The growers: Jerry and Jacquie Monroe, Monroe Organic Farm, Kersey.
Their products: Beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, celery, cucumbers, edamame beans, eggplant, garlic, honeydew, onions, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, summer squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, watermelon, winter squash; beef; eggs; honey
Their story: Volunteers fill red, purple and blue mesh bags with the week’s allotment of carrots, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, tomatillos, and green and yellow beans as kids play king of the mountain on a hill of dirt outside the barn at Monroe Organic Farm.
Members of this community-supported agriculture project can rest assured no chemicals have touched the dirt hill nor the surrounding fields on this 175-acre spread southeast of Greeley.
What was good enough for Jerry Monroe’s grandfather in 1936 is good enough for the third generation now working this land, which the family says is the oldest organic farm in Colorado.
“My grandfather said, ‘We don’t need chemicals; it’s just another expense,’ ” says Monroe, adjusting his yellow cap against the sun.
Rather than spray for pests, the Monroes have found a way to coexist with them. “We’ve adapted to the insects. We grow enough so the bugs get their portion,” says his wife, Jacquie Monroe, who grew up on a century-old Weld County farm.
Organic before “organic” became fashionable, the Monroe farm became a community supported agriculture (CSA) project in 1993 and now has 485 member households. A CSA runs like a co-op – customers pay a one-time $150 fee to join and receive weekly deliveries of produce that was still growing the day before. Produce fees range from $85 for a “working” half-share, which requires four hours per week helping on the farm, up to $360 for a “nonworking” full share.
Some members help by picking the fruits and vegetables, others box up the produce for delivery. The family then drives the food to distribution points at members’ homes.
As their daughter, Alaina, and her friends Kari O’Neal and Katie Reynolds leave to deliver produce to Fort Collins, Jerry and Jacquie load their pickup for a delivery to Golden, Centennial and Lakewood. The Monroes make the trip five days a week, delivering produce to CSA members and farmers markets. In response to the comment, “It seems like a lot of work,” Jerry replies simply. “It is.”
Jacquie chimes in, her sky-blue eyes narrowing with passion. “It’s called community-supported agriculture because family farmers won’t stay in business unless people support family farms.”
Isn’t it inefficient, driving 60-plus miles each way to deliver vegetables?
Not really, says the couple, considering the average vegetable travels about 1,500 miles before it reaches a dinner plate, according to a study by Iowa State University.
Plus, conventional crops often are picked before they are ripe, to survive shipping. “That’s why they don’t taste good,” Jacquie says.
“The public has been brainwashed to think tomatoes are all the same size and color. We don’t grow the standard stuff because it doesn’t taste as good,” she says, giving advice on the best way to serve a volleyball-sized muskmelon. (It tastes like cantaloupe, only stronger. Let it air, like wine, after cutting it open.)
As more consumers demand organic produce, and since the USDA enacted organic standards in 2002, large companies have recognized the market for chemical-free food. But the Monroes say this attention has hurt some small farmers. “The price went up for everyone except the farmer,” says Jacquie. “You are actually voting with your dollars when you support a CSA.”
On average, you pay about $20 per week for vegetables from a CSA, $50 if you buy from a farmers market, and $100 if you shop at a natural grocer, says Jacquie.
From 50 programs in 1990, the movement has grown to more than 1,000 CSAs nationally, according to localharvest.org, a promoter of the “Buy Local” movement.
“When you support a CSA, you’re buying more than vegetables. You’re supporting a small local farm so it doesn’t go into developers’ hands.” The concept not only offers consumers access to affordable, locally grown produce, it builds community and connects people with the land.
The Monroes rotate their crops every four years, giving the land a rest with alfalfa, which replenishes nutrients in the soil and decreases diseases and bugs.
When a city girl asks Jerry how he knows what to plant and when, his answer is as no-nonsense as a bag of potatoes. “I’ve just done it all my life. It’s in my head.”
The Monroe children, Alaina, 16, and Kyle, 14, work alongside their parents, but both have dreams of other professions.
“He’s a third-generation grower,” says Jacquie of her husband. “That’s what’s sad – when he retires we’ll lose that knowledge. This is the last generation of farmers. It’s really scary.”
Where to buy: Produce is sold at the farm, area farmers markets and members-only distribution centers. For information, contact Monroe Organic Farms, 25525 WCR 48, Kersey, CO; 970-284-7941; monroefarm.com.
To find a CSA near you, go to wsare.usu.edu/pub, click on “Community Supported Agriculture,” and enter your state. It lists 27 CSAs in Colorado.
Staff writer Kristen Browning-Blas can be reached at 303-820-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost.com.
