Conscious Choice Seattle: Going Organic

July 2006 | Back Words

Going Organic—For Good

The PCC Farmland Trust keeps breaking new and vital ground for no-chemical farmers and eaters

By Heather Nordell

One foto is organic veggies at Full Circle in Carnation, other is Michele Blakely of Growing Things Farms and Michaele Blakely is a master of creative organic techniques such as incorporating grass strips between vegetable rows, which mixes scents and confuses pests.]

Every minute, two acres of farmland are lost in the United States.

Residential and commercial development is crowding our vegetables and orchards. Farmers and farmland are becoming an endangered species.

Between 1992 and 1997, 12 million acres were lost per year—51 percent higher than the prior decade. During that period, more than 118,000 acres of Washington agricultural land disappeared.

You might be thinking, hey, there is still plenty of food on the grocery shelves. So why care about losing farmland?

For one—no local farms, no local food. Your greens and peaches lose flavor and nutrients as it travels more miles from California, Florida, South America, you name it.

Not only are American farms being wiped out like the Amazon rainforest (or transplanted in its place), but small farms with diverse crop production are losing out to larger, monoculture agribusiness. Be prepared for corn derivatives and lots of them.

The popularity of organic food is growing. This is a great thing. However, many small, organic producers are being bought or squeezed out by bigger companies in what food author Michael Pollan calls the “new organic industrial complex.” If these trends continue, don’t get too used to having your choice of heirloom tomatoes at the market.

These threats were clear to PCC Natural Markets. In 1999, the cooperative formed and funded the PCC Farmland Trust, a separate, independent, donor-supported 501C3 with a mission to save organic farmland—forever. It does so by raising funds, purchasing farmland at market rate, and then leasing or selling it to farmers at reduced, affordable prices.

There is one condition. The land must be farmed organically in perpetuity. A conservation easement ensures the land only be used for this single purpose, while also protecting biodiversity and wildlife. Since its inception, the Trust has purchased three parcels and saved more than 500 acres.

In May, the Trust bought 178.5 acres in Carnation, its first purchase in King County. The land was formerly a family-owned dairy farm. The history of the land was well known so it was immediately certifiable for organic standards.

Full Circle Farm purchased 127.2 of these acres, nearly doubling their production capability. Full Circle owner Andrew Stout believes the Trust is making innovative progress.

"We believe the PCC Farmland Trust is the first in the nation to claim farmland to be used exclusively for organic farming forever,” says Stout.

Growing the farmers too

Andrew and his wife Wendy Munroe started farming only 10 years ago on a three-acre plot in North Bend. Today, they are one of the largest and most successful family-run organic farms in the region. Andrew’s farming and business success has made him a teacher and mentor to others.

"Andrew not only grows vegetables, he grows organic farmers," says Goldie Caughlan, board member of PCC Farmland Trust and past member of the National Organic Standards Board with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Michaele Blakely, owner of Growing Things Farm, is leasing 31.3 acres of the Trust’s land. She has been farming organically in the region for 20 years and was recently honored with an award by local tilth producers. The PCC Farmland purchase enables her to continue after losing her long-time lease on five acres in Carnation. She and her husband, Joe Adams, recently moved onto the land and are in full-swing raising pigs, free-range chickens and growing a diverse variety of vegetables.

The Trust helps existing organic farmers and creates new ones. Fong Cha and Ma Thao are long-time, master farmers but are new to organic. The Vietnamese refugee couple leases 20 acres of the land.

They are members of the Hmong immigrant community, well known for its farming traditions. Stout and Blakely will mentor them as they transition to organic. Their Children’s Garden Farm, named for the education it provided their children, grows fruits, vegetables and flowers.

"The Trust is introducing organics to two great farmers,” says Caughlan. “Fong Cha and Ma Thao are greatly respected in their community. They have potential to be a strong influence in introducing to organics to other Hmong farmers.”

In 2001, the Trust made its first purchase in Sequim, a land parcel known as the Delta Farm. Today, 74 of the 97 acres are leased by long-time farmer Nash Huber.

In 2004, the Trust purchased the Bennington Place in the Walla Walla Valley. Now, Joel and Cynthia Huesby, a fourth-generation farming family, lease the land with an option to purchase it. Their ranch farm, Thundering Hooves, raises cows, heritage turkeys and chickens. The ranch became certified organic in 2005. What’s more, the Trust helped save another 83 acres of farmland through donating a challenge grant.

"We are trying to create a shared vision between organic farmers and eaters who want access to organic, local, fresh food," says Caughlan

The purchase of farmland was made possible by large and small donations to the PCC Farmland Trust. For more information about the Trust, visit www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/farmtrust.

Heather Nordell writes the upfront Green Lines column for Seattle Conscious Choice.

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