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Can Alt. Farmers Stake A Claim In The San Joaquin Valley?

KVPR | By Joe Moore,
Rebecca Plevin, Ezra David Romero
Published August 20, 2013 at 12:36 PM PDT
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Sisters Holly and Hannah Johnson collect eggs on thier River Roots Farm.
Rebecca Plevin / Valley Public Radio
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K.C. Pomering started a monthly food box club called the G-Free Foodie Box.
Ezra Romero / Valley Public Radio
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Allen Mesick, of Tollhouse, gathers Mohair from his Angora goats.
Rebecca Plevin / Valley Public Radio
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Kyle Schmidt, Tower Urban Family Farms, and his brothers farm four back backyard plots in urban Fresno.
Ezra Romero / Valley Public Radio
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Trelio owner Chris Shackleford combs farmers markets in the region for the best produce to serve in his restaurant.
Ezra Romero / Valley Public Radio
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At Masumoto Family Farms in Del Rey, peaches are harvested every summer.
Ezra Romero / Valley Public Radio

This week on Valley Edition we take a look at what we are calling "Alt. Farmers."

In a region where big agriculture is big business, a new generation of farmers is challenging our notion of what life on the farm is all about. These socially conscious, technology savvy boutique growers and ranchers are going beyond organic to embrace the latest trends in food and popular culture.

They’re not just small farmers, they’re diversified entrepreneurs and clever marketers who are doing their part to make farming hip and cool. It’s a movement that has its roots in hipster Meccas like Portland and Brooklyn, where skinny jeans wearing millennials raise artisanal chickens on rooftops.

In this weeks program we ask farmers, agriculture experts and chefs whether small farming can succeed and thrive in the most productive agricultural area in the country?

In this series

Report - Young Farmers Cultivate A New Image For Valley Agriculture. By Rebecca Plevin

Interview - Modern Farmers "Care Where Their Food Comes From" with Modern Farmer's Anne Marie Gardner.  By Joe Moore

Audio Postcard - For Young Goat Farmer, Mohair Is All The Rage. ByJoe Moore & Rebecca Plevin

Report - Valley Consumers Help Drive Local Farm To Fork Culture, Economy. By Ezra Romero

Panel Discussion  -

  1. Nikiko Masumoto - Masumoto Family Farm, Del Rey, Calif.
  2. Nichole Schott, Rosa Brothers Milk Company, Tulare, Calif. 
  3. Patricia Stever Blattler, Executive Director of the Tulare County Farm Bureau

(Produced by Ezra David Romero, Hosted by Joe Moore, Reported by Rebecca Plevin and Ezra David Romero)
Tags
Valley Edition AgricultureValley EditionModern Farmeralt farmerG-Free FoodieConsumersCenCAl
Joe Moore
Joe Moore is the President and General Manager of KVPR / Valley Public Radio. He has led the station through major programming changes, the launch of KVPR Classical and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership the station was named California Non-Profit of the Year by Senator Melissa Hurtado (2019), and won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (2022).
See stories by Joe Moore
Rebecca Plevin
Rebecca Plevin was a reporter for Valley Public Radio from 2013-2014. Before joining the station, she was the community health reporter for Vida en el Valle, the McClatchy Company's bilingual newspaper in California's San Joaquin Valley. She earned the George F. Gruner Award for Meritorious Public Service in Journalism and the McClatchy President's Award for her work at Vida, as well as honors from the National Association of Hispanic Publications and the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Plevin grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. She is also a fluent Spanish speaker, a certified yoga teacher, and an avid rock-climber.
See stories by Rebecca Plevin
Ezra David Romero
Ezra David Romero is an award-winning radio reporter and producer. His stories have run on Morning Edition, Morning Edition Saturday, Morning Edition Sunday, All Things Considered, Here & Now, The Salt, Latino USA, KQED, KALW, Harvest Public Radio, etc.
See stories by Ezra David Romero
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