Direct Sales and the Future of Local Food

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Brooke Edwards

Editor’s note: The following is a guest post from an outgoing Heifer International intern, Lesley Waterson. If you are interested in becoming an intern with Heifer International, please contact interns@heifer.org.

Friday was the conclusion of my internship with Heifer International. Since April 2012, I have been working closely with Heifer’s USA Country Program. I received assignments on a wide range of topics, which included internal management of Heifer USA’s documentation, investigation of state legislation to support local food, and research on direct sales avenues for local farmers. Seeing the newly renamed USA Seeds of Change Enterprise (SOC) evolve throughout the course of my time at Heifer has provided valuable perspective, and I am truly grateful to have worked with a team of passionate and creative individuals.

Lesley, right, and Heifer International staff member Senchel Matthews on a site visit in Hughes, Arkansas. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

The shift in direction that SOC is taking will no doubt offer Heifer a plethora of new opportunities. With a strong entrepreneurial spirit, SOC will eventually lead to building relationships with food sector businesses and has the potential to play a larger role in how Americans get their food. But where does this process begin?

Poco a poco se anda lejos. English translation: “Little by little, one goes far.”

This is one of my favorite Spanish proverbs. To me, it means that success comes slowly and with deliberate steps. If we want to build a successful social enterprise for Heifer’s domestic farmers, we need to start small, create a strong cooperative model, and move toward expanding the market from there. One of the ways to start small is to establish a handful of direct markets. Direct markets (i.e. farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture [CSAs], online local buying programs) offer small- and mid-scale farmers a consistent and viable income. Products sold directly to consumers give farmers a higher profit margin than if they were to sell to a retail or wholesale supplier. (See http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/depts/midatlantic/FactSheets/direct_mrkt.shtml for more information). Direct markets also side-step tedious bureaucratic processes and establish more wholesome relationships with the farmers’ clientele. Hopefully these relationships will help farmers to feel a strong sense of pride in both their products and what they are doing for the community at large.

In the research I completed on direct sales avenues, it seems that there is a growing trend of incorporating workplaces as a place for farmers to connect with new potential consumers. What’s more, workplaces offer a beautiful chance to incorporate health insurance benefits to employees. Many companies with workplace CSAs or food share programs have provided payroll deduction options and even discounts on health insurance premiums for employees who participate. These options make participating in direct local food programs all the more attractive.

Here are the perks in a nutshell:

Farmers gain access to a consistent market
Employees (i.e. clientele) get affordable access to higher quality produce and farm products
Partnering businesses get bragging rights on innovative employee benefits and wellness programs
Health insurance companies have healthier customers (and fewer expenses) due to increased consumption of nutrient-rich farm products

Because these workplace CSAs and food share programs are still gaining ground, the hardest players to convince about the employee health benefits are the health insurance companies. But even this obstacle is slowly being overcome. Today there are a few examples in which health insurance companies are following suit in promoting local food. For instance, Fairshare CSA Coalition—based out of Madison County, Wisconsin—has created a rebate program ($100 for individuals and $200 for families) to support employees who want to buy local food. The rebate program is managed by four insurance companies—not the businesses where employees work. Since the program’s inception in 2005, rebates were claimed for 75% of all coalition CSA shares…a whopping 28,000 rebates in total. Check out http://www.csacoalition.org/ for more information.

With the changing climate of the healthcare industry and high obesity rates in the U.S., preventative health care measures will begin to play a larger role in our lives. This makes for an ideal time to involve local food and farmers.

Let me not simplify the difficulty in developing direct markets. Implementing such a program will require a lot of time, patience and energy. It will demand a detailed and flexible planning period. However, countless articles and trends point to a growing demand for local food. The more we—as consumers—vote with our dollar in supporting locally sourced food, the bigger the message that sends to our government’s leaders to modify how subsidies are divvied up among farmers. The pendulum of where our food comes from is slowly swinging away from the globally sourced commodity crops and is shifting towards a more centralized food system. I look forward to seeing where the local food scene goes next!

