ize farming as a romantic occupation in a bucolic setting, it is actually a risky, physically demanding job. Despite the challenges, farmers say they love their work because they enjoy being outside, working with their hands, producing high-quality food and being their own boss. It helps to be healthy, smart and an optimist at heart.


Sticker Price versus Hidden Costs To consumers coping in a down economy, the cheapest price may sometimes seem like the best choice. John Ikerd, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, notes that, “Americans, on average, are spending only half as much of their disposable income for food today as they were in the 1960s.” However, at the same time, “The percentage spent on health care has doubled.” Scores of studies show that many of today’s chronic dis- eases are related to poor diet. Factor in medical costs associ- ated with food-borne illnesses, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pesticide- and hormone-contaminated food and water, and it’s easy to understand why Michael Carolan, author of The Real Cost of Cheap Food, declares, “Cheap food... is actually quite expensive.”


One way for families to save money on food costs is to reduce waste. Jonathan Bloom, author of American Waste- land, says Americans waste more than 40 percent of the food we produce for consumption, throwing away $100 billion- plus in food a year. Most of it ends up in landfills. Instead of providing incentives to agribusinesses to produce less expensive food, smarter national farm and food policies could prioritize producing higher quality food and wasting less of it. Kathy Bero, board president of NuGenesis Farm, in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, advocates shifting commod- ity payments to organic farmers. Her nonprofit educational farm promotes “food as medicine,” along with cost-saving, health-boosting consumer strategies such as learning how to garden and cook to maximize nutritional value.


Inspiring Trends


Stephanie Coughlin, a farmer in San Diego, California, says: “If you don’t have local farms, you don’t have local securi- ty.” Across the country, communities are proving how a few conscious buyers can improve everyone’s access to high- quality local foods. Farm to Hospital: As director of nutrition services at Fletcher Allen Health Care, in Burlington, Vermont, Registered Dietitian Diane Imrie has the power to influence the economic security and sustainability of her community and surrounding


Digging Life at Inyoni Organic Farm


Nick Batty Reaps Delight Offering Locally Grown Food by Susan Aimes


M


ore Collier County residents than ever before are shop- ping at the Third Street South Farmers’ Market, in Naples, where Nick Batty has been sell- ing produce from his five-acre Inyoni Organic Farm since 2002. By 2006, a dozen or so fresh- air vendors patiently waited on Saturday mornings, December through April, for several hundred


Nick Batty


shoppers to stroll through the market located behind Tommy Bahama’s, in Olde Naples. Today, Batty notes that nearly 50 regular vendors see an estimated 2,000 shoppers every Saturday morning throughout the entire year. “I’m guesstimating that 60 to 70 percent of my customers come every week and about 5 percent of them have been to the farm to see where their food is grown,” says Batty, who offers farm tours.


Relationships with local chefs are also important to the 10-year veteran of farming. “Chefs appreci- ate dependable farmers that can consistently provide high-quality food,” advises Batty, who initially put his degree in horticulture to work in a 10-by-10-foot plot just off Rock Road, near the gated community of TwinEagles. Although Batty does sell some produce to two Naples restaurants, Bamboo Café and The Bay House, most of his vegetables are sold at three local farmers’ markets: Third Street South, the Market on Marco Island and St. Monica’s Farmers’ Market. He also sells produce at For Goodness Sake Organic Mar- ketplace & Café, in Bonita Springs.


Batty good-naturedly offers a dose of reality for city dwellers that idealize farming as a romantic occupation: “When I come outside in the early morning to dig in the dirt, I look up and see the birds singing in the trees and the moon still hanging in sky. Then I look down and see a couple hundred fire ants crawling on my leg. I hose them off and get back to work,” he quips. Still, Batty likes being able to live out his dream. “Farming is a business, and I wanted to be in the business of farming so I could find out if I really had it in me to be successful at mak- ing a living by growing food for the local economy,” he muses. “Along the way, I discovered that there truly is something unexplainable about being in contact with the Earth and involved with its cycles.”


For more info, contact Nick Batty at 239-980-3605. natural awakenings March 2012 37


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