13. Also many things going out to the National Alliance on Mental Illness one in every 4 persons has a mental illness and there is recovery change of lifestyle lifestyle change of environment and medication that can help a person with a mental disorder or lead a productive life understanding and accommodating a person with a mental illness will help increase the stigma and help a person towards recovery change your heart change your mind for more information about the National Alliance on Mental Illness Bonnie can be reached on the divide of 530-333-1482. And many things going out to Susie and Stan. Who say they love the variety of programming it k f a k and acknowledge the broadcasters who put a lot of hard work and love into their individual programs making a unique and special radio station Thanks Stan and Susan and glorying road coffee and thank you for listening to k.f. Ok l.p.f. Am Georgetown uniting the divide and beyond. Today we are exploring the intersection between ecology and technology in the form of a company that has developed a complete off grid toolkit for operating a farm anywhere this land and some water we're speaking with the co-founder off farm from a box today a beautiful marriage between ecology and technology here and again a conversation your show on everything that makes life worth living. I'm healthy Helberg there are plenty of challenges to food production including access to land the veil ability of clean water and the right infrastructure so that the farm can be functional and productive for months and years to come for example access to electrical power for occasion palms a cooler for appropriate post-harvest handling and so much more there's a company that set out to solve that challenge and they've succeeded by creating a completely self-sufficient model of a movable energy farming Center which can be used in inner cities anywhere in the u.s. As well as in any other situation on this planet as long as there's land and water available and the co-founder is with us today brandy to currently in this hour of an organic conversation farm from a box a beautiful marriage between ecology and technology all that and more coming up in just a minute here and again a conversation I'm healthy Helberg and this show is brought to you by equal exchange and work or own cooperative that ensures you food is environmentally sound and socially just equal exchange has been creating big change for small farmers for over 30 years by offering certified organic and fair trade coffee tea chocolate but Nanna's and avocados more on equal exchange at equal exchange dot co-op that's equal exchange dot c o o p and by utterly offering beautiful and fun clothing for boys and girls that is made entirely for. The unused fabric of prominent apparel manufacturers each garment reduces our eco footprint by preventing this fabric from reaching the waste stream utterly making sustainability fashionable and fashion sustainable for more information at early dot seo that's you t t e r l y dot seo. And we're back here to know again a conversation I'm held Helberg it's time to explore the intersection between ecology and technology as and company that set out to solve the challenge of immovable farm center and who with me now is the co-founder of that organization Farm from a box in this episode of on again a commiseration a beautiful marriage between a college and technology that's brandy to Carly the founding partner off farm from a box. Brandi Welcome to the show thank you very much for having me when I saw your concept I really felt for the 1st time this is what technology should be used for there's so many areas of technology where we learned afterwards what was challenging what didn't work you know. The dangers of integrating phones as the new center of our lives and yet you have so elegantly found a way to using the cutting edge of technology to support in this case food production nature ecology What did you recognise as a need to birth the concept of farm from a box really it's coming down to a lack of infrastructure to support locally grown sustainable farming I think when my business partner and I 1st started working together several years ago we were working on a project in Kenya and we found that the community was really struggling with not only healthy access to food but also just basic infrastructure that could really support a reliable crop growth the project that we were working on was actually not necessarily anything to do with farming but it was a youth empowerment center but we were utilising modified shipping containers built around a soccer field to bring in basic resources to the area so it was very focused on education health and sport but once we sort of stepped back all of those things are very necessary but if there still isn't proper nutrition access in the area then we've got another problem that we have to address where we as a playing then what was in those shipping containers was you know we modified the containers be a basic classroom or a basic health clinic and we wanted to make sure that we could utilize the containers to deliver this sort of youth empowerment center pretty quickly and be able to get that up and running directly around the soccer field so when we started to address the food issue we started to really think Ok How is it that we could take the same model that a shipping container can allow and make it a plug in play food containers system that can actually support local growth and so that's what we did coal So tell us about what how does it work what does it look like if somebody was really to envision this and we'll put it up on Facebook of course with photos when we list the. Show but if you describe it we're talking shipping container there are 2 different sizes a 20 foot and a 40 footer What is this if you had to visualize Yes it's a funny thing when people hear farm from a box they're like Oh are you delivering things on our doorstep which is no no no no box is very large so we are working with a 20 foot shipping container right now is our core model