farms, thousands of which
have been forced out of business by factory-style farms and imports.
What makes the loss of small organic farms poignant to some is that many
of those being forced out were industry pioneers, even zealots, who farmed out
of conviction that organic is better for farm workers, consumers, the food
chain and the planet.
But farmers also are realists, and while nobody likes being squeezed
financially, most admit the changes are irreversible.
"Overall, it's probably a good thing," Larkey said. "Having organics go
mainstream is what we always hoped for in the early days."
Not surprisingly, big farmers agree with that assessment.
"As far as the environment is concerned, it doesn't matter why anyone goes
into organics," said Jeff Huckaby, who manages the organic division of Grimmway
Farms -- the biggest carrot producer on the planet, both of organic and
conventionally grown carrots. "The bottom line is that we're growing thousands
of acres every year with no chemicals or pesticides. That's a good thing, no
matter who is doing it."
Huckaby sad he thinks the disappearance of independent grocery stores is
the small farmers' real threat.
"We supply the big chains that a smaller farmer would never be able to
supply," he said. "The success of the small farmer depends on the small
retailer, and if they all get bought out, that will be a huge problem."
Grimmway, based in Bakersfield, was founded in 1968 as a roadside produce
stand. Today, its numbers are vast -- 9 million carrots per day, 365 days per
year, more than $300 million annual revenue, distributed in more than 30
countries. Although a relative newcomer to organics, the company already farms
18,000 organic acres.
Grimmway carrots, also sold under the Bunny-Luv and Cal-Organics labels,
are planted, harvested, washed, sliced and packaged by machine -- keeping
prices low. They come bagged, peeled, crinkle-cut, shaved down to bite-size
nuggets, grown with pesticides and without and -- most importantly -- they are
available year-round, without fail.
"The big grocery chains are moving into organics, and that's why our
market is taking off so drastically," Huckaby said. "Companies like
Albertson's, Safeway, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart need a large player like us to
keep the shelves stocked."
With the wholesale market becoming the province of the big players, small
growers are forced to find other buyers. Many are turning to direct sales --
and looking for individual customers in their own communities.
"It doesn't feel great to see a big operation with no philosophical
connection to organic farming come in and take my market away," Larkey said.
"But the real question here is, how do we cope? How do we keep going?"
Julia Wiley and Andrew Griffin, husband-and-wife owners of Mariquita Farms
in Watsonville, grappled with those questions after decades in the organic
business. The result is that they now sell all of their produce at farmers'
markets and directly to subscribers who pay for weekly deliveries of a box of
fresh mixed vegetables.
"We don't do any wholesale anymore -- zero, none," said Wiley. "We can't
even sell to (our local organic foods store) any more. Direct-to-retail
marketing is how we as small farmers have figured out to survive."
Their survival strategy included another big change: last year, they
merged their operation with High Ground Organics, another area family farm. The
merger provides some economy of scale, increases the company fleet to two
delivery trucks, and allows all the growers to focus on the crops they do best.
Mariquita grows tomatoes on hot-weather fields near Hollister,
while High Ground contributes greens from its cool-weather acreage near the
ocean.
The business is thriving, but the workload is staggering. In addition to
growing dozens of varieties of produce year-round, the little alliance does its
own marketing, customer service, route planning, box packing, deliveries,
publicity and special events.
The produce has to be varied, plentiful and flawless. Harvesting is by
hand. Sample recipes are provided. Dealing with customers requires cheerfulness
and patience. Weeks go by without a day off.
"We've done wholesale in the past, baby salad mix and specialty mixed
vegetables," Wiley said. "But when the big boys get involved, well, forget it. "
Wiley still grows carrots for the farmers' markets and her regular
customers, real baby carrots harvested young and tender -- not the machine-
shaped nuggets mass-marketed by Grimmway.
"Some schoolteachers around here take our carrots into the classroom,"
Wiley said, "so they can show the kids what a real carrot looks like."
Given the market trends, farmers' associations throughout the state that
represent farmers like Wiley and Griffin are encouraging consumers to buy local
produce. A group of Marin County farmers is close to starting a Buy Marin
campaign. The Community Alliance with Family Farmers has campaigns in Santa
Cruz and Sonoma counties to label locally grown food on supermarket shelves and
will soon expand its efforts throughout the Central Coast region.
Aside from the obvious selling points of taste and freshness, small
farmers point out that buying local produce will have ripple effects in terms
of preserving farmland and open space -- and jobs.
"I think there should be room for different levels of farming," Wiley
said. "We're happy with our level. But for this level of farming to exist much
longer, it's going to be up to the public."
Copyright 2003 SFChronicle
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