shuang qiao is a farming community in the guangxi province of china. it’s probably a poor, shabby place in the eyes of most city dwellers — but not for me.

as a child, i saw this as a mystical place, a paradise almost. the mountains were simply waiting for me to climb up and explore. they spread far beyond the village. rivers and swamps hummed with insects which we children would always try to catch using plastic bottles. these areas were slippery, often tripping us as we ran in bare feet. we laughed about it most of the time and i did not have a care in the world during those moments.

the community was warm and tight-knit, as i recall that many of the residents would leave their front gates open for others to wander through. it was common for a single household to host neighborhood dinner nights, which my grandparents actively participated in. the home could easily fit up to a hundred people. sometimes, the hot stuffy air would convince them to buy popsicles for my cousins and i at the market. i played with my cousins frequently, alongside other kids in the neighborhood. our favorite activity was playing tag in the vast, open courtyard occupying the middle of the home. the nearby playground was a close second.

a large number of chickens and dogs would roam about the village, which added to the pungent mix of farm smells. the pigs, cows, and chickens were kept just down the street from home. flies were so abundant that we would constantly need to cover the outdoor living room with sticker paper.

at the front of the neighborhood stood a magnificently old magnolia tree. its leaves were painted a variety of red and orange and its trunk was always sticky with sap. this tree always felt so inviting. people would spend much of their free time taking naps and playing cards beneath it. it was popular with us kids as well, of course, being the perfect “base” for our game of tag. during special holidays, we watched as the nighttime brimmed with yellow sparklers from all across the village.

at that time my family lived in nanning, a big bustling city in the south of china. i was in the village for my summer vacation, so back then, i felt a bit like an outsider.

my father would have to pick me up eventually to resume school, but i never wanted to leave. i wanted to stay within the confines of mountains and rivers. i wanted to live around the presence of farm animals and kids whose faces were always dirtied from the outdoors. i wanted to continue exploring this fantasy of a land for as long as i was alive. the adults would often tease me about this connection i had with the village, with the spirit of nature i felt within it. i was humbled, in a way.

i was not burdened with heavy responsibilities at this time and i was too young to ponder the meaning of life. my head was empty besides feelings of playfulness and hunger. i saw the innocence and purity of nature very clearly, more so than i do today through the lens of adulthood. the appreciation was genuine because i was immediately able to reap the benefits of an endless playground. a sense of joy which i may never feel anywhere else is in that village, in the raw, natural world. i believe that humans were truly meant to live close to the land.

i would like to think that at the age of 20, given the opportunity to live outside of modern standards, i would be just as happy as i was in the past.

in addition, she believes in the importance of crop rotation as well as leaving parts of her farm alone, not cropping, so the natural environment can take shape and replenish the earth. it takes an entire community to be involved and passionate about where they get their food from for these things to continue to change. so as discussions of sustainability progress the connection between local farms, local communities, and their environment must be at the forefront. 

when the covid-19 pandemic ripped through the u.s. in late march and the nation settled into a springtime quarantine, many hoped by summer or early fall, everything from business operations to schools, and universities to restaurants would return to normal. 

but we all know that’s not what happened. 

“there is really no area of our operations that covid-19 hasn’t impacted,” said jill groednek, assistant market manager of the dane county farmers market in wisconsin. 

the dane county farmers market primarily serves the area surrounding madison, wisconsin. its downtown market, which runs outdoors around the state capitol from june to late fall, attracts thousands every week. because of its high traffic, groednek said wisconsin revoked their outdoor permit for the downtown market at the beginning of the pandemic, forcing them to adapt for the sake of their growers and consumers alike. 

in march, groenek said her team quickly pivoted from an indoor market to a pandemic-safe pick-up format, which ended up being a drive-thru model. customers would place an order from their favorite vendors ahead of time, and then the vendors would place their order contact-free in their cars. 

as spring turned to summer and the dane county team fell smoothly into their drive-up rhythm, they started to expand, and soon even got permission to re-launch a more traditional — yet still socially distanced — outdoor walk-up market. 

groednek said throughout the transition, they tried to support their vendors as much as possible, which included posting vendor information on their website. 

for brad wilson, a local farmer who’s sold herb and vegetable seedlings at the dane county market for 25 years, the pandemic meant an opportunity to branch into new, online marketplaces. 