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

It is with bittersweet feelings that I conclude my internship with Heifer. It will be sad to leave all of the lovely employees and friends I’ve made who work at Headquarters, but the time that I’ve spent here has been overall an excellent experience. I look forward (and with great anticipation) to seeing how Heifer progresses—especially with such a colorful program like the Seeds of Change Enterprise.

We thank Lesley for her time here and wish her all the best in her future endeavors. If you are interested in becoming an intern with Heifer International, please contact interns@heifer.org.

“Seeds of Change” Farmers at Holiday Market

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Kelly MacNeil

Editor’s note: The following post is by Heifer International Arkansas Project Manager for the USA Seeds of Change project, Senchel Matthews.

On November 17, 2012, the small community of Hughes, Arkansas, held its very first farmer’s market. Several participants in Heifer International’s Seeds of Change project participated in the special event.

Residents and volunteers were up before sunrise to start preparations for the day’s big event. The cold crisp air did not stop the Heifer 4-H Youth club, which consists of 16 members, from coming out energized and ready to work.

As tables and tents popped up and fresh produce and goods were unloaded, I looked on with amazement as the blank canvas of land designated for the Hughes Holiday Farmer’s Market was transformed right before my eyes. Vendors arrived one by one, until all 11 were ready to sell their bounty of fruits, vegetables, handmade soaps, cakes, jams, honey and cupcakes. The “bounce house” and slide, which initially looked like a mass of colorful plastic, magically grew to a size larger-than-life and served as a magnet for children from the community.

The once quiet space was flooded with sweet music from the DJ who guaranteed me that before the day was over many patrons would dance while purchasing their goods and treats. He did not lie. Before I knew it I was engaged in a line dance with residents from the community.

I had the honor of talking with vendors about their fall growing experience and how many of them decided to venture into value-added goods such as turning tomatoes into spaghetti sauce and salsa or transforming zucchini into a delicious fluffy bread. I overheard patrons ask vendors questions about their produce and comment on how delicious the blueberry jam and soybean honey looked.

A few of the Arkansas Seeds of Change Delta Coalition members came out and showed their support through words of encouragement and purchases. The environment was teeming with activity and chatter. Hughes’ residents came out with their families and left with food and new acquaintances. Before the music stopped and the first table was broken down, inquires where made about when the next farmer’s market would take place. Since the nearest grocery store is 36 miles away, many residents were relieved to have access to fresh goods at the market before the Thanksgiving holiday.

As I packed up my bags of peppers, pak choi, kale, carrots, soaps and zucchini bread, I was approached by a lady who has lived in Hughes all her life. She walked up to me and gave me a hug and said “Thank you! We really needed this.” Little did she know I was the one thankful for having one of the best and tastiest Saturday’s of my life.

Heifer International’s Seeds of Change project works in Arkansas and Appalachia to help low-income Americans through sustainable agriculture.

Heifer USA Re-Creates Hope in the AR Delta

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Brooke Edwards

Editor’s note: Story and photos by Adelia Kittrell. Adelia has been with Heifer International for three and a half years. After two years in Peace Corps Paraguay, she began working with Heifer as a residential volunteer at Heifer’s learning center outside of Little Rock, Arkansas, in May of 2009 and currently works in the Philanthropy Department at Heifer International’s headquarters as a Resource Development Associate.

As an employee of Heifer, I sometimes get the chance to visit our work in the field. In September, I had the opportunity to visit one of Heifer’s projects right here in the Arkansas Delta, Seeds of Change. Like most people, when I think of Heifer’s work, I picture an exotic locale somewhere across the world. It was extra special for me to visit this project because my Grandfather grew up in the Arkansas Delta in Woodruff, and this trip gave me an opportunity to not only see what Heifer is doing in my back yard, but also how Heifer is changing the lives of people that very well could have been my family.

