Vegetable farmers participate in worldwide food conference

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John Ferree irrigates a greenhouse full of winter crops at Seldom Seen Farm. / Photos by Wade Coggeshall
Kale grows in a sun-splashed field.

October 22, 2008

By Wade Coggeshall The Hendricks County Flyer Wed Oct 22, 2008, 04:37 PM EDT

DANVILLE — Two vegetable farmers here are hoping to glean useful information from a four-day food conference in Torino, Italy.

John Ferree and Kelly Funk, owners and operators of Seldom Seen Farm, are attending the Terra Madre conference with other food producers and representatives of food-related industries from around the world.

“You may find vegetable farmers like us, or somebody raising animals, or chefs,” Ferree said.

He and Funk were sponsored by the Indianapolis chapter of Slow Food USA, an organization that promotes the cultivation and sustainment of locally-grown food.

Ferree hopes to learn more about organic farming that he otherwise wouldn’t here.

“It’s about exposure to ideas and information you wouldn’t otherwise come across on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “It’s also a more international point of view. Local food producers in the United States are gaining strength, but compared to Europe or other countries, we’re lagging way behind.”

Ferree, 30, rejuvenated his family’s farm in 2003 after serving an apprenticeship in Champaign-Urbana. He established Seldom Seen in 2004. Funk started at the farm as a volunteer. She’s now married to Ferree and acts as Seldom Seen’s co-producer.

So far the farm has enjoyed between a 10 and 40 percent growth rate annually.

“Every year has been a record-breaker so far,” Funk said.

Ferree added, “A lot of that is we’ve either figured out how to produce more efficiently or modify our marketing to produce more revenue.”

Seldom Seen Farm hasn’t earned its success on growing run-of-the-mill vegetables.

“We select what we grow based on tastes, quality, and our ability to grow it with our soil type,” Ferree said.

They’ve specialized in leafy greens, a salad mix, spinach, and odd alternatives like golden beets and watermelon radishes. They have 8,000 square feet of greenhouse space that allows them to grow vegetables into Christmas and start the summer growing season earlier.

For now, Seldom Seen isn’t certified as an organic operation. They do however only use materials like fertilizers that are organic-approved, and don’t treat their crops with insecticide and herbicides. Getting organic certification is “still a rolling debate,” Ferree said. “If we do any certification, it’ll probably be for naturally grown.” The approximately 15 acres Ferree and Funk are currently farming (out of 160 on the farm) are still transitioning to what’s considered organic.

Ferree admits he didn’t get into natural farming for altruistic reasons.

“I basically wanted to make a living for myself instead of having to depend on people I didn’t want to deal with,” he said. “There aren’t a whole lot of jobs that particularly suit me. This is something I can do year-round and be happy with myself.”

Seldom Seen’s products are available through a subscription service. For more information, visit the website at www.seldomseenfarm.com.

wade.coggeshall@flyergroup.com

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