The grant from the $3.1 billion Climate- Smart Commodities initiative opened the door into a mega market he’d only dreamed about, one that would allow him to improve both the quality of produce in the food system and the lives of the people growing and harvesting it — all while implementing processes to help reverse climate change.
and more muscle — over the markets they serve. The grant from the $3.1 billion Climate-Smart Commodities initiative opened the door into a mega market he’d only dreamed about, one that would allow him to improve both the quality of produce in the food system and the lives of the people growing and harvesting it — all while implementing processes to help reverse climate change. The original concept for Elevated Foods traces its roots to Brazeel’s first produce company, SunTerra Produce Traders, a conduit that connects farmers to food buyers. Brazeel founded SunTerra based on his conviction that there was a smarter way to organize this famously low-margin, high-sweat- equity industry. Nearly 20 years later, SunTerra’s success has shown he was right: By creating a collective of the top growers in each category — the best leafy greens from Salinas and Yuma, table grapes from Bakersfield and Coachella, citrus from the Central Valley, or cantaloupes from Arizona — and operating it like a collective of family-run farms, Brazeel has made his members more powerful than they were on their own, both financially
regenerative, climate-aware pedigree. Brazeel would leverage each of his member’s strengths in their specific category to present what he calls “a full apples to zucchini portfolio.” Brazeel also imagined that Elevated Foods would serve as something akin to a talent agent, a representative for the aggregated market power of all of its individual member-growers, taking a percentage fee for all the produce moving through the system. But when the USDA’s Climate-Smart grant was announced, he saw the opportunity to provide expertise and support to specialty crop producers to develop or expand their current climate- friendly practices, as a way to meet the requirements large retailers were now requiring. Through the grant, Brazeel could build a collective under one Elevated Foods umbrella and supercharge the entire operation. Bonnie and his team were so impressed with Brazeel’s privately driven strategy that they decided to make the Elevated Foods $20 million Climate-Smart grant one of a handful
HOW A USDA GRANT WINNER IS COMBINING CLIMATE SMART GROWING PRACTICES WITH COMMERCIAL AMBITIONS TO RESHAPE THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN FARMING.
— a $3.1 billion grant program to help farmers, ranchers, and foresters optimize carbon reduction benefits — as it aligned strategically with the vision he had for Elevated Foods. Bonnie, a twice U.S. Senate-confirmed political appointee, was impressed with Elevated’s connection between consumer interest and demand for regenerative or climate-smart practices and could see the longevity possible with its approach. “Did you really come up with that proposal in the two weeks after we announced the Climate-Smart program?” Bonnie asked, as the two bounced along paths through fields of watermelons and squash. Brazeel took off his sunglasses, revealing the “raccoon eye” tan lines he’d acquired from many hours spent in cropland just like this. With an easy laugh, he looked at
Bonnie and acknowledged: “Actually, we’d been working on the proposal for a couple years during the pandemic,” Brazeel said. “What we sent you was Elevated Foods founders Peter Wells (left) and Steve Brazeel (right).
by Mark Borden
and in terms of their ability to shape what had traditionally been an individualistic commodity market. Initially, Brazeel envisioned that Elevated Foods would build on SunTerra’s success, using the collective power of America’s best farmers to negotiate mutually beneficial
basically the investor pitch deck we were using to raise capital. It just so happened our idea for Elevated Foods aligned perfectly with the USDA’s program.” That September day marked the latest stage in Brazeel’s 20-year push to transform how farmers — and farms — are organized, and how
Brazeel’s fellow passenger that day was USDA Under Secretary Robert Bonnie, who’d flown across the country to award a $20 million government grant to Brazeel’s company, Elevated Foods, a year-old platform for helping small- and medium-scale produce
SEED FUNDING In September 2022, Steve Brazeel found himself being pulled by a John Deere tractor through the fields of the Univer- sity of California’s experimental farm- ing research facility in Irvine, California. It was a typical day in the perpetually sun- ny, agricultural mini oasis tucked into the South- ern California sprawl of freeways, strip malls, glass buildings, and beige suburbia. Brazeel was in a celebratory mood. He had every right to be.
Under Secretary Robert Bonnie helps oversee the USDA’s $3.1B Climate Smart Program.
growers organize and distribute their products. Brazeel had submitted the Elevated Foods application to the agency’s
relationships with retailers like Costco, Walmart, and Whole Foods, whose customers increasingly require them to offer produce with a sustainable,
Elevated Foods thinks about its part in the overall food system. Brazeel wants to reimagine production across the U.S., giving farmers greater security —
new Partnerships for Climate- Smart Commodities program
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ISSUE 01
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