“this year, i sold plants online using a squarespace website and square for online transactions,” wilson said. “i think this season forced me into selling online and using cards for payment, which is a good thing because there is a lot of potential to develop these techniques into ways to sell more product more efficiently.”

wilson also sells at the nearby baraboo county market, which he could continue to do as it reopened with social distancing measures in place. while wilson said he didn’t make as much this summer as he might usually, it “wasn’t a bad summer.” 

for other vendors, covid meant focusing more on selling to grocery stores, rather than at a market. pam augustyn of canopy gardens — a small farm selling vegetables and herbs — said she doesn’t plan to return to the farmers market until it returns to normal operations. augustyn said they tried out the drive-up format, decided it wasn’t quite right for their operation, and chose instead to focus on their efforts selling to grocery stores. 

“we have adapted and are continuing to adapt with marketing, and we are now looking into packaging more of our items for selling at grocery stores versus the farm market,” augustyn said. “what we plant and offer next year will be based on what we have adapted this year — we have been looking at alternate ways of packing the things we grow to be more accessible for grocery stores to sell.”

like wilson, augustyn said her operation took in less money from the market this year compared to previous — as much as three times less profit than usual in her case. but they’ve also sold more at stores, so while it’s still a loss, augustyn said it’s not as bad as it could have been if they hadn’t changed their delivery methods. 

in light of their new marketing strategies, augustyn said her team is considering not returning to the farmers market at all and instead just selling their produce to stores. 

university of wisconsin extension specialist kristen krokowski, who works with the wisconsin farmers’ market association said while shifting gears to accommodate growers and consumers during the pandemic has been challenging, it’s also taught their organization new skills. 

the wisconsin farmers market association is made up of directors of farmers markets across the state. while they don’t interact directly with growers and consumers much, they provide resources to farmers market organizers, and in a pandemic like this, support farmers statewide. 

“our goal is to support the market managers and the boards and things like that, so that they can provide good markets for their communities and for their farmers,” krokowski said. 

krokowski said the dane county downtown market was the only one of their around 300 markets that didn’t return to some sort of in-person, socially distanced capacity. but she also said the pandemic could have impacted grower-consumer relationships because social distancing can make it harder for farmers and consumers to have meaningful conversations. 

at a farmers market, krokowski said, consumers can ask questions about where their food is coming from, and make a request if there’s a certain item they’d like to see, connecting communities with food systems. plus, farmers markets offer more than just food — local entertainers and small businesses use them as a starting point. 

“they’re really important social structures for communities,” krokowski said. “they’re just really important to kind of reinforce that sense of community and that connectedness.” 

if anything, krokowski said the pandemic has helped people realize how important investing in local food systems are — especially back in march, when grocery stores experienced shortages nationwide. 

“you can go into the grocery store and whole shelves are empty or (find out that) what produce you can get this week’s kind of spotty. and i think for the people who utilize the farmers market or csas or local food, there’s some reassurance there,” krokowski said. “having diversified local agriculture helps with making sure that we can have products locally.”

“one of them shut down completely and then opened as a drive-through market and that was a complete disaster,” she said. “we would get two or three orders a week, not even making $20. it was just a real dead experience.”

it took markets shifting back to something resembling a traditional experience for behrmann and her small goat herd to see sales recover. this is a bumpy ride that many farmers market vendors in the d.c. area have experienced since the early months of the year.

deemed essential services, d.c. farmers markets remained open since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic – but in order to keep vendors, staff, and customers safe, markets had to make sudden changes.

m.farmers markets across the country provide the unique opportunity for customers to purchase food directly from producers and, likewise, for farmers to connect with customers face-to-face. this can boost local economies and reduce the amount of energy needed to transport food across long distances.

in d.c., farmers markets also provide additional incentives for low-income families. most d.c. farmers markets accept snap and wic benefits, as well as benefits for senior citizens. many farmers markets in d.c. also “match” customers’ snap benefits so that each dollar can purchase more fresh produce.

since march, the d.c. government has required farmers markets to comply with public health regulations by promoting social distancing and mask wearing. markets must provide hand washing stations and vendor stalls may not offer samples. customers also must be encouraged not to touch products before purchasing.

these practices are in place at the d.c. farmers markets currently run by freshfarm, a nonprofit that operates more than 20 markets in the washington, d.c., metro area. derel farmer, freshfarm’s community outreach manager, said that the pandemic has forced market operators “to pretty much reinvent how we do business.”