so if you can imagine a 20 foot shipping container where on the top of the container we have 3 kilowatts of solar energy that solar power ends up providing power to a submersible water pump that will move the water out through a 2 acre field through microchip irrigation lines inside of the container is basically the hub of all of the technology that serves the entire farm so we also have the inverters the off grid power storage area in terms of the batteries in the back section of the container we have an internal cold storage unit for being able to keep the crops cooler longer we also have basic tools so there's a little workbench we have Wi-Fi connectivity we like to refer to it affectionately as a Swiss army knife of sustainable farming and the box was definitely the hub for this can people grow seeds for example out like whoa whoa much spaced you get in a 20 foot shipping container 20 feet is sounds you know fair but it's limited I mean you needed to rethink every inch of that space right between post-harvest tent and cooler that needs to be substantial but small enough to allow other space batteries equipment hope pact is that it is taking us some time to come up with the design Suffice it to say everything is everything is really planned you know for for people that are familiar with a v.w. Camper van I grew up going camping with my father in the South German thank you for the Ok we're going everything inside of a v.w. Camper van it really is very compact it's thought out and it's efficient and it's spacing so we really sort of took that same. Filter in how it is that we were designing the space for maximum efficiency with a 20 foot shipping container so that definitely informs some of the ways in which we designed this but we also wanted to make sure that it was compact enough that for trucking purposes a 40 foot shipping container can certainly limit what type of field we may be able to put this in so we wanted it to be light compact and really efficient How long did it take you to to come up with a design where you felt you know this is optimal use or is this ongoing work are you still looking at it constantly and refining it I think we will always be looking at it constantly refining it once once you really have the 1st few units out there it's sure you're learning do you want to look and do and then you continually look and innovate and improved so I think that will be a part of our adventure that lies ahead of us is how is it that we can take this model but continually improve it and continually do it in ways where it can also be applied to different areas one important distinction to make is that there are a number of different containerized food production systems out there but most of them are all hydroponically grown leafy greens utilizing the inside of the container because the growth we flipped it inside out so we're using that container to hold all of the infrastructure and almost act as that barn on site if you will a technologically in case barn but all of the growth is happening on the 2 acres outside of the barn so we can we can do seedlings and attach on greenhouse shade house area to be able to directly plant into the field but we like to really make sure that we're using sun and soil so that you can grow any crop that you're looking to be able to grow through the system yeah great I mean with hydroponics and we had shows on that before indoor growing lights and all that it's amazing what can be done in houses but I'm I'm a soil advocate so while that is impressive for me it's missing even if you out the nutrients there's so many things we don't. Understander we haven't research yet sort of the soil and there's nothing else like it and just as you know we were told if you eat these vitamins you should be fine there are things we keep exploring or keep finding by a flood of annoyed by them and see was just a few decades ago unknown before so I agree with you that the virtue of growing in direct soil also 2 acres while productivity in a growing indoors may be fairly high $120.00 foot shipping container can use at 2 acres can sue acres karate or a gate and have the energy and the infrastructure for to exactly exactly it's produce is a lot of crop 2 acres is a bit of a sweet spot where it's a good size for a community farm it's manageable enough for. A little family farmers to be able to grow and it's not too big where you start really needing to get into mechanized equipment or you know a lot of people and it's enough where you can really do a really good job and have an incredibly productive What does that mean in other words what it was it designed for who was the solution designed for mostly refugee camps small urban communities other emergency situations what did you have in mind when you came up with this idea you know it's interesting when you say that because all of the above is what really applies now but at the genesis of the idea at the very genesis if I may say the Kenya project was was where the idea really came up in terms of how can we bridge that missing infrastructure gap by providing a deliverable system that could really have. Sustained reliable crop growth there within the community as we started diving into it a little bit more than we really saw well wait a minute how can we actually have an alternative to standard food aid by being able to provide communities the tools that they need to grow their own crop and so that was actually the genesis is how is that can this really be able to serve p. . People that that need to grow their own food and it has evolved as things always do so it's absolutely still serves that purpose refugee camps is absolutely one of them but it also serves a really beautiful way of being able to involve people in the food that they are are eating and how it's grown so it's beautiful for Spore schools for urban farms for food deserts for rural areas we're finding that a lot of people that already have land would like to be able to make productive use out of it and be able to grow their own sustainable crops of for their own