January 2019 - 11

with the consistency of a " chocolate shake, "
in Andrea's words.
" We were still pulling them, but then
it dropped to 10 degrees and then they
froze, " Ryan Romeyn said. The farm has
since acquired a mid-1970s KES top-pull
root harvester. The farm has also invested
in its irrigation system and also a carrot
washing line, and taken out a loan to do so.
A good market for a product and the
ability to consistently produce are key in
scaling up production.
For growers looking to scale up, " my
advice would be, get comfortable growing
it, " he said. " Figure out your pricing on it -
figure out what you need to make on it to
make it worthwhile. Then look at tools to
help, and invest. "
Direct sales and distributors
Providence Organic Farm started selling
carrots directly to schools in 2012, but now
also sells its carrots through Cherry Capital
Foods. One interesting direct customer is
the school on Michigan's Beaver Island -
Andrea Romeyn delivers the food to the
airport for transport there.
Another local school asked Romeyn to
visit the cafeteria to talk about her produce.
" I had a fun time, " she said. " I just think
it's always worth your time to help children
understand where their food comes from. "
Many other schools, though, aren't ready
for direct sales and prefer to work through
distributors. And although most growers
might take pride in supplying the schools,
not all have the time to give presentations
or even do their own deliveries. The
Ryan and Andrea Romeyn, upper left, with their family. Photos: Providence Farm
group that started the local pilot program
for the 10 Cents a Meal Program, the
Groundwork Center for Resilient
Communities, has always recognized that
the farm-to-school movement has to be
good business for growers.
" It's about getting good things into the
schools but it's at the same time about
building Michigan's economy, " said
Diane Conners, a policy specialist for
Groundwork. " This is not a charitable
effort, where we want growers to be
donating to schools - it is where they
are building business relationships and
building the economy. "
Distributors like Cherry Capital Foods
help larger growers like Hudsonville,
Michigan's Victory Farms provide
vegetables to schools.
Victory Farms - owned by Michigan
Rep. Roger Victory - cultivates about 800
acres and the vast majority of its produce is
sold to mass distribution markets.
Farm Manager Jordan Bremer said
selling to smaller, regional distributors
like Cherry Capital Foods is still worth
the effort, even though it makes up less
than one percent of the farm's total sales.
" Every little bit helps, " he said. " If it's
profitable it still makes sense to us. It's
partly to help the schools and partly
because it's so profitable. " VGN
Multicolor carrots from Providence Farm
are widely distributed, including to schools
throughout Michigan.
December's community supported
agriculture share from Providence Farm.
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VGN | JANUARY 2019 | 11
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January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2019
