Homegrown Success

Rows of delicate, leafy lettuces, mounds of squash, clusters of bright red strawberries and tomatoes, bursting with sweet aromas and fresh flavors. Some might remember such fresh fruits and vegetables from their grandparents’ garden. For most Americans, though, supermarket produce is the norm. Grown far away, bred to withstand shipping, picked sometimes weeks before they ripen, mass-production fruits and vegetables can’t match their local, garden-fresh counterparts.

Accompanied by a recent flurry of books touting the glory of home-grown produce, a growing number of consumers are seeking fresher, more flavorful fruits and vegetables with fewer chemicals. And, as fuel and food prices soar, "locavores"—the term coined for those who choose locally grown food—further appreciate produce that requires less transportation and fewer middlemen to get it from field to table.

Although agriculture is an economic engine in Southwest Florida, finding produce here that is grown for freshness and flavor rather than for shelf life isn’t easy. Even farmer’s market fare is often from industrial-scale farms.

Chris and Eva Worden are providing a solution. About five years ago, the couple started Worden Farm, Southwest Florida’s only state-certified participant in Community Sponsored Agriculture (CSA), also known as a farm-share program.

The Wordens grow more than 60 varieties of organic produce on 55 acres near Punta Gorda. For a $600 fee, paid in late spring, they provide fresh, organic produce to their 300 members for several months. That’s enough "shares" for the Wordens to support their business, themselves and their two young children.

Members receive weekly a box containing at least eight different vegetables, one or two bunches of fresh herbs, and sometimes fruit—almost all picked no more than 24 hours earlier. Because their customers are local and the transportation minimal, the Wordens have the flexibility to plant varieties known for flavor more than durability.

CSAs are relatively new to Florida, where most farms are large, industrial operations, often with international distribution. But they have existed elsewhere in the country for about 20 years, and their popularity is soaring.

About a dozen state-certified CSAs have sprung up in Florida in the past six years. "I think it’s going to be like yoga," says Eva. "A few years ago, it was some kind of strange, exotic thing, and now everybody’s doing it."

There’s good reason to believe it will continue to grow. A 2007 survey by the Produce Marketing Association found that consumers are willing to pay more for produce that tastes better—which is a key reason why they choose locally grown fruits and vegetables. And the Organic Trade Association cites a study by Packaged Facts that found the organics industry in the United States grew to $17.7 billion in consumer sales in 2006, with foods representing 95 percent of that total. "Organic foods are one of the fast growing market segments within the food industry, with sales growing at an annual rate of 20.9 percent in 2006," according to the association’s 2007 Manufacturer Survey.

According to the Florida Certified Organic Growers association, which tracks certified organic growers, the number in Florida grew from 90 five years ago to about 140 now. That certification is the only assurance consumers have of truly organic vegetables, and the Wordens say the process can be heavy on the record-keeping and paperwork. "We would want to do most of the actual farming that way, regardless; but it’s the only way consumers can know whether something is really organic," Eva says.

In spite of the growing popularity, the Wordens don’t worry about competition. In fact, they’d welcome more farmers like themselves, which could make it easier to find needed services—everything from seed sales to machinery repair—and provide a support network.

Chris and Eva Worden worked with other farm operations around Dade County for several years before striking out on their own, and searched for years to find a place that combined the quality of life they wanted with the land they needed. They chose Punta Gorda as a place to live, citing its small-town feel and proximity to Fort Myers and Sarasota. Finding the farm land was harder. "Everything for sale is either five or 10 acres, which was not enough for us, or hundreds or thousands of acres, which is too much," Eva says.

Fewer than a half-dozen workers, depending on the time of year, help keep the farm going, and the Wordens provide some housing for them on site.

"You always hear that it’s hard to find farm labor, but we have not found that to be the case," Eva says. "If you provide people with a pleasant working environment, one that’s free from chemical dangers, you don’t have that kind of problem."

Their workforce almost always includes college students on internships and others involved with or interested in learning more about organic and sustainable farming.

The Wordens, who have Ph.D.s in horticultural- and agricultural-related fields, are concerned with sustainability, and that’s led them to some practices that don’t always correlate with those at larger farm operations. For example, many farmers grow only one crop, partly because it makes for easier bookkeeping. "We’ll mix things up," says Eva. "It’s more sustainable this way, like an ecosystem with a lot of different plants, and it always seems to work out OK," she says.

In deciding what to grow, they consider a vegetable’s popularity. They also try to include at least one kind of produce in every box that members might find unusual or exotic, such as kohlrabi, fennel or mizuna greens, along with a sheet listing the contents and some recipes.

Although they’re often asked to supply large markets or chain stores, the couple rejects such offers, saying they prefer a closer relationship with the people who eat what they produce.

"We’re very proud of what we grow, and we like selling it directly to the people who consume it," says Eva. "We’ve had requests to ship it as far away as New England, but to us, it’s more logical and more sustainable to sell to local customers. The freshness makes all the difference in the flavor, and you don’t use so many resources for shipping."

Diane Seidenstein, a Fort Myers customer who has been a Worden client for three years, found the service after hearing about similar operations from her daughters in Seattle and Virginia.

"I was so happy to find we had one here," she says. "With all the news about it, all the stories you read about the importance of fresh, locally grown produce, you have to think that it will be successful."

The flavor difference from mass-produced fruits and vegetables is obvious, she says, especially in salad greens, tomatoes and potatoes. "There’s no way you get that kind of flavor from something that’s been grown to ship around the country," Seidenstein says.

Supporting a local business is another plus. It also cuts down her grocery store trips and has changed her cooking and eating patterns. "We’re eating more in tune with the seasons, like they did a couple of generations ago," she says.

That’s a big part of CSA farming, which Florida’s Department of Agriculture describes as "a way of life" that involves working with people, sustainable farming practices, eating with the seasons and teaching those values to others.

"Community" and "sustainability" are two words Eva Worden uses a lot—along with "pleasant"—to describe what they do. "When we have tours here or visitors, everybody talks about how they love having a garden and how wonderful homegrown vegetables taste," she says. "They don’t always realize how it easy it could be for more communities here to do the same thing."

The Wordens host classes, workshops and tours about their farm, organic produce, and how to freeze or preserve fresh vegetables. Eva believes most people support the same goals, and she wants to promote more community farms. She’s been taking the idea to some large-scale developers to encourage them to provide space in residential communities for residents to grow some of their own food.

The Wordens, who expected to fill up quickly after sign-up began in May for the coming season, could grow their CSA to serve more members. But business expansion, which would mean more staff and bookkeeping, isn’t their goal. "We may not be rich by some people’s definitions," Eva says, "but we have everything we need and want, and it’s such a pleasant way to make a living. You feel like you really are doing something that helps people’s lives."