Cultivating Hope

For farmers like Mai Cha, owner of Cha Veggies, the growing season begins as soon as the snow melts and the soil becomes workable. Mai, who works a full-time job in addition to running her farm, begins her farming days before dawn, leaving her home in St. Paul to tend to her eight acres in Rosemount. Farming has always been a family affair; Mai began helping in her parents’ gardens at an early age. Recently, her parents have begun to slow down, so Mai has taken the lead with the business with help from her brother. Together, they grow everything from peppers and tomatoes to beets, cabbage and all kinds of greens.

Throughout the years, Mai and her family have grappled with their fair share of land access challenges. Moving to the Twin Cities in the late 90’s, Mai and her siblings saw their parents sow seeds in the fertile earth of Minnesota in rented plot after rented plot. Her parents have had to move repeatedly as developers swooped in with offers, prompting aging landlords to sell off their land, turning fields that once grew corn, tomatoes and melons into paved streets and monotone housing developments.

For many first and second-generation immigrants in our country, the reality of renting land without a clear pathway to ownership is an all too familiar struggle. Without family land or property inheritance to rely on, the challenge of establishing roots is daunting. Add to that an economic environment where land prices are skyrocketing and development continues to sprawl, the barriers to entry for beginning, young and immigrant farmers are higher than ever. 

Though Mai rents land in only one location, many other small produce growers, especially those from immigrant communities, rent multiple plots in different locations to spread their risk in the case of unpredictable weather or pest challenges. Crop insurance is another way to mitigate this risk, however, the USDA defines fruits and vegetables as “specialty crops,” which deems these farmers ineligible for coverage.

For Mai, navigating these challenges requires resilience and a landlord committed to not selling out to developers. She remembers the summers of her youth, spent filling up five-gallon tanks with hose water at home, then driving out to her parents’ plot to water crops by hand. Luckily, where she farms now, there is water access, but it took years for her to feel confident enough to ask her landlord if she could use their well. Farmers like Mai, who don’t fit into the mainstream, don’t want to be a burden and risk their place in an overwhelmingly white farming community.

With a full time schedule of her own, Mai has cut back to selling at just one farmers’ market a week – the Saturday Midtown Farmers Market in Minneapolis. Her market days start at dawn when Mai and her family load up their box truck with crates of freshly harvested vegetables. Enduring long market days and hours under the sun reflects not just a labor of love but the essence of entrepreneurship. 

“Food farmers are the pulse of farmers’ markets, and they possess an entrepreneurial spirit by nature. They navigate risks, seize opportunities and innovate to ensure the resilience of their farm businesses, much like any entrepreneur would,” says Sina War, the Director of Engagement & Inclusion with the Minnesota Farmers’ Market Association. 

Mai exemplifies an entrepreneurial spirit by implementing tools such as a walk-behind tractor and its various attachments, which transform tasks that once required weeks of meticulous handiwork into streamlined processes that can be done in just a couple of days. Time savers like these afford Mai the ability to engage in marketing efforts and explore wholesaling opportunities for her farm business. She does this through The Good Acre’s LEAFF program, a wholesale readiness initiative that equips farmers with the skills they need to grow for wholesale while also supplying hunger relief organizations with healthy locally grown foods. The mix of wholesale and farmers’ market sales she has now means that Mai is able to invest back into her farm. She recently purchased a greenhouse which enables her to start seeds and grow flowers, expanding her market offerings and growing her business in a way that builds on her parents’ legacy of growing food for their community.

Mai’s story reflects the intricate tapestry of challenges and triumphs within the small farming ecosystem in our region. In reality, stories like this are pervasive throughout the entire country,  with even more pressing climate risks and water access challenges than what we currently face here in the Upper Midwest. Add to that the glaring inequities in land ownership, access to financing, food insecurity, and the decimation of small to medium supply chains by corporate consolidation in our food system and it becomes clear that comprehensive support and reform are urgently needed to empower our country’s small-scale food farmers. 

The good news is that there is hope on the horizon. In Washington, D.C. lawmakers including United States Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota have signed on to include provisions like the  Increasing Land Access, Security, and Opportunities (LASO) Act into the next farm bill. The farm bill is a comprehensive piece of legislation passed by the U.S. Congress every five years that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. It addresses issues such as crop insurance, nutrition assistance, conservation and rural development, impacting farmers, consumers and the environment to the tune of more than $400 billion over the life of the bill. The LASO Act would build upon the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program (LCM) established by the USDA which addresses challenges in land access and financing for underserved farmers. The inclusion of the LASO Act in the next farm bill promises tangible support for young and BIPOC farmers, securing their access to land and fostering agricultural sustainability for future generations. 

Land access isn’t the only area where policy work can make a meaningful difference for farmers like Mai. USDA programs like the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program are also driving meaningful market access opportunities for farmers nationwide by improving food supply chain resilience, allowing for the procurement and distribution of healthy, nutritious foods unique to specific geographic areas. By increasing local food consumption, LFPA funds are contributing to economic opportunities for many small food farmers which have a direct effect on the overall resilience and sustainability of our food system.

Because of LFPA funds, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has already awarded over three million dollars to more than 30 organizations across the state to buy local food, primarily from socially disadvantaged farmers to be distributed at no cost to underserved communities throughout Minnesota. The EAT Local Foods Act would help enshrine ongoing funding for this program in the next farm bill.

As policymakers debate the farm bill’s provisions, Mai’s opportunities, and those of thousands of other growers across the nation, hang in the balance. Amidst these uncertainties, Mai’s steadfast commitment to growing food for her community underscores a broader narrative of climate resilience and food security for our communities. When asked how readers can support farmers like her, Mai’s answer is simple: “Show up.” 

Whether you’re a CSA member, a farmers market shopper, a co-op member, or if you call your legislators to advocate for policies that can foster a more equitable and resilient food system, there are numerous ways to show up for Minnesota food farmers. Picking up your copy of Edible Minnesota is a great start; pass it on and spread awareness about the stories and issues affecting our local food community. Together, we can amplify the voices of our farmers and strengthen our food system for generations to come.