3/5/25 Small-Scale Farmers Feed the World
Farmers Elizabeth and Paul founded Singing Frogs Farm after years working with small scale farmers and agroforesters in West Africa and Costa Rica. We are blessed to have learned from their knowledge. The biggest take away was that food can be grown intensively, by hand and for local economies on a small scale.
Fast forward several years into our farming and an international organization (the ETC Group) came out with a study comparing industrial agriculture and small-scale farming (plus small scale fishing and herding). They found that 70% of the world’s food is grown by smallholders and another study found 80%. For farmers that means 5 hectares (~10 acres) or less.
Most US farms are far larger. In fact agricultural policy for decades was “Get Big or Get Out”. As a nation we have tried to export that. In fact many people in our country equate farming with large swaths of land and big tractors. But we at Singing Frogs see the focus on big farms, industrialized only farming as a problem. Getting big usually means treating farming like an equation where only inputs such as labor hours, seeds, tractors, chemical fertilizers and biocides are considered and the result is profit. But farming is working with the complex system of Mother Nature. This can be done so much better on a small scale in our experience.
Outside the US there are many many more small farms. These farmers not only produce a large amount of food in their local food systems, but they do so farm more ecologically (they’re living on that land with their families) and they use less natural resources. We just love the chart showing some of the quantitative differences and use it in many a presentation. Small farmers produce many more varieties, have more diversity of gender but also race, produce more calories of food for calories input (on the industrialized side those are often fossil fuel calories), use far fewer natural resources and produce more of the food.
Not surprisingly, this idea has been threatening to the institutions that support larger farmers. As such more recently two academic papers claimed to debunk this, finding that only 35% of the world’s food is produced on small farms.
Taking a look at those studies, they are by organizations supporting shifts to bigger farms. One looked at crop production rather than food production (biofuels and feed to livestock skew this), plus much of the food produced on small farms is eaten by those producing it and their families and not sold. Also, they only looked at 55 countries, half of which were European and ignored Africa, South East Asia and other areas with high numbers of small farms.
So 35% is certainly too small, maybe 70% is too high. The important point is that small farms are very important in feeding the world.
At Singing Frogs Farm we have taken it to heart, not only are we small, but we are intensive so that we’re producing as much on 2.5 acres of field space as many farms are on 10, 15, even 20 acres. Growing intensively makes sense, just like growing small. Land is expensive. We want to live near our community, not far removed. And by growing intensively in an ecological manner we’re able to sequester carbon, build below and above grown biology and grow nutrient rich foods.
Storing Greens
Last week we had a question about storing greens from a CSA member. Spring is a time for many greens and we want them to be vibrant for you when you pick up your box but also when you’re ready to use them. We send you heads, bunched greens without packaging but also cut greens in paper bags (including pea shoots today). We do this to reduce plastic use and these paper bags are compostable. Please take your greens out of paper bags as soon as they get home, wash them and store them in a container. We love plastic greens keepers (basically a big Tupperware with a hard mesh) on the bottom shelf of the fridge. It keeps them fresh for a week or more. AND if you have washed and ready to use greens ready in your fridge you’ll be more likely to use them.
I have a write up on the FAQs page of our CSAware page. I also have a write up on our new CSA Member Handbook that we’re excited about that is a part of our FarmHand system rolling out in April. Take a peek (pg 19-22) but know that none of the info on Farmhand is live for you until we fully transition over the first week of April.
Produce Notes & Recipes
This Week’s Box
Red Butter Lettuce
Surprise Bagged Green: (Spinach, Arugula or Baby Kale)
Chicories! Radicchio & Frisée
Potatoes (Suncatcher Farm)
Bulb Fennel
Meyer Lemons (Pretty Mike)
Families: Walnuts (Double A Walnuts)
This week we have some beautiful Red Butter Lettuce from the protection on one of our hoop houses.
