MADISON, Wis. -- Federal data show the farming industry is older and mostly white, and an emerging Wisconsin program could open more pathways by training for small grain production, in an effort to remove barriers for people of color pursuing agriculture.

With the support of the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Dane County's Neighborhood Food Solutions, known for helping those formerly incarcerated learn about urban agriculture in South Madison, aims to teach Black farmers how to grow and sell grain products such as rye, oats and rice.

Robert Pierce, founder and executive director of Neighborhood Food Solutions, said while his nonprofit is tied to a large urban setting, it can also show aspiring producers how to succeed with commodities beyond fruits and vegetables.

"Teaching and showing young Black farmers that there's money to be made if you do things right, and the commodities are a way of doing this," Pierce explained.

Organizers hope the new program taking shape helps Black farmers embrace more intensive production, including equipment operation, while overcoming disparities in owning land. The latest Census of Agriculture said Black farmers make up less than 1% of Wisconsin producers.

Donale Richards, food systems program manager at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, said beyond production, another component is showing how to have success with customers at local events, such as the South Madison Farmer's Market.

"To provide visibility that, yes, there are people of color who are doing this, and there is a lot of support to help people enter this as well," Richards pointed out.

He noted the support is important because a number of grain markets around Wisconsin are very competitive. For those in South Madison, he said it boosts access to healthier foods for underserved communities.

Richards added in general, farming can be a hard industry to break into if you don't have connections, and there has been a longstanding disconnect between traditional forms of outreach and the Black community.

"It's available, but it's not something that's really been concentrated for people of color to really understand and get that training," Richards remarked.

Other partners for the project include the Artisan Grain Collaborative and Meadowlark Organics.

Education officials in Ohio want state leaders to invest in free school meals for all students.

Pandemic-era federal waivers enabling schools to offer breakfast and lunch at no cost expired in June, meaning families in need of assistance have to income-qualify for federal school meal programs. For a family of four, it's about $51,000 a year for reduced-priced meals and $36,000 for free meals.

Andrea Helton, registered dietitian and director of Nutrition Services for the Wellington Exempted Village School District, worried kids will fall through the cracks.

"I've had some calls from families upset because they missed the cutoff by maybe a couple hundred dollars," Helton recounted. "They've expressed to me that it's upsetting that the applications only include gross income, and do not include a lot of those other factors that go into providing food for children, every single day."

The Ohio State Board of Education is recommending the General Assembly use American Rescue Plan Act funds to offer no-cost breakfast and lunch to all Ohio students through the remainder of the school year.

Katherine Ungar, senior policy associate for the Children's Defense Fund of Ohio, explained Ohio has spent about 65% of it's nearly $5.4 billion federal allocation.

"But that leaves us with almost $2 billion left to be allocated," Ungar pointed out. "We're hopeful that they'll use a very small portion of that to fund school meals for all, for this school year."

Research links school meals to improved attendance, academic achievement and cognitive function. Ungar noted free meals allow students to focus on school instead of hunger.

"But it's also hugely beneficial to nutrition providers who, instead of focusing and worrying about collecting school meal debt, can instead focus their attention on deciding what will be on the menu, making sure it's healthy and nutritious for our students," Ungar contended.

Helton added access to regular, nutritious meals can set children up for future success.

"Children are said to at least consume half of their caloric intake during the school day," Ungar explained. "Which means that this is the perfect opportunity for us to promote lifelong healthy habits, and to give exposure to fresh fruits and vegetables."

One in five Ohio kids is considered food insecure and in a recent survey, 87% of Ohio parents said they support free school meals for all students.

It's been more than 50 years since the White House held a gathering about the effects of hunger across the nation. In 1969, the White House held its first, and only, Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.

Wednesday, the Biden administration is reviving the meeting, bringing together members of Congress and groups working to fight food insecurity.

Eric Williams, community partnerships director for Second Harvest Inland Northwest, said it is very timely, considering the recent pressures on families.

"We all were spinning and pedaling really, really hard during the pandemic," Williams observed. "We kind of got through that and thought, 'Well, thank goodness that's better and things like hunger will be reduced.' And then, first of the year, inflation hits."