Touring Hughes, Arkansas with Mayor Larry Owens

Heifer started working in communities in the Delta in October 2011. Seeds of Change is unique to Heifer in that it not only seeks to lift its participants out of poverty through agricultural inputs, but also to build local social capital and shift the culture of the region to one of hope and trust. In the words of one speaker that day, “re-create hope.“ This is not an easy task. A theme we heard repeatedly during our visit from town leaders and project participants was the number of organizations that have come and gone, abandoning participants and leaving them with a sense of suspicion. Touring the town of Hughes, AR, with its mayor and seeing the housing situation, gave me a sense of urgency, a need to understand how this could happen not two hours away from the bustling downtown center of Little Rock where I live and work.

Re-Creating Hope in the Arkansas Delta

When you hear the term “food desert,” Hughes is the definition. The local grocery store burned down last year, leaving a Dollar Store as the only source of food. The closest grocery store is 20 miles down the road, so unless you have a car (many residents do not, and there is no public transportation), your only source of nutrition is processed or canned food from the Dollar Store. This means that even if you wanted to eat nutritiously, you could not. If you live in Hughes, you do not even have the choice between a summer salad and a bag of chips. It is hard for me to fathom a livelihood in a town without a grocery store.

But that is just the beginning of the list of problems residents of the Delta face. In Hughes, the median household income is $19,375. The median household income for the nation is $51,914. One hundred percent of children in Hughes are on free or reduced lunches, and 44.6 percent of the population receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. So with limited resources and the high price of fresh food, even if there were a grocery store in Hughes, how could they afford the healthy food they need to maintain energy and a healthy mind? The implications are great, far-reaching, and for another blog post.

Heifer’s first step in this dire situation is to teach families to grow food for their own consumption. This year, the farmers that Heifer worked with were able to lower their grocery bills and dramatically increase their consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. These families have plans to start a farmer’s market next year to provide a source of food to others. Heifer is also working to organize a coalition helping to bring farmers together and teach them the best ways of growing food crops such as salad greens and southern peas so they can diversify their production and access additional markets.

Purple hull peas grown by Heifer Seeds of Change participants

Even though Hughes lies in the middle some of the best farmland in the country, the vast majority of the acreage is used for crops such as cotton, soy and corn not grown for human consumption (cotton for textiles, soy and corn are for animal consumption and ethanol). Additionally, the majority of farm acreage lies in just a few hands, or its use is complicated by the legal limbo of “heir land,” or parcels of land not designated in a will, resulting in many, sometimes hundreds, of legal owners scattered around the country, thus forcing the land to lie fallow in many cases.

Having my eyes opened to the circumstances of poverty in this region, I realized the implications it has had on my family and others living in the region. Jobs are few and far between in this region, and lack of education is a common problem. In neighboring St. Francis county, 28.7 percent of kids never finish high school, 37.5 percent finish high school (or equivalent), and only 33.8 percent gain education beyond high school. There is a need for opportunities for local advancement to keep people, especially those with a college degree, at home to help grow the local economy and infrastructure. In the case of my family, once my grandfather and his brothers acquired a college degree, they left and are currently scattered across the country. Without dramatic changes, the future holds little opportunity for advancement in the Delta. This “brain drain” crisis is a result of the huge problems this area is facing. However, while there is recognition of these problems, people first need a reliable source of nutritious food, shelter and access to clean water. Heifer is working with communities to face these basic problems, starting with what we do best: teaching a man to fish.

You can help re-create hope in the Arkansas Delta (and Appalachia) by giving to Heifer’s Seeds of Change project. Click here to donate now.

Seeds of Change Green House in Forrest City, AR

Poverty in the U.S.: The Stories You Don’t Hear

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Annie Bergman

The home page for Bus 52 where you can keep track of where the bus is going and view the videos of where they've been.