consumption but also be able to sell whatever you know they need for income generation purposes too so so it's interesting it's a bit of a chameleon it can serve many different purposes and I think that there's a very real need for localizing our food production both domestically and globally I'm with brandied to Carly She's the phoning partner of farmer from a box that's farm from a box dot com the website in this hour off farm from a box a beautiful marriage between ecology and technology we're talking about a 20 foot shipping container movable barn that provides all the electricity and infrastructure needed as long as there's land and water to create and to be productive as a small scale hands on 2 acre plus farm which is an interesting timing that you picked or life picked you to develop this however you want to see that but we are losing about 50 percent of our agricultural base in the next 10 years but there are lots of farmers that have reached or are reaching retirement age in the us we have 2000000 family farms left and we know that about a 1000000 will be lost in the next 10 years nobody really is talking about that and with that retirement also comes the question of what will happen to the land most of the time it might be sold or developed and it will be lost as agricultural land forever. We have about 30 to 50000 new young farmers in schools or getting into agriculture right now which is wonderful but only a fraction of what's needed with your concept you are allowing access to land that otherwise without infrastructure or municipality or electricity grid could not be farmed did you realize that when you started this concept or do you see the need now for u.s.d.a. You're basically the solution for ag land access in the u.s. Which is maybe the biggest problem we have young farmers the number one thing they say other than you know getting loans without equity and or assets but access to land is the number one topic that I hear about where you where if that access to land is a big one and we weren't necessarily looking at that at the onset of this but we're now seeing a huge demand for that and you're absolutely right the ageing farmer population that we're facing is a really big deal and so how is it that we can also reignite interest in farming but also reignite interest in farming that is sustainably grown healthy food production that really utilizes resources wisely we can't continue to farm in a lot of the ways that we have been farming here in California I mean we're certainly dealing with it now with flood irrigation and limited hacks us to water we've got to be able to look at things from a little bit of a different path and I think Thankfully technology can serve a dual role in that making sure that be small farms are really efficient really productive but can also really get the interest of a younger generation and get them involved and technology can play a key role in that too how long did it take you to from from the 1st idea to this mature a state of having a 20 foot shipping container that basically meets all the needs of it to record production barn plus plus the energy. Writing that on top of it we've been working on this for 3 years pretty intensely 3 years 2 I would have not been suppose you had said 10 so if you feel that's Lall fields short to me I think it's really well cuz we've lived and breathed so intensely for years it's taken us some time you know really being able to examine Ok what are those core core core components that really need to be integrated into this and then when you look at growing outdoors there are so many different variables to agriculture so around the world exactly half a world where the application so how do you really honor that how do you make sure that through that lens of localization how do we honor the local climate what the soil condition is what the water access point is what the local culture is so I've already said the analogy of Swiss army knife I'm going to throw another one in there and I think going through this is we've had to keep the product really dynamic to be able to respond to a lot of those variables so we can plug in plug out so it's modular like you can it's modular but almost lego style where to make sure that we have a unit work for a certain area you know we figure out all right what is your water access point what is it that you're looking to be able to grow where is the farm going to be who's it going to be for and we can actually custom tailor the unit a little bit to make sure that it's responding to that too that's phenomenal and of course I know that the irrigation for example everything at that farm box can be run through your cell phone much of it and yet there might be areas in the world where there is no cell phone or there is no internet so having it be modular or individually designed a bull to some degree is a huge asset of course in a world where the application Absolutely and to your point in terms of not necessarily having access to cellular that's one thing that we wanted to make sure that we included in all of these boxes is we live in a very connected world now and so in order to. Able to really utilize technology and also get information accessed we wanted to have Sure make sure that each box was connected live so whether that's connecting to y 5 cellular access or via satellite that's also something that we include in the box so that there's information access and that you can track and monitor the performance of the system even remotely cool excellent wonderful farm from a box a beautiful marriage between the college and technology with me is Brandy de Carli the founding partner of farm from a box again that's far from a box dot com This is in again a conversation I'm here to help Burke and we'll take a quick break to honor our underwriters we're right back with so much more this show is brought to you by Bowman college a leader in the field of a list of nutrition and cola narry arts become a nutrition consultant or a natural chef at one of their campuses or learn from home in a self paced