{"id":32025,"date":"2021-05-25T18:15:10","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T22:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/?p=32025"},"modified":"2022-01-30T18:42:17","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T23:42:17","slug":"the-carrot-project-investing-in-local-sustainable-ag-and-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/the-carrot-project-investing-in-local-sustainable-ag-and-food\/","title":{"rendered":"The Carrot Project: Investing in Local Sustainable Ag and Food"},"content":{"rendered":"
>> Back to January 2022 Issue<\/a><\/div>\n
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(Originally published June 2021)<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

(above) Dorothy Suput, The Carrot Project\u2019s Executive Director (left), with farmer Tyler Sage of Sage Farm (Bernardston, MA) and his pasture-raised heritage pigs. Photo by Genevieve Goldleaf.<\/h5>\n

During the pandemic, farmers and food producers selling locally showed their strength, as the weaknesses of our global food supply chain were exposed. Farmers relying on wholesale distribution systems, such as dairies, were dumping product because of a breakdown in supply chains. Meat processing plants slowed operations, negatively impacting supply. Meanwhile, local producers ramped up production, updated their online systems, or pivoted from institutional buyers to grocery stores and direct-to-consumer sales. Thriving local farms not only came through with good food, but continued to steward the land and give back to their communities. Our local food ecosystem\u2019s resilience results from the incredible work ethic of farmers, buoyed by collaboration with business development programs and the help of state and federal governments, philanthropy and the growing role of private investors.<\/p>\n

Heart Beets Farm<\/a>, Steve Murray\u2019s diversified vegetable farm in southeastern Massachusetts, shows how farmers serving local markets reacted to the pandemic. When demand for safe and local food exploded in spring 2020, Steve was able to make a rapid, confident pivot. To protect themselves and their customers, he made the risky decision to drop their farmers\u2019 market, and close their farm stand. Instead, Heart Beets almost doubled the number of farm shares offered from 120 to 210 \u2014 and sold out.<\/p>\n

\"Steve
Steve Murray of Heart Beets Farm (Berkley, MA) dropped his farmer\u2019s market for a CSA-only model during the pandemic \u2013 a tough decision that paid off. Photo by Alex Fitzsimmons.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This huge decision was possible because Steve tracks his numbers carefully; thanks to business support from The Carrot Project<\/a>, he knew exactly which parts of his farm were most profitable. He was able to analyze his enterprises and assess a path toward profitability and stability in this tumultuous year. Shifting to online-only CSA sales worked so well he plans to retain it for the foreseeable future. Steve\u2019s farm grew to its current state with the help of a Carrot loan to invest in equipment, backed by social impact investors and matched by a state program for beginning farms.<\/p>\n

Investing in local and sustainable farms and food businesses strengthens communities, especially in the wake of this pandemic. \u201cWe’re all going to have some collective trauma to work through,\u201d<\/em> said Janet Steward, co-owner of Greenfield Highland Beef <\/a>in Greensboro Bend, VT, and an early Carrot loan recipient. \u201cAs farmers, we have a special role in healing and care. Farmers have the gift of being able to care for their communities with food.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The
Janet Steward and Ray Shatney of Greenfield Highland Beef (Greensboro Bend, VT) admire one of their prizewinning Highland cows.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opportunities to invest in local food are expanding. For example, after developing their business skills with The Carrot Project, farmers can now move on and seek other types of investments from capital providers that work with private investors, such as the PVGrows Investment Fund and Dirt Capital Partners. Three former Carrot clients<\/a> have secured farmland with Dirt Capital Partners.<\/p>\n

How did we arrive at this growing ecosystem of capital providers for local, sustainable agriculture? It didn\u2019t happen overnight. Before banks consolidated, a trend that escalated in the 1990s, small farms could usually access capital easily. When The Carrot Project started in 2006, there was little recognition that the banking sector no longer met the needs of the small, but growing, local agricultural movement. Capital providers tended to assume that when a farmer was unable to secure capital, it was the farmer\u2019s fault, thinking the farmer had a poor business or wouldn\u2019t do the work to meet the needs of the lender.<\/p>\n