Pledge to Eat Locally Grown

M.A. Dworkin 

The St. Croix Agriculture and Food Fair, aka AgriFest, is an incomparable showcase for local foods and locally grown foods. It seems most of the island turns out for the event. People fly in from all over the Caribbean. As Crucians, we are extremely proud of these three glorious days. We look forward to the grand event for weeks, even months. We know we are going to be walking around the beautiful fairgrounds, saying hello to our friends and neighbors, breathing in that fresh clean Crucian air, and stuffing ourselves on all the delicious locally grown fruits and veggies, and all the homemade dishes and cakes and pies.  

It is also fair to say that we believe it is our Agricultural Food Fair Duty to stop at the Farmer’s Market building, on the way out, and buy bunches of those ultra fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables to take home. 

While coming and going, there are high fives, fist pumps, and big, big smiles all around. Yes, for three days, all’s right in the Crucian world of agriculture and locally grown food.  

But then it’s over. We go back to our jobs, to our daily routines and it seems we kind of forget all about agriculture and locally grown foods. Because let’s admit it, those words are not particularly part of our everyday vernacular. They may have been a highlight of those three days at the Fair, but as far as everyday terms, in our ultra-modern, ultra-busy, ultra-techno world, the terms agriculture and locally grown hardly exist. 

That’s because understandably, we need everything to be fast. We need our food to be fast. We need our food to be convenient. Which is all fine and dandy. But the terms agriculture and locally grown seem to be terms that are buried somewhere in our distant past, buried in the St. Croix of long ago. They certainly are not terms we easily associate with fast and convenient. Because when we are out on the road, rushing from one place to another, picking up the kids, meeting deadlines, digging up new business, it’s so easy to completely forget the words agriculture and locally grown.

We forget about them because locally grown foods are not considered products of convenience for us. It’s so much easier to take that frozen thingamabob out of the freezer and shove it in the microwave, so much easier to grab a quick bite at Mickey D’s or one of the roadway stands. And why not? It’s a busy world. And we have to eat three squares a day. Who has time to prepare things with locally grown products. Way too busy. And of course, that’s completely understandable.    

But we are forgetting about one essential ingredient that has helped sustain this island for over 150 years. One basic ingredient that has helped us to gain our independence, to proudly stand back up on our feet, after tragedy has struck, after shipping lines have gone down, after pandemics have cut us off from the outside world. One main ingredient that has helped sustain us and helped us to become the quasi-sophisticated island we are today: The Local Farmer. The men and women, the families, that toil in the fields everyday. The people who break their backs at the rough and tumble job of being a Farmer. That job is not easy. That job is a very difficult job. It has little fanfare that goes along with it. No titles on the office door. No fancy nameplates on fancy desks. No stars on the walk of fame. Just a person(s) who more than likely gets up before dawn, works till dusk, walks around all day with dirty hands, dirty jeans, sweaty face. Not exactly your junior executive type, your middle management bloke. But apparently a type who is easy enough for most Crucians to forget. At least when it comes to choosing what they eat everyday. 

Not true you say. Really? Well, let’s talk about the proof of the pudding. The hard facts. How often do you buy locally grown foods on St. Croix? Besides for when you go to AgriFest or occasionally to the Saturday market and stock up. Ask yourself that question. Because here’s what Farmer Dale Brown from Sejah Farms asked the St. Croix Times: “What if each person on this island bought just $2.50 worth of locally grown foods a week? Not a day. But a week. Think about it. Do the math. We would be talking close to $12 million a year heading  straight into the pockets of our people, our Crucian people. The Farmers,” Mr. Browne claimed. 

Well, he’s right. That money would not be going to Stouffers Frozen. Not going to Birds Eye Frozen. Not going to Mister Bigshot’s stock market listed company. Not going to the person with his gold-plated name on his door. Actually, the chances are that $12 million, when divvied up, is nothing more than pocket change to those big corporate giants.   