mentor to distance learning program for more information on a degree in holistic nutrition or canary arts Boman college dork. And fry vineyards America's 1st organic winery family owned and operated dedicated to the highest levels of a Gannett and Biden to make farming fried never outs synthetic sulfites or other preserve ifs to their wines award winning lines at fry wine dot com That's f r I w i n e dot com And thank you also to Earl So again it produce a national distributor of organic fruits and vegetables that has been sourcing Soli organic produce for over 20 years from grocery store to company cafeteria to cater us and personal chefs anyone can buy from Earl's organic certified again it produce at Earls organic dot com. And we are back here to know again it could come as ation Helberg the topic is the exploration off the. Section between ecology and technology there's an amazing concept it's called farm from a box it's a 20 foot shipping container that can be individualized to meet the farming needs electricity and so much more for any piece of land that has access to some water anywhere around the world and we're speaking with the founding partner Brandy Carley today here in this episode brandy we talked about the different applications of it for me that's the form as a function what are you doing the most you feel are you educating are you feeding Are you building community or building resilience What is it I keep answering your questions with all of the above and I think that's just actually the only for an accurate answer so we're absolutely doing all of those things I mean when you really think about local farms and when you think about sustainable food production it is educating it is building community it is making sure that there is health that's in the community but you're also empowering people empowering people to be able to have much more choice with what it is that they actually consume but empowering people to be able to really make a sustainable income off of the land that they have so it's a little bit of all of all of the above I love that and with income of course comes the question of cost of piece of land of course depending on where it is and what you grow but how much does a shipping container like that and it's you know normal configuration whatever that exactly means but what's the range of costs for somebody who's interested in purchasing one and how much food value are you able roughly to create with it now it's a good question so each one of our units right now and again we can tailor it to match whatever the situation is on the ground but the range right now from about $50.00 to $55000.00 depending on whether or not you get the fully Cadillac version with the whole io t. System and subsidize a. No not a v.w. Bus I really I'm making things a little bit more complex here but yes and we can make sure that from that you know the system is crop acknowledge so it can support any type of crop that the farmers really looking to do and that provides maximum flexibility so whether a farmer is looking to grow crops more for consumption and nutrition it will support that if you're looking to just grow cash crops or income generation it can support that or even better yet the combination of the 2 so I think off of about a 2 acre plot of land we like to say as a baseline that that can feed about 150 people a year with about 110 pounds of produce i'm sorry i'm using American standards here in terms of what the measurements are great but it's quite a bit and what would that mean in value in other words how many years would you grow in order to even have paid for the shipping container Gadol that would that would also depend on what it is that you're growing but we like to say that you can see who is safe bet would probably be making 100130000 all of off of each one of these farms on an annual basis so you'd be able to buy back the farm pretty quickly that means in other words that even in not ideal conditions roughly within a year definitely within 2 years the box will pay for itself yes that's kind of unheard as a solution to areas were no food production is possible without that in the city grid and the irrigation pumps and all that it is and since we're we're putting all of these components in the box that are meant to last for years we want to make sure that the dirt billet he is there so it's an investment on the front end but you're going to can have continued production year after year thereafter and since it's an independent system that doesn't require grid access that also lowers any sort of ongoing costs that you have from there as well which brings us to you just returned from Africa are literally 2 weeks ago yes something like that what's the project there you're working on right now what's the interest of. The understand the interest in the farming world but I'm looking from a humanitarian perspective of Unicef to United Nations this is kind of the solution to world hunger instead of shipping boxes and bags of rice and beans this would empower communities as you say for years to be self sustainable it enables people to be agents of their own well being is especially when it comes to nutritional access so and a pretty local production would rise in beans sounds like a great food for us and many cultures around the world eat it but they know best what they can grow within their growing conditions might their original foods where they maybe still have seeds they don't really need our help if we empower them to be you know self-sufficient What's that project in Africa and what is that interest of the world community the project is pretty phenomenal so I'm really excited about I still being thinking about it we have teamed up with the United Nations World Food Program to launch one of these units in Tanzania and what we're doing with this one is really it's really unique it's the 1st time that we've really taken an approach like this the same 1st time that the World Food Program's really taken an approach like this of utilizing this technology as an innovation center