Farmer Turns Over New Leaf, With Some Help

Source from:  By Michael Sluss The Roanoke Times 12/13/2004

Martin Miles eagerly promotes the Appalachian Harvest brand and conducts workshops for would-be organic farmers. Martin Miles once relied heavily on a crop that health care advocates routinely scorn. But now the Lee County tobacco farmer also is in the business of raising products craved by people pursuing healthy lifestyles. Miles said he once raised as much as 85,000 pounds of tobacco on his land in the Southwest Virginia mountains. But a plummeting market and a decline in federal production quotas in the 1990s forced him to reduce his crop and find other ways of making a living from farming. That's why his soil now yields organic tomatoes, peppers and snow peas that end up in grocery stores as far away as the Washington, D.C., suburbs. "If you've been a farmer for as long as I have, you'll try just about anything," said Miles, 63, who jokingly described himself as being "old as the hills." Miles is part of a network of farmers in far Southwest Virginia who grow certified organic vegetables and fruits and sell them under the brand name of Appalachian Harvest. The program was started by the Abingdon-based Appalachian Sustainable Development. The nonprofit organization works to create environmentally friendly business opportunities in forestry and agriculture in parts of Southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee. Organic products are grown without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The effort has been helped by grants from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, which controls half of the annual payments the state receives under a 1998 settlement with major tobacco companies. The commission awarded $350,000 in grants to ASD between 2000 and 2003, allowing the organization to build a network of organic growers, increase production and marketing, and expand its grading and packing facility, among other things. The tobacco commission steers much of its grant money to projects aimed at bringing new industries and jobs to Southwest and Southside Virginia. But members also have an interest in sustaining agriculture, particularly small farm operations, through targeted grants like those to ASD. "Many of us in Southwest [Virginia] have said this is an opportunity to keep the family farm in the family for another generation," said Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, a member of the tobacco commission and a big booster of ASD's work with Appalachian farmers. The commission's first grant in 2000 allowed ASD to build a network of 28 certified organic producers, including 19 tobacco farmers. A 2002 grant helped cover the cost of converting Miles' tobacco barn in Stickleyville into a grading and packing facility for Appalachian Harvest produce. Appalachian Harvest products are sold at Food City stores in Virginia and Tennessee, at Whole Foods Market stores in the Washington, D.C., area, and at Ukrop's stores in central Virginia. Some growers also sell the products directly from their farms. ASD executive director Anthony Flaccavento said the demand for organic foods exceeds the supply, making production an attractive alternative for farmers like Miles who want to live off the land. The challenge now is to get more farmers involved in the cooperative, Flaccavento said. "For most of our growers, the organics [program] is a means to an end," Flaccavento said. "To a majority of them, the question is, 'Will it allow them to stay on the farm?'" Miles is not a half-hearted participant in the program. He eagerly promotes Appalachian Harvest and conducts workshops for would-be organic farmers. He also touts the health benefits of organic produce. "I think it's worth the difference because of the healthy lifestyles people have today," Miles said. "You see your grandchildren growing up and you wonder, 'What will their health be like?'" Enditem