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U.S.A. Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER October 19, 2015 Hmong farmers work to get produce in stores, schools By Maja Beckstrom St. Paul Pioneer Press ASTINGS, Minn. (AP) — Like many Hmong farmers, Teng Thao’s family has sold vegetables at Twin Cities farmers’ markets for years. Now they also sell leeks to Lunds & Byerlys, sweet potatoes to Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-ops in St. Paul, and broccoli to public schools in Hopkins. Thao, 32, said he and his mother, who doesn’t speak English, could never have brokered the deals on their own. The institutional customers came through his member- ship in the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA). The four-year-old St. Paul nonprofit runs a farm in Dakota County and is aggregating produce grown by more than 30 Hmong member farmers to sell to grocery stores, wholesalers, caterers, and schools, as well as directly to consumers through weekly deliveries. “They try to get us as close to the price that we sell at the farmers’ market as possible,” Thao told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “We were looking for alternative markets. But who do you talk to? None of us really knew how to approach that, so we never did it. We didn’t know where to start.” And yet relying on patrons at farmers’ markets to pay the bills was not working. “It’s harder and harder for small farmers in Minnesota to make it,” said Hilary Otey-Wold, executive director of the Minnesota Food Association, a nonprofit that runs a 150-acre training farm for mostly immigrant farmers in Marine on St. Croix. The Hmong American Farmers Association is an example of small, immigrant farmers in Minnesota combining produce and resources to gain a foothold in an industry dominated by out-of-state mega farms and distri- bution systems, with long-term contracts, accustomed to dealing in large volumes. “The model that HAFA has come up with is spot-on,” Otey-Wold said. “It’s trying to find the sweet spot through efficiencies and shared resources and improvements in training that can increase production.” Despite the buzz about “buying local,” most vegetables sold in Minnesota grocery stores or served in cafeterias H HMONG AMERICAN FARMERS ASSOCIATION. Mai Moua (left photo) picks flowers on the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA) farm south of Hasting, Minnesota. HAFA, a four-year-old St. Paul nonprofit, runs the farm in Dakota County and is aggregating produce grown by more than 30 Hmong member farmers to sell to grocery stores, wholesalers, caterers, and schools, as well as directly to consumers through weekly deliver- ies. (Photos/Jean Pieri/St. Paul Pioneer Press via AP) are trucked in from California, Mexico, and elsewhere, socially sustainable investing, Hang returned to Minne- where vast farms grow cheap produce. A U.S. Department sota, where she worked for the Latino Economic Develop- of Agriculture census shows a decline in the number of ment Center in Minneapolis and became interested in the farms in Minnesota growing produce: in 2012, 2,620 farms challenges facing immigrant farmers. She formed HAFA were growing vegetables, 100 farms fewer than in 2007. in 2011 with support from a Bush Leadership Fellowship. Hang talks a mile a minute about topics ranging from The number of acres planted in vegetables has also dipped slightly. the benefits of bees and cover crops to the scant handful of Other farmers are also finding new markets by banding Hmong farmers who own their own land. together. A group of mostly Latino farmers have formed “Our mission is to uplift and support Hmong farmers,” Shared Ground Farmers’ Cooperative to sell to Hang said. wholesalers and hospitals and through boxed deliveries to HAFA’s criteria include working with farmers who consumers on St. Paul’s East Side. Eight Hmong farmers grow on at least three acres, have farmed for at least three renting land in Dakota County recently formed the years, sell at farmers’ markets, and carry liability Minnesota Hmong Agricultural Cooperative. A new insurance. The association provides access to new nonprofit, the Good Acre, is opening a location on customers, training in Hmong, and grants and loans for Larpenteur Avenue in St. Paul where small urban equipment such as tractors. growers can wash and pack produce. “We want to attract people who want to do something HAFA is among the most successful, largely because of better with their farm,” she said. “If farmers don’t adapt, its energetic and well-connected founder, Pakou Hang. they’re not going to stay in business.” The second of seven children, Hang grew up helping her Many Hmong farmers barely eke out a living, and it’s parents grow and sell produce for farmers’ markets. been getting harder. The number of farmers’ markets in “We used to joke about how we hated farming because the state has nearly tripled over the past 10 years, to 182 it’s so much work,” said Hang, 39. After earning an this year from 64 markets in 2005, including more than 60 undergraduate degree at Yale University and working in in the Twin Cities area. At the same time, competition increased after some Hmong who lost manufacturing jobs during the recession turned to selling vegetables. “The idea of local foods is really hot right now, the recession is over, and I’m like, ‘You’re at the forefront of the local-foods movement,’” Hang said. “What’s going on? How can we be prosperous?” Hmong farmers surveyed by HAFA three years ago averaged sales at farmers’ markets of $5,000 per acre, compared with non-Hmong farmers who averaged $8,000 per acre, and up to $20,000 per acre for organic and specialty crops. Continued on page 11 Education Matters Just ask Chr ist ina. She’s t he 2015 r ecipient of t he Asian Repor t er Foundat ion’s 4 1 $2000 Schol ar ship Awar d, f unded by t he Or eg on Lot t er y ® . Chr ist ina is at t he t op of 5 9 6 9 2 5 5 9 6 1 7 her cl ass at Fr ankl in Hig h School in Por t l and and is invol ved in so many cl ubs 2 and act ivit ies, It 'l l Make your head spin. 4 1 Chr ist ina pl ans t o at t end t he Univer sit y 3 5 9 3 4 1 9 of Or eg on t o st udy business and economics. Chr ist ina Kuang 9 8 2015 Asian r epor t er Foundat ion Schol ar ship Awar d Recipient MEDIUM Difficulty 5 2 6 level: Medium # 12 #45961 Instructions: Fill in the grid so that the digits 1 through 9 appear one time each in every row, col- umn, and 3x3 box. Congratulations Christina! L O T T E R Y G A M E S A R E B A S E D O N C H A N C E A N D S H O U L D B E P L AY E D Solution to last week’s puzzle Puzzle #42174 (Easy) All solutions available at <www.sudoku.com>. F O R E N T E R TA I N M E N T O N LY 6 1 9 8 4 2 3 7 5 4 8 2 5 7 3 6 1 9 7 3 5 1 9 6 4 2 8 9 7 8 6 2 1 5 4 3 1 2 6 4 3 5 8 9 7 5 4 3 7 8 9 1 6 2 8 5 4 2 1 7 9 3 6 2 9 1 3 6 8 7 5 4 3 6 7 9 5 4 2 8 1