and bringing together both refugees and host communities together to be able to have a good solid production and working in unison so I'll try to explain that a little bit more simply because I've been learning along the way with this but in refugee camps and we know that there are too many of them around the world with nearly $70000000.00 refugees globally what happens in a refugee camp in especially in a protracted refugee situation where refugees are literally States lists within a refugee camp for upwards of 2025 years you don't really have the opportunity to farm or have fresh food access that the rations that they are provided are quite literally just meant to be able to sustain their lives so there's no there's issues of malnutrition There's also issues with. Dignity and really being able to give people a shot at being able to get back on their feet again and maybe resentment from the communities who took those refugees on because they need to be supported exactly not that they don't want to but straining their resources it strains their resources no real project that in that lets them interact right precisely precisely they've been separated populaces and to your point exactly in the host community in our in our case in Tanzania we're working way over on the eastern side of Tanzania along the border of the Congo and Burundi and this area the surrounding communities struggle with food insecurity and malnutrition as well and so when they constantly have right they have water but they don't have the infrastructure so it's still dependent on rain fed agriculture and our climate is changing and so the rains are not coming when the rains are have typically come and when they do come they come down in torrents so there's different ways in which we may be able to look at really stabilizing this but then add in a refugee populace and it really can complicate a situation so with the World Food Program we're creating this innovation center where this unit is going to be situated just outside of the refugee camp in a surrounding host community called Goma and in this project we're really going to focus on growing a healthy crop production with a broader range of crops so that we can increase dietary diversity and we can make sure that those crops can go up for sale so that both the refugees and host community members that are going to be farming in this project together get access to those crops but can also sell them for income but also lends itself really well to peaceful cohesion which is probably the 3rd and almost more important indicator that we have with this that so great we just had a show on a new documentary it's called The Age of consequences it's about the geo political impact of global. Warming how it's an amplifier to crises anywhere in the world destabilizing areas as you said movement of $70000000.00 people as refugees the strain it takes on communities and holler terrorism is bred out of that lots of men have nothing to do and there's conflict brewing so in a way this is at the center of peace work what you're doing absolutely and we are extremely extremely proud about that because I mean at the very core we all generally want the same exact things we want to be able to eat we want to be able to to be free and we want to be able to live doctor and be productive and so in communities that are really struggling with that and within the refugee crisis dignity can really be stripped away when you aren't given those tools to be able to take care of yours and your family needs so we're really excited about this and actually I just want to share one of them to you with all of the projects that we have we like to have the end community or the organization or whomever gets these units name the box so that there's a little bit of a soul to it so for example our of our 1st unit we named Adam we were being a little cheeky without one now that we're not Eve Well there is a longer story don't I when otherwise I would have gone for event as the case is that they're going to cover their record I would correct that but. We also just landed a unit in West Sacramento working with the i r c The International Rescue Committee working with resettled refugees that are coming here to the United States and the refugees here for this project are coming from Bhutan and Nepal primarily And so when we gave them the opportunity to name their unit they came up with the name karma so this World Food Program project you know we came up to the refugees in the host community and we said All right well we we really like for you to be able to name your unit is well they deliberate on it for a little while and then they give us the slip of paper and it reads Kelly which is . The name of the village. And we're looking like what does it mean it's Swahili for the spirit of togetherness So really I think the the refugees and the host community members really see that peace aspect of this project is really important too and so much so that they actually named the unit the spirit of togetherness in honor of that not so beautiful and we're talking about kitchen table talks and we're talking about breaking bread in this case it's creating bread that can be broken together farm from a box a beautiful marriage between ecology and technology that's our topic in this hour of and again a conversation and I'm joined here in the studio by Brandi de Carli the founding partner of from from the box that's farm from a box dot com That's a great story thank you for sharing that and can you share a couple more what else have you seen this farm to be used what interests what inquiries have you had What's the feedback so far on the topic since I just brought up the i.r.c. Farm karma I'll speak a little bit about that one come a box the karma box there's a song for that one I'm sure yeah you know it's an interesting way when you when you speak about being able to really make the bread and break the bread together that particular farm with the i.r.c. Is in the middle of a housing development in a pretty suburban area of West Sacramento and