It’s easy to become mired in hunger and poverty statistics. As people the world over struggle with economic stagnation, and more and more people slip below the poverty line, it’s not often that stories of hope and happiness make the airwaves. So I was particularly struck by a story I saw on The Huffington Post last week which highlighted the work of Bus 52.

Bus 52 is a documentary film project led by five young people who are traveling the United States on a converted school bus. Their aim is to tell the stories of people and/or organizations who are having a positive impact in their communities. While they don’t focus solely on what’s being done to combat hunger here at home, the article in the Huffington Post focused on that subject in particular. And I have to say, it was nice to hear some positives for a change.

Take the Generous Garden Project in South Carolina, for example. Local Bo Cable started an organic garden for the folks of Greenville after he saw a need in the area and after noticing that food banks had a dearth of fresh vegetables. “We just give it away,” Cable says in the Bus 52 video. “No questions asked.”

There are a number of other projects highlighted like the free cafe for the needy run by student volunteers at The University of Kansas, or the urban farming project run by Nat Turner in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. All admirable, and all reminiscent of how Heifer is working to help achieve food security and grow agricultural jobs through our Seeds of Change initiative.

So take a minute to remind yourself that there’s a need right here at home, and another to be inspired by all the things that are being done in communities just like yours.

Is there a happy story in your community that maybe we don’t know about? Tell us!

Heifer USA Projects Envision the Future

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Brooke Edwards

Editor’s note: This post was written by Heifer’s USA Program Officer Larissa Barry

As a part of the exciting work in the Seeds of Change Project, the Heifer USA team hosted a training in each of the Arkansas and Appalachia project areas in mid-June. Heifer staff from the United States Program including Tamidra Marable, Gretchen Schirmer, Senchel Matthews, Jeffrey Scott and Larissa Barry traveled to each of the trainings to bring our individual and collective expertise to the communities. Working with the growing community coalitions, we guided the communities through a process of collective visioning and then a discussion on the mechanics of project design.

In Arkansas, the training was held Thursday, June 14 in Forrest City. Over 20 community members attended from across the nine-county region that makes up Seeds of Change. Working through a participatory process, groups worked to create a visual representation of their collective vision. They used pictures and words from magazines to show what they expect from their participation in Seeds of Change. The themes across the collages included hope, change, family, healthy environment, food for all, inclusiveness and success.

The training continued in Appalachia on Tuesday, June 19 in Boone, North Carolina, in a similar fashion. There were just over 20 participants representing the five-county region in the High Country of Appalachia. Many of the themes that came out of their collective visioning exercise were similar to those from Arkansas. Some of the new ideas were that we are on a long journey, the need for quality food, work being trusted for generations and thinking about people from before birth to death.

When Heifer works in communities, we believe strongly in the knowledge and power that comes from the collective of ideas and experience from the community. We believe that communities are in charge of their destiny and that they are the only ones who know what is right for them. By guiding groups through this process of collective visioning, we are helping them articulate what they want for a brighter tomorrow. I was honored to be a part of this important work.

Help fund Heifer’s work in Arkansas and Appalachia to help us bring a brighter tomorrow for more communities, families and individuals in our own backyard.

Heifergraphic: Seeds of Change

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Brooke Edwards

Here in the United States, a child is born into poverty every 27 seconds. Data from the USDA suggests that this results in 1 of 5 children being food insecure, meaning that at any time during the year, a child is hungry because of the household’s lack of money and other resources for food. Additionally, the leading causes of death among Americans—heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancers directly linked to poor nutrition—are rapidly on the rise.

There is a direct connection between economic and physical health and our nation’s food system. In communities across the United States some of the critical missing elements to building localized food systems are farmers, businesses, jobs, capacity and infrastructure.

Two significant pockets of poverty in the United States are the Mississippi River Delta in Arkansas and Southern Appalachia. Heifer USA is focusing its work in these two regions, and if you check out the Heifergraphic below, I think you’ll see why:

Click Heifergraphic to enlarge.