From out in the field, we are coming into more Chicories with Escarole in the last box and Radicchio (the dark red head) and Frisée (the serrated leafed head) in this week’s box. They really make it through the middle of winter so well, it’s what’s in season. So it’s time to enjoy. We love to mix them, so we hope you eat these two together. Chicories can be eaten raw or cooked. Epicurious had a great write up on them from their 2018 Guide to Chicories: “If you want them raw, salad is the way to go. Being a bitter veg, the best approach is to pair chicories with something sweet and something rich, and then marry it all with something bracing. For sweet, think winter citrus cut into supremes; shaved apples and pears; dried cherries and figs; candied nuts; and adding a good dose of honey or maple syrup to your salad dressing. For rich, think creme fraiche, sour cream, yogurt, and assertive cheese; poached or boiled eggs; smoked fish or shredded chicken or fried bacon; and even tahini. Chicories can also stand up nicely to the heat of a warm vinaigrette.
But when cooked, chicories are a new vegetable entirely. Across the family, heat tempers the bitterness, giving way to something sweeter, earthier, nuttier, and downright succulent. Roast them in the oven. Sear them in a skillet. Chop them and add to soups, risottos, even baked pasta dishes, and watch the bitterness melt away.”
Chicory Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette (edible Seattle)
For the dressing:
¼ cup olive oil
4 Tbs lemon juice
4 Tbs orange juice
2 Tbs honey
1 Tbs stone-ground mustard
Salt and pepper, to taste
For the salad:
1 medium head radicchio, cored and chopped
1 head frisée lettuce, chopped
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup toasted hazelnuts, halved
¼ cup preserved lemon rind, julienned
Combine all dressing ingredients together and whisk by hand or blend until emulsified and smooth.
In a large bowl, toss together the radicchio, frisée and red onion. Drizzle in the dressing, toss to coat. Garnish with the julienned preserved lemon rind and toasted hazelnuts.
Seared Radicchio with Blue Cheese (Deborah Madison)
1 head of Radicchio (about the size of a grapefruit)
Olive oil
Slices or small chunks of blue cheese
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Cut the radicchio into 6 wedges, keeping them joined at the base so they don’t fall apart. But even if they do, don’t hesitate to use them.
Coat a cast iron skillet or grill pan with olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the wedges of radicchio and season with them with salt. With the pan being hot but the heat only medium-high, cook until the wedges are browned on the bottom, then turn, adding a little more oil if needed and another few pinches of salt. Lay the cheese over the top, season with freshly ground pepper, and cover the pan. Cook until the leaves are browned all the way through and the cheese has softened, a matter of a few minutes. Remove to a plate and eat as is, or with a dash of vinegar. You can eat this over polenta, too, or with pasta, and it’s delicious paired with roasted winter squash.
Note: Serves 2, or even 1
Note: Yes, I would add Frisée to make this bigger.
Meyer Lemons are in! Every late-winter we like adding some Meyer Lemons to our boxes for some diversity. We get these from friends at Pretty Mike Farm. They a tiny farm, a side-hustle/retirement project but we love that they don’t spray anything on their lemons. Here are some things we love doing with Meyer Lemons:
Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette with some Dijon Mustard, Apple Cider Vinegar and Olive Oil. This goes great with pea shoots and/or sliced fennel in a salad.
Spritzed on roasted veggies including brassicas, potatoes, carrots and more.
Simply keeping on hand for juice in water.
Desert: lemon bars, lemon meringue pie, lemon poppyseed cake, sorbet and more.
Crispy Meyer Lemon Oven-Roasted Potatoes
2 lbs potatoes
2 Tbs olive oil, extra virgin
2 Tbs Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
coarse sea salt and pepper to taste
1 Meyer lemon sliced
Heat oven to 400°F.
Oil a baking sheet and heat in oven for 4-5 minutes.
Scrub the potatoes, chop into bite-sized pieces and pat dry. Place in a large bowl.
Whisk the oil and lemon juice together, then drizzle over the potatoes and toss until very well-coated.
Spread out potatoes on baking sheet so they are not touching each other.
Bake for 15-20 min, turning once or twice until crispy on the outside and tender when pricked with a fork.
Meanwhile, lay lemon slices on a grill and cook until slightly caramelized and golden brown, about 5 minutes, flipping once. Use as a garnish for the potatoes.
Our Potatoes this week are Vista Gold OR Purple Majesty. Both are good baked, boiled or fried. This was a last minute change (we ran out of Vista Gold).