so when you imagine refugees coming from Bhutan in Nepal suddenly ending up in West Sacramento there's a bit of a culture shock that's there so how do you weigh them kidding it's a bit of a struggle Yes So how is it that you can really make sure that you're building community within this new community that they're calling home so and what we can learn from them exactly and so it's good goes in all directions exactly exactly and so that share learning that can take place that's exactly what's. Happening with this farm so it's been really wonderful for us to be able to see this grow the box serves as a means for the refugees to not only grow food for their own consumption but there's also partnerships that have been formed with local restaurants and chefs so to your point exactly there are crops that are grown on the farm that are traditional Nepali crops or our traditional peppers that are from the ton of these peppers are phenomenal so local chefs are actually purchasing some of these crops and integrating them into their menu items because it's new and it's a different flavor so there is this sharing that's going on even directly within the community because within this direct housing sort of community that is buy the farm they can purchase crops directly there at the farm stand so so the refugees are getting to know literally the local community and vice versa and there's this really beautiful exchange of knowledge and in cultures that happens well what are your plans for the future what are your priorities what's the next 2 years or so for farm from a box Well strategically I'll start with the hardline one 1st strategically we are now just really starting to get our running legs on in that where we're commercially expanding and providing these units at a much quicker level. Is that hope if somebody ordered one or if the Unicef said we need 10 how quickly can you assemble those you know it's interesting so I think commercially for the retail center if you will reach all Center for retail sales we're focusing on the u.s. Right now with the exception of some larger scale projects that we can do with the likes of the World Food Program Unicef and u.n.h.c.r. Other other organizations so we're doing those on the side right now because we want to be able to scale out enough so that we can make sure that we're still there with each one of these farmers are really supporting them through it as well from the non-strategic side if you will I think where we are is keeping our eyes still completely. Wide open there's a number of different areas that we're still looking into one being establishing some of these units and putting them in Native American reservations globally we're looking at expanding and putting regionalized manufacturing in assembly hubs in different areas so that not only were localizing the growth but we're actually localizing the business as well internationally or absolutely internationally so even with the World Food Program project that we're doing in Tanzania we've set up local in country manufacturing of the unit so that we can contribute to local jobs also directly there in Tanzania So I think slow time to shipping containers is the perfect form obviously I mean this we know from housing to shipping containers have finally been acknowledged as an amazingly impactful unit and powerful and all that but the point is it's an existing form that can be shipped in on a boat in 3 weeks anywhere in the world and it's standardized right that's the absolutely standardized makes it so applicable and they're everywhere so really being able to utilize what's already existing there within the country and within the community then it's just a matter of really localizing the supply chains and strengthening the supply chains as well but you are touching on it interesting point that I didn't see it's not for you to just crank out the farm from a box boxes it's for you to stay involved in that and you are not a nonprofit It looks like to me the work of an internationally acting huge nonprofit that could then stay involved ongoing the for years to come with those communities with each individual Box Learning from the Box Learning from the community so that the box is the center but it's only the form of the function of peace building or you know collaboration where do you draw the line there how much can be done that's exactly it and I think what we are is we're a for profit benefit corporation so from the outside it really could look like we're doing the work of. Nonprofit But but we are a market based engine and so being able to sell these units is the engine for being able to keep the impact going so I think now things are really evolving when it comes to those blurred lines between nonprofit totally fit and so we want to be a for profit sort of looks like a nonprofit in that we're doing sustainable work but we make sure that we have not only a financial bottom line as a business but that's what will keep the business going in the long run as well so environmental impact social impact and being a financially solvent company amazing where can people learn more what's the best source. From from a box that come yeah what is a is absolutely a good source we're going to be putting some more information on the website shortly Twitter is also another way I'm pretty active on Twitter so you're welcome to be able to send over some messages that way Facebook also and there's e-mail access and you can contact directly through the website see anybody have any questions it's amazing that's farm from a box dot com the website brandied to Carly the founding partner of farm from a box a 20 foot shipping container that is the solution not just to farming but even as the Center for peace building and community for any agricultural or lamb paste challenge that we face which in one way or another you can trace down every challenge that we face societies around the world it's around food production and land access thank you so much for making the time to come in the to the studio with me today and you just returned