June 17, 2005

Cultivating a community, caring for creation

Theresa Laurence, Tennessee Register

COLLEGE GROVE. When customers approach the Delvin Farms delivery truck, smiles spread across their faces as they see the boxes of fresh organic produce and the farmers who grew it.

Hank Delvin mans the truck, overseeing the distribution of boxes containing broccoli, lettuce, zucchini and other early summer crops.

Cindy Delvin, his more outgoing wife, stands in the parking lot greeting customers with a hug, eager to answer any questions and reminding them not to forget the weekly recipe card.

“Isn’t this great?” she says as she observes two customers swapping stories about their one-time 4-H involvement. While shoppers in a regular grocery store may reluctantly exchange glances or a few polite words, Delvin Farms’ customers often linger to chat with each other, sharing advice about gardening and cooking.

Delvin Farms, located in Williamson County, is part of the growing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement that promotes ethical farming and eating practices. It is a refreshing antidote to the modern agricultural system dominated by profit-driven factory farms.

“The purpose of this is to stress locally produced agricultural products, and to bring the consumer and producer closer together,” explained Cindy Delvin, who has been growing vegetables commercially with her husband for more than 30 years.

They are members of Holy Family Parish in Brentwood.

About seven years ago the Delvins began to explore the idea of structuring their farm as a CSA, where members essentially buy a share of the farm, paying $700 up front to receive a box of fresh organic produce each week from May through November. Growing vegetables, fruits and herbs organically and distributing them through a CSA allows family farmers like the Delvins to carve out a niche and continue making a living in an increasingly consolidated and industrialized agribusiness market.

The Delvins rely almost solely on word of mouth advertising for new customers. First year subscriber Margaret Holleman heard about if from a friend of her mother’s and said it appealed to her for several reasons.

“I really liked the idea of buying organic, which I do not buy at the store usually, knowing where the stuff was coming from, and the convenience of having the selection and delivery made for me,” she said.

Holleman, an attorney who works downtown, picks up her half share of Delvin Farms produce every other week at the Turnip Truck in East Nashville.

“Most importantly, I never know what food is actually in season because even at the Farmer’s Market they sell apples all year round,” she said. “I wanted to get produce that was in season and at its natural peak.”

Since the Delvins signed up their first CSA subscribers in 2001 and began meeting more Middle Tennesseans committed to sustainable agricultural practices, “it has opened up a new world for us,” Delvin said. “It has been a wonderful blessing for us.”

Cindy particularly likes the personal connection CSAs provide between grower and consumer – something that was missing when she and her husband sold only to restaurants and grocery stores. Now they get direct feedback from the people who eat their vegetables.

Also, “our customers can come here any time and see how their food is grown,” she said of the farm. The Delvins host CSA subscribers for a spring potluck dinner and fall cookout and hayride.

If they make the trek out to the Delvin Farms, members can see more than 60 varieties of crops growing on 65 acres of fertile land, bordered and irrigated by the Harpeth River. They will see favorite summer crops like tomatoes and corn growing in neat rows alongside less popular vegetables like mustard greens and turnips.

Customers don’t have a choice about the variety and quantity of specific fruits, vegetables and herbs in their weekly boxes, but the Delvins include recipes for the more unusual items. They even heard from a few parents that their kids were eschewing junk food in favor of kale crunch, a snack baked with the hearty, leafy green vegetable.

The nearly 200 subscribers “cook food they would ordinarily have never bought,” Cindy said.

“The biggest challenge has been the greens. But I am trying new things and love the idea of experimenting with food that is fresh,” said Holleman. She still shops at the grocery for items like bananas that are not grown in Middle Tennessee, but subscribing to the CSA “is completely worth it,” she said. “The people are great, there are activities on the farm; I feel like I am part of a community.”

Hank and Cindy Delvin, lifelong Tennesseans who graduated from Father Ryan High School and St. Bernard Academy, respectively, have been farming together for 30 of their nearly 37 years of marriage. Hank even worked his way through Middle Tennessee State University growing and selling tomatoes and squash.

While the Delvins always farmed with little help from chemical pesticides, they just thought they were following “the natural way of doing things,” Cindy said. They do use alternative pest controls, and their crops are not much more vulnerable to disease than those treated by conventional methods.

The Delvins followed “common sense” practices like using cover crops, conservation tillage, erosion control and crop rotation to sustain the land but “we didn’t consider ourselves ‘organic,’” she said.

About the time the Wild Oats grocery chain opened its first store in Nashville, the Delvins’ son prompted them to seek organic certification through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

After meeting the USDA’s rigorous standards for organic labeling, the Delvins’ produce now bears that seal of approval, which essentially means it is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides or genetically modified organisms and is grown in an environmentally friendly way.

In addition to selling directly to consumers through the CSA and at the Franklin Farmers Market, the Delvins also sell their produce to Wild Oats, the Turnip Truck and the Produce Place in Sylvan Park.

While most fruits and vegetables available commercially are picked immaturely and shipped over 1,000 miles, at Delvin Farms everything is vine ripened and can go from field to table within six hours for some CSA subscribers. “It’s tastier because it’s only hours old,” Cindy said. “You can tell the difference.”

“Everything tastes wonderful,” said Holleman. “In fact, I love it so much that next year I am going to get a full share.”

While farm work is strenuous and not without risk, “it doesn’t feel like a job to me,” Cindy said. “It’s just a pleasure.”

The Delvins have about 10 employees, mostly recent college graduates, who are complimentary of their bosses for creating a respectful work environment. But Hank is quick to point out that, “we’re all doing it together. … We don’t think of ourselves as bosses.”

As farmers, the Delvins remain somewhat at the mercy of the elements for their livelihood, defending their crops against drought and flood alike. “We take it in stride,” Hank said.

Oftentimes, if excess rain wipes out a crop, something on the other side of the field will benefit. Cindy added, “God has a way of working things out.”

For more information on Community Supported Agriculture and to locate family farmers in Middle Tennessee (including Delvin Farms) visit www.localharvest.org

For more information on current agricultural issues and links to the U.S. bishops’ statements on food and farm workers, visit the National Catholic Rural Life Conference website at www.ncrlc.com

For more information on Tennessee agriculture, visit www.picktnproducts.org .