Williams pointed out between 2021 and 2022, need has gone up 35% in the network his organization serves. The conference will be streamed live online, and include remarks in the afternoon from President Joe Biden.

The Biden administration has laid out a lofty goal ahead of the meeting. It said it wants to "end hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030," which the administration added will lead to a reduction in chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

Williams noted there are a number of strategies to tackle hunger, including reducing the amount of uneaten food.

"We, the whole industry, that includes grocery stores, etc., are getting a little bit more efficient," Williams emphasized. "We need to get even more efficient so that the food that's produced does not get wasted. Entirely too much food is wasted."

Williams cited other pressures on the food supply, such as drought in California, which provides much of the nation's fresh produce, and increased freight costs.

However, Washington is the biggest apple producer in the country, and the inland Northwest also is good at growing crops like lentils, potatoes and onions. Williams stressed because of this, about two-thirds of the food his organization distributes is donated.

By Caleigh Wells for KCRW.
Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the KCRW-Public News Service Collaboration

When Scott Beylik's grandfather started the now four-acre Beylik Family Farms in Fillmore in the 1970s, it was a radical idea to grow tomatoes indoors without soil. Back then, they were pioneers of what has since become a growing trend in the agriculture industry: hydroponic farming.

The technology involves lacing water with all the nutrients a plant needs, which eliminates the reliance on soil. That means no water is wasted in keeping dirt moist. This type of farming uses less than 10% of the water needed to grow tomatoes in the field, according to the National Park Service.

Since Beylik mostly grows tomatoes, it made more sense to grow them in a place where they'd thrive year-round. In the fall when his outdoor competitors sell the last of their summer tomato crop, Beylik keeps making money.

"In a way, it balances out. We're able to grow 365 days. With ... crops in the field, you're only going to do maybe one a year because it's seasonal," he says.

On a typical day, Scott Beylik walks between rows of tomato vines that climb wires strung in a greenhouse. He reaches down and checks on a water dropper that drips some life into the plants' stunted roots every second.

As the drought drags on, the future of water-loving crops like tomatoes hangs in the balance. And as water in drought-ridden California gets more scarce and more expensive, that option isn't just good news for the planet - hydroponics seem more affordable for some farmers than ever.

But the cost of growing a tomato is more complicated than it seems.

About a third of fresh tomatoes in the U.S. are grown hydroponically. But that doesn't account for the bulk of the tomatoes grown nationwide. Most tomatoes are "processing" crops - meaning they get canned, bottled and jarred into soups, ketchups and salsas. And hydroponic technology isn't catching on at all in that sector. That's because the cost of water - used sparingly with hydroponics - pales in comparison to the cost of labor - which hydroponics relies on heavily to function.

Companies that provide processing tomatoes have machines that can pick for them outside - so they have lower labor costs. Moving the tomatoes inside and using hydroponics would require paying people to pick them. And people are more expensive than machines.

"If the water price doubles, that raises the cost of production by 5%. Not because the water is cheap for them, but because the labor and the capital of a greenhouse, for example, is so much more than the water cost," says agricultural economist Dan Sumner.

He says processing tomatoes still make money in California for now, but if their profitability is ever threatened, they likely won't move to greenhouses. They'll move to somewhere like Mexico, where labor is cheaper.

"I haven't heard anyone talk about a period of time in which we'd grow indoor tomatoes in California for processing. It's much more likely that they might be grown somewhere else, some other part of the world," he says.

Hydroponics has the best chance of catching on with the small, local farms, where big machines and international relocation aren't really an option.

Because yes, hydroponics are catching on, but they don't make financial sense for all growers yet. Samantha Watson with Sunrise Organics in Santa Barbara says greenhouses are a big investment.

"At the size that we are, they're very expensive," she says. "We deal with a lot of wind in our community as well. So you could spend days building them, pay your whole crew, and then you get a bad wind and you're like, 'There goes the greenhouses.'"

For now, Sunrise Organics makes more money selling tomatoes seasonally, and other crops the rest of the year.

Caleigh Wells wrote this article for KCRW.


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