from Africa appreciate it even more than oh you're going back now so good luck with all those projects and thank you back soon thank you very very much I'm honored to be here and look forward to coming back thank you ready to care and that's farm from a box a beautiful marriage between ecology and technology we're staying with the topic of food production as always the update from the world of produce healthy fruits and vegetables from the San Francisco produce. Market dock directly what's in season what to buy what to choose how to choose it how to store it what to do with it here is what's in season. And with me now is the voice of the San Francisco produce stock Mr Earl Herrick also Mr organic for the country giving us the update of what is coming with the hottest item for us in the retail store because he is already handling it early there. And I am Amalie Yes. There is so much to handle deep into May so wonderful the produce departments made it through winter and it's still amazing what can be produced and you know I know much of the produce comes from Mexico at that point and you know the produce department doesn't really really look all that different throughout the winter you think it's still rich in abundance but the difference to now and all the stuff you remember now that you've forgotten is just right from Snap piece and from I mean wow so rich and abundant and especially with this winter being so wet it seems like I don't know but it seems life is exploding every Dia has 4 offspring or 3 fallen send So what's happening on your own you're in the produce dog you know I don't know that we've ever talked about. Something that is all over the country now and there's that Parma spark and timing here you know happily. Many most of the Farmers' markets are open. In the year. Now the only ones that may now may be in the far north. But even then many of them get started and they don't have as much. The big deal I think is the experience of it is that you're outside you're shopping in this fresh product that somebody just brought there it's an intimate affair you get to ask this representative anything you want of course dampening is beyond even I mean you're offering you food as you walk up and that is really where you get the to learn a little bit about the art how to ask how to ask for what you want and it's not uncommon to say Well that was wonderful Can I try a little bit of that and you should feel absolutely comfortable and confident that you know your ability to do that fact is when I go to farmer's market there's just a whole inclination to buy is walk on the premises and there you are in the midst of all this abundance in your is ready to go Yeah all right there yeah I just looked up while you were speaking and Sasa to stakes out from 9094 to 2013 so that's basically 20 years the number of farmers markets in the u.s. Has grown from 1700 roughly to over 8000 and that was $2413.00 so I'm sure we are past $9000.00 at this point and therefore a 5 percent growth rate each year yeah you're right it's it's community it's season it's the the local economy it's really the agricultural producers all in one place which you never see otherwise at any other place. If you see them at all I mean who only a few people do that beautiful and one of the some of the tips that you do do you go through the market 1st and check prices and produce and then you go back around and and then you buy or do you know you farms that you buy from many of them I do know many of them are so small that they don't deal with wholesalers yet there they have either you picture this this is their income rightful opportunity for these growers because there is. Able to those standards get a little more relaxed so if something is a bird or a tree rub on it not a problem the money goes straight to them of course straight to them and they can generally get a little more so there's telling a number to quality perhaps and I don't know I mean does that mean that it's terrible this means as a twig rub and they're able to get a number one price not it and that is how they are able to make their money and most of all is just to reiterate that most farmers live on a 10 or you know 8 or maybe 15 percent profit margin so if they have a lot of seconds and they can't well number twos and if they can't sell them that might mean yes they sold all the number once but they end up making money then up making a profit they're basically just farming for you know to keep the farmer life so selling those seconds which are qualitatively a flavor of why is the nutrition wise completely perfect makes makes or breaks the farm often Absolutely and the number 2 is really just an appearance it's all it's all I can be shirt open as a little Miss shaper or something odd about it it still tastes great and you can and the proof is right there that you get a taste you know what's cool too about a farmer's market this early as you can see all the early stuff you probably are not going to see later so this one a lot of strawberries around and I still feel the best strawberries you can find are the one that of one that farmer's market well strawberries are one of those many items where a day makes a difference and there's nothing fresher than a farmer's market because often the stuff was literally picked the afternoon before or maybe even early in the morning before the market right if that's right and handling it ripe and you're picking up later in there that's right and in the field hurty it if they know it's going to be sold and he that day and also you want to be able to have that right to give a sample and if you wait a little bit too long and they got. A little bruise the ones you sample yet so you know bad again like it's a strawberry or the best in a farmer's market but that going to go through I drew cooling they don't have to worry about shipping it up Seattle or anything that's so nice that you as a wholesaler can save you know yes absolutely visit your farmer's market. It's not competition for you even though technically it is but there's enough