“we understand that the farmer’s market is one of the few large, open venues left at this time,” he said. “there are very few other opportunities where large amounts of people can come interact and do so safely, so we are committed to making sure we keep this space open for people.”

this means offering pre-orders from many vendors for market pick-up or delivery. market vendors must assign staff to manage either money or product but not both, and they are encouraged to prioritize contactless payment options.

it also means deciding not to open several markets this year, such as the white house and foggy bottom markets, which have lost customers due to the pandemic.

freshfarm vendors said that although they are pleased with the safety practices in place, it is not business as usual. dana garner boyle, owner of garners produce in virginia, said that she has had to hire additional staff to manage her farmers market stall amidst health restrictions.

“we have stuck to the routine of gathering the items for the customer,” she said. “that’s extra work because it ties up our time when we could be chatting with the customer or refilling and restocking. so we have to hire extra staff to help get all that done and manage our lines so that everybody can maintain distance at the market better.”

boyle added that it breaks her heart that customers are not allowed to choose their own products, which is “so much a personal choice.”

“i really can’t pick out tomatoes that would suit everybody because that’s something different,” she said. “so we just kind of make a joke of that, like, ‘i will be so glad when y’all are able to pick your own tomatoes!’”

behrmann of shepherd’s whey creamery misses selling samples of her varieties of goat’s cheese, which she said “is a huge part of our selling strategy.”

“because artisan goat cheese is not a necessarily familiar product to many of our customers – it makes so much variation, depending on the individual producer of the cheese – it’s really difficult for people to know what they’re buying and to be willing to invest in something that they don’t have any idea about,” she said.

sustainability is also a concern. zach vandezande, the head of pr and publishing for number 1 sons, a small business that sells pickles, kimchi, and kombucha at d.c. farmers markets, said the business previously encouraged customers to take purchased products home in their own containers. due to sanitation concerns, the business has switched to packaging the products beforehand.

vandezande said number 1 sons is trying to balance how they can “stay as environmentally conscious and as environmentally responsible as possible while keeping people safe,” and added that this shift has been a “big touchstone” for the business’s customers.

nevertheless, markets like freshfarm’s have taken this opportunity to innovate rather than crumble. while leaving several markets unopened this season, freshfarm also opened a new market in virginia. farmer added that freshfarm also plans to extend several of its markets further into the winter to provide more time for vendors to sell their products.

freshfarm has also extended its snap matching program to all its markets. this comes at an important time, as recent data reveals that the number of american adults who reported that members of their households “sometimes or often did not have enough to eat” surged to more than 26 million americans in 2020, increasing the need for programs like snap.

farmer said that customer feedback to the market’s effort to balance safety and accessibility has been largely positive.

“the one thing that we hear over and over again is ‘thank you,’” he said. “‘thank you for doing this. thank you for being here.’”

boyle of garners produce said that she has seen steady business at her farm stand since the start of the pandemic.

“i think between our roadside market and the farmers market we’ve consistently stayed busy because people feel like their food has been handled less – it’s picked one day, it’s brought and sold the next – and it’s outdoor shopping,” she said. “so i think they feel a lot safer buying food at a market than they do in the grocery stores right now.”

vandezande of number 1 sons said he thinks customers are still attracted to farmers markets because there are “human stories” behind the products, and “those human stories matter.”

“one of the reasons people go to farmers markets is because they want to return to the idea that the land is connected, the product is connected to a human being who is making their living,” he said and contrasted the markets to grocery stores, where “food just appears as if by magic.”

at the end of the day, farmers markets remain essential to behrmann and her goat herd. she said that farmers markets are the only venues she has found that give small farmers access to the marketplace, and where she can receive immediate, direct feedback from her customers.