To help end hunger and poverty in the Arkansas Delta and Southern Appalachia, donate here.

From the CEO: Fighting Poverty Locally

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Pierre Ferrari

When some people think of hunger and poverty, they picture people struggling in different parts of the world – many of the countries where Heifer is already working. Very rarely do we picture families and individuals that are living in the United States, but it is a reality we need to recognize.

Many Americans are just one major illness or job loss away from sliding below the poverty line, and millions are already there. Roughly 46 million people in the United States live below the official poverty line. One in every five children in the country is food insecure, meaning he or she may have to forgo nutritious foods or meals all together because there’s not enough money to pay for them.

I think we overlook the poverty here in the U.S. because it is difficult to accept and it is even embarrassing. With all the abundance of resources we have, why are people still hungry? Whatever the reason is – perhaps lack of knowledge or lack of access – it is undeniable that families are struggling.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. And it is not a problem that “someone else” can fix. I want to ensure that we rid the world of hunger and poverty, and sometimes that means that the work starts at home.

I’ve received many letters or met with donors that have asked me how they can support Heifer’s work in the United States. Heifer USA recently kicked off Seeds of Change, a five-year project to support and cultivate sustainable community food systems and create jobs in Arkansas and Appalachia. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other partners, Heifer USA will build a food system value chain that connects farmers with businesses , markets and their communities. I’m so excited about the outcomes from this project and most important is that this project links healthy local food and meaningful work.

Photograph by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International

Now this work will not happen overnight. It will take a lot of time, dedication and effort – from ourselves and from our participants – but change is coming.

Hunger and poverty aren’t tomorrow’s problems. We need to address them today, and with your support we can help families and individuals in need become empowered, self-reliant and economically stable.

I invite you to read the latest issue of the World Ark to read more about Heifer’s work in the United States and how you can support Heifer USA’s Seeds of Change.

Heifer Ranch Trains New Farmers

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Kelly MacNeil

Some residents of the Arkansas Delta – potential participantsin Heifer’s new Seeds of Change project – got their first look at functioning organic agriculture last weekend at Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Ark.

Trainer Chuck Crimmins shows off new seedlings

Because there are few examples of chemical-free agriculture in the Delta, where cash crops dominate, the four visitors had a lot to learn. Some have already grown crops on the fertile Delta land and others are first-time producers. They were intrigued by niche animal agriculture, including goats, chickens, and bees.

Farmer Everette Woods

Everette Woods of Colt, Ark. currently farms 240 acres of wheat, soy, and sorghum. “When I was young, I swore I’d never go into farming,” he chuckled. But eventually the family business called him back.

Now, as Woods feels himself being squeezed out of the industry by larger players, he’s looking to try a different style of farming. Heifer is a natural partner. Seeing the breadth of knowledge needed to keep an organic farm in balance without chemicals he marveled, “This is hard work!”

The Ranch has been in Heifer’s hands since 1971, originally used to raise livestock that was shipped overseas. Since Heifer began locally sourcing its animals within other countries, the Ranch has been used mainly to educate the public and Heifer supporters. The training day represents a chance for the Ranch to participate directly in Heifer’s mission, as a training facility and resource for project participants.

In one day, trainers Chuck Crimmins and Paul Casey could only skim their detailed knowledge of sustainable agriculture. Every question that the participants asked only cracked another volume of unique challenges and clever solutions. Rotating crops for healthy soil? Chuck could spend days on it. Sheep parasites? Paul could write a book.

Trainer Chuck Crimmins and Chris Johnson of Hughes, Ark. talk chickens.

The participants got more out of their trip than technical instruction, though. Their eyes were opened to opportunity. They learned about the sizzling market for locally-produced food and saw the potential for earning money with Earth-friendly farming. “I feel like a kid again, going on a field trip,” said Antoine Burks, from Hughes, Ark. “Except this was a field trip of dreams.”

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