demand organic produce to absolutely support your farmer at a farmer's market and still buy organic at the store for anything that you can couldn't get Yeah I mean there's there's enough for all of us you got to support the army you know many of the farmers that I do do every least wouldn't buy the product they also do farmer's market yet part of their diversity that diversification that they really really need to survive and it's not just farmers actually right I mean farmers in the widest sense there are local fishermen. Local Hanny there's local and baked goods Yes You know it's perfect this time of year sometimes those birch and that way the Parmer is because some farmers are still in production and haven't and haven't come into full production The other thing I like to find there is little green that you only find in the spring and the different craft the different baby chart and all these are ruthless and all these other. All these very tender green that for it gets too hot before the days are long and the sun beating down on them you have this shorter day that milder day and get all the tender green stuff is a lot of fun to go there and shop for that and in volume they would never make it through wholesale because to just have you know 4 cases of that and of course they sell it at the farmer's market again how do you what's the best tip to to get the best produce or in a way the best Paul Chodas profile for the best price only oh I thought I thought his shop late it makes sense to get the best quality to shop early but Price wise I thought. Deadly and they throw out what they can to sell it well there's no doubt shopping late but of course there's I risk there one is they may be done. You may miss it but also it's been sitting out on refrigerator the other day to the point there but there are some things definitely different now if you're if you're doing pies or you're canning shopping late is fine another thing to do is get in a relationship with these growers and say hey next week when you come when the farmer's market you bring I'd like the in a slab of strawberries or a flat of peach he's my nanny Yeah yeah and then yeah if you've been doing it for a while course they know you then bangle right there you you're set for the week and you have to worry about it and plus. Your trainer relationship not to be forgot or eggs like some things that always selling out where you don't need to you know to rush the farmer's market if you can say that but yes it doesn't aside from me next week is my name yeah I forgot about a quarter Yeah yeah it's amazing now that I think about some of my kids everything really you can even get meats and you know of course that fish and all all that stuff then there's always a musician there so fun course you know clowns all sorts of things on that do you walk through it 1st entirely take a look and then you go back or do you do you shop that's always a deal only big question for me some markets are so big that making around 45 minutes and then coming back and taking note and kept me coming back and chopping at that point how do you do it it really depends one is how familiar I am with this market it's a new market I'm just going to walk through and take it for a little bit the other thing is how busy is I mean some of these places they may have rock and roll growers there and they're in their line goes on forever and so it really depends on that if I theat something that I think is going to I'm definitely going to want that I'm not going to walk by it because I know either the line is going to grow or they're going to they're going to. Again all depends if I have a purpose for my shopping. Area of course if you have a party or something barbecue where you need the item then yeah. It may say yeah there now if you. Get to appreciate a. Cup of coffee you know yes and we hear with officially kicked off the 2017 farmers market season there you go how did that feel Maisie. Thank you. I can't wait to have you back next week and yeah whatever that item will be Summer's here oh yeah I think you. Have to take it back and that was a packed hour of hope and inspiration farm from a box a beautiful marriage between ecology and technology with brandy to Carly and of course the update from the San Francisco produce Doc what's in season I'm Helga Helberg thanks so much for listening and we'll be back with another episode next week. And that was this week's edition often organic come is ation thank you so much for listening a big think you also to our associate producer Kristen punk. And again the conversation is made possible through listeners like you and the fantastic support of fellow underwriters equal exchange equal exchange has been creating big change for small farmers for over 30 years by offering certified organic and fair trade coffee tea chocolate bananas and avocados more an equal exchange at equal exchange dot c o o p. And I believe offering beautiful and fun clothing for boys and girls that is made entirely from the unused fabric of prominent apparel manufacturers making sustainability fashionable and fashion sustainable for more information at only dot c o. Also Gannett produce a national distributor providing certified organic fruits and vegetables for your store home or business anyone can buy directly from Gallic at wholesale prices their website is organic dot com. And fry vineyards America's 1st certified organic winery producing organic and certified by it and I make wine without synthetic sulfides or other preservatives for more information fry wine dot com lastly think yes well to Bowman college focused on holistic nutrition and Canary arts for over 20 years their website is Boman College dot org That's be a u m a n college dork. If you missed parts of this show or for any other episode go to an organic conversation dot com or subscribe to our show on i Tunes stitcher or Google Play so you'll never miss an episode I'm held to help work and will be back with another great episode right here same place same time next week see that . a flower. To . The back.