But you can just bet your bottom dollar it’s not pocket change to us Crucians. It’s certainly not pocket change to the Farmers who break their backs to provide their friends and neighbors with a home grown quality product. A product they sell to their fellow Crucians with all the love and care anyone could put into any product. No, it’s not pocket change to the Farmers. It’s a life line. It’s like throwing a life raft overboard to help a fellow human being who is pretty close to drowning. 

Until 60-odd years ago, the word Agriculture had always been front and center in the minds of most Crucians. Not long before then, there were scant grocery stores on St. Croix. Farmers were an integral part of Crucian society. Commercial and residential farmers grew vegetables and produce in their backyards and brought them down to Market Square or other markets where it was a dyed-in-the-wool tradition on weekends to gather at the markets, meet and greet your friends, and buy most of your foods fresh from the Farmers. From sugar cane to sugar apples, from cucumbers to squash, the Virgin Islands was considered, for a hundred years, to be the “Agriculture Mecca of the Caribbean.”

     When Hess Oil and Harvey Aluminum came to St. Croix in the 1960’s the focus on the Big Island began to change from agriculture to industry. A 1978 study done by Otis Hicks, longtime St. Croix resident and Agriculture Professor, who was employed by the VI Department of Agriculture, highlighted 1966 as the point of decline for agriculture in the Territory, with the halt of sugar cane production being the catalyst. Hicks also pointed out that many of the Territory’s farmers and producers were senior citizens, “Farming was going out and we didn’t have the people to carry it on,” he declared. 

Around that time, the U.S. government gave 2,000 acres of land to the V.I. government to be distributed as farm land. The land occupied the area under, what is now, Sunny Isles, the St. Croix Educational Complex, the Agricultural Department and the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI).

Hicks began taking applications from what was advertised as freeland for qualified farmers. “Wouldn’t you know it,” Hicks said. “Out of more than 300 applications that came in, not one person had any experience or training in farming.”

Eventually the land was swallowed up by developers. 

An outreach team with the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) program visited St. Croix and St. Thomas a few years ago, to meet with UVI administrators, faculty and staff, and farmers to better understand agriculture on the islands. The purpose of the trip was to raise awareness of the SARE program and outline ways agricultural professionals can collaborate and connect on sustainable agriculture production and marketing practices through educational or research opportunities. 

In SARE’s 30 year history, the U.S. Virgin Islands has received the fewest number of research grants, only seven, totaling $917,380. The reasons behind the low numbers of grants are varied, but they emphasize just how challenging agriculture is on the islands.

Nevertheless, in 2018, the U.S. Virgin Islands had 565 farms, up from 219 in 2007. These farms accounted for 9,324 acres, up from 3,443 acres in 2007. In 2018, vegetables brought in $1,130,809 in sales. Nursery crops $725,125; Fruits & nuts $544, 305; Field & forage crops $128,692; and all livestock $794,351. Vegetables account for 34% of sales. Total sales for all 565 farms: $3,334,652. That’s a little under $6,000 per farm.

Mr. Browne of Sejah Farms, one of the largest independent farms on St. Croix, prides himself on a diverse farming operation, growing a wide variety of vegetables and raising livestock, such as sheep. He believes the problem is two-fold. “There is not enough grant money coming into the Territory. The Department of Agriculture is not taking advantage of the grant money that is available to farmers. And secondly, there has to be an overall Farmer’s Collective, an umbrella organization that combines all the smaller collectives under one roof,” Mr. Browne stated. “Without a united collective, there is no push to get anything done. Agriculture is a sleeping giant on St. Croix. It has to be activated. The fight is about the locals eating more homegrown foods. Plain and simple.”

Farmer Browne’s hope is for every local man, woman, and child to eat $2.50 worth of locally grown food a week. Total sales: $12 million. 

$2.50 a week doesn’t sound like a lot to pledge from every Crucian to support an industry that helped us pick ourselves up by our bootstraps, sustain us through the worst of times and bring us to the sophisticated form of government we take pride in today. $2.50 a week does not sound like much to support an industry that cherishes the same thing we all do - our land. The question is: Are we prepared to make that pledge?