“i can’t imagine being a farmer where i just send it off to a distributor and never got to get any direct feedback of what the customer thought i was doing,” she said.

a remarkable program called farmers of the future in the greater kruger region of south africa focuses on empowering unemployed youth with their own farm. the program webpage says,  “we believe in the principals of the saying, rather than giving a man a fish to eat, rather teach him how to fish so he can eat forever.”

this incredibly successful restaurant was created to give family farmers back the pride and confidence they deserve in order to overcome the corporate pressures exerted over them, while maintaining their unwavering commitment to sustainability, which is imbued into every single crumb that founding farmers serves. the restaurants are now owned by more than 47,000 family farmers, members of the ndfu, a number which is inscribed on all of the forks in the restaurants to remind guests just how much went into the meals that they are enjoying.

from farm to fork, founding farmers is committed to sustainability. i sat down with their very own erin chalkley, construction & development project manager and leed green associate, to discuss how they maintain their position as a leader in environmentally-responsible restauranteering.

the farm

the farmers restaurant group is committed to sourcing produce from family owned farms. erin explained to me that reason farmers restaurant group continues to source their produce directly from local farmers is to ensure that profits remain in the hands of the families, communities, and farmers themselves.

additionally, family farms are more likely to want to run sustainably. erin explained, “family farmers have the incentive to run their farm in a sustainable way because they need it, their farm is the value, the land is the value.” she continued to tell me that farms are incentivized to use much more intensive farming practices involving the use of harmful chemicals when on a corporate structure. however, a family farm would see the value in organic farming and more sustainable practices, like using cover crops — which deposit nitrogen into the soil — and other methods to avoid the use of harmful chemicals. when avoiding intensive agricultural practices, including the use of chemicals, farmers ensure that their land will retain its value and continue to thrive.

the restaurant

founding farmers is d.c.’s first leed gold certified restaurant and a member of the green restaurant association (gra) with a green restaurant certification. leed certification means the building and facility are built and run sustainably, while the gra manages operational aspects of the restaurant. both certifications are important because they tell guests that the restaurant is actually following through with its commitment to sustainability.

furthermore, being a sustainable restaurant is not as costly as people think. since day one, founding farmers built sustainability into their total operating costs, and because of this, sustainability itself has never been an issue for any of their price points or impacted the guests’ experience. their biggest cost of creating a sustainable restaurant was construction in order to acquire leed certification. however, when a restaurant is smart about its investments, it pays off in the long run, like how decreasing energy consumption will decrease energy bills.

surprisingly, when you walk into the restaurant, the lengths gone to create this sustainable experience are not obvious, despite everything in the restaurant, right down to the faucets, being carefully selected to be the most sustainable option. the subtle details which make the restaurant sustainable are tucked away so guests can have the best experience. this is partially because the restaurant knows it will get nowhere by pushing their sustainable agenda down their guests’ throats, who come in for their iconic chicken and waffles, not a lecture. erin described the choice to avoid putting sustainability at the forefront of the restaurants messaging by explaining “we really try and make it so we’ve already made the hardest decisions for our guests before they come in so that way they don’t have to make them themselves.” she continued to explain that the restaurant owners already know they are responsible and only wants to give the guests a great experience, which means not explaining every little decision. nevertheless, individuals who do care and are conscious of the sustainable choices made in the restaurant will notice the filtered water in a glass bottle that is served in glass cups without ice, they will notice when the waiter pushes their homemade scratch sodas made from freshly pureed fruit, and they will notice the upcycled decor within the restaurant.

the food

founding farmers does an unbelievable job at appealing to the masses by putting their own spin on classic, american comfort foods. with menu items ranging from skillet cornbread to homemade pastas, there is something for everyone. compared to other top-rated d.c. restaurants, you definitely get more bacon for your buck because of their all-american portions that are still modestly priced.

because the restaurant was explicitly structured from the very beginning, they actually do not accumulate much waste. as erin put it “the best impact we make is preventing the waste from coming in here in the first place, waste reduction as opposed to how do we handle the waste after the fact.” regardless, the kitchen still has ways to prevent food waste. founding farmers cooks everything from scratch, right down to the bread and dressings, which significantly reduces food waste. additionally, the restaurants run on a tightly controlled production schedule to avoid any major food waste due to spoilage. nearly eliminating waste with methods like these help the restaurant save money.

room for more?

founding farmers will continue working towards their mission of finding more ways to bring people closer to their food and farmers. at the end of our conversation, erin reflected on ways in which other restaurants could follow in their tracks in becoming more sustainable, which could translate into higher profits.she left me with this word of advice: “turn sustainability into dollar signs.” since in reality, our world runs on money, it is important to learn how to make a business case for sustainability, like how decreasing waste means saving money, to see a bigger impact overall. it is motivating for the founding farmers team that other companies see their success and try to emulate it, knowing that sustainability is part of their equation to success.

want to learn more?

https://www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/about/story/

https://www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/about/story/sustainability/

http://ndfu.org