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From the Ground Up Fritz Boettner believes in West Virginia’s ability to feed itself. fritz boettner is changing our food system. And probably without realizing it, you’ve benefited from his vision, leadership, and ability to create strong partnerships. He is a can-do, roll-up-your- sleeves, grab-a-shovel kind of guy. He loves back-of-the-house logistics, and nothing jazzes him more than filling a truck full of fresh food. As a small farmer, he has worked in his local community to create the Alderson Green Grocer, found Sprouting Farms in Talcott, and direct the Turnrow Appalachian Farm Collective. Currently he is the food system development director for the West Virginia University Center for Resilient Communities and serves as the director of the Turnrow. Given that the pandemic has shined a spotlight on the importance of local farms and food production, we sat down with him to learn more about the state of West Virginia’s food system and how Turnrow Appalachian Farm Collective is helping address challenges and forge a better future for our farmers. interviewed by nikki bowman mills You’ve been involved in the agricultural scene for many years. Why? FritzBoettner: I have had a passion for West Virginia and small scale farming since I was young. My grandparents and great uncles farmed—both for subsistence and business. I have vivid memories of riding tractors, playing in the fields, and, of course, eating all of the farm-fresh veggies and meats they would produce. I grew up in a food-rich family, so the emphasis was always placed on sharing big meals. Farming binds us to the land for nourishment and survival, connecting communities, families, cultures, and people. I love the idea of creating something from nearly nothing—starting with the seed and producing life-giving food. There’s just something magical about that to me. I also consider myself an environmentalist and humanist. There is a deep connection between the two in agriculture, or there used to be, and this is where we have lost our way—very symbiotic of the issues we see today across many social, political, and cultural spectrums. I truly believe if we can fix our food system, a road map could be created to bridge lots of gaps between the inequities we see across the world. What are the biggest challenges facingWest Virginia’s food system? FB: West Virginia is comprised of very VERY small farms. There is one farm in California that more than doubles the entirety of West Virginia’s agriculture land. Our food system has been heavily centralized to accommodate margins and profits for very few people. The small farmer is not able to compete or even really participate in this type of food system. Today’s food system values shelf-life, uniformity, cheap and extractive labor, intense capitalization of equipment as well as chemicals—petroleum in both pesticide application and transport—unsustainable practices, and
a disregard for protecting or nourishing our environment. Our present food system is not sustainable and contributes to intense social, economic, and environmental degradation. Hay is the number one crop in the state, with chicken from large corporate poultry entities that are part of the industrial food complex as West Virginia’s number one agricultural product. West Virginia is not immediately positioned to capitalize on food demand locally or regionally, mostly due to geography and topology that restrict its ability to produce and incomes and access that constrain the market. There has not been much investment in food production to build a regional food system or investment in infrastructure, personnel, and public market opportunities, like farm-to-school/institution or farm-to-food banks. Why is the sustainability of West Virginia farms important to you? FB: To continue to grow viable farming businesses inWest Virginia that create sustainable income, solid jobs, and healthy foods, we need to scale up specialty crop production and establish wholesale markets with established food service companies, supermarkets, and individuals. To do that requires strategic cooperation, planning, and branding. Since 2017, Refresh Appalachia and Sprouting Farms operated as independent and competing food hubs, each grossing roughly $75,000 in sales. Seeing the limits of a competitive framework between the two hubs, the directors at Sprouting Farms and Refresh Appalachia brought these initiatives together to integrate production and advance a cooperative marketing initiative called Turnrow Appalachian Farm Collective. Through the Turnrow initiative, many organizations officially coordinate sales, delivery, production planning, post-harvest handling, food safety, and marketing for enterprises throughout West Virginia, including Refresh Appalachia, KISRA, Grow Ohio Valley, Preston County Workshop, New Roots Community Farm, Gorge Grown, Wardensville Grow, Garrett Growers, Lewis County Farmers Market, and Capitol Market. Turnrow has grossed nearly a million dollars in farmer sales, frommore than 140 producers. Turnrow’s work has resulted in the establishment of a central Appalachian bi-weekly sales and distribution network and multi- Fritz Boettner (above) wears many hats as he works to create opportunities for the state’s farming community.
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