life in a red state 203trucked out to stores. Now the packing plant occupies the whole barn
space, complete with truck bays, commercial coolers, and conveyor belts
to help wash and grade the produce. Tomatoes are the cash cow of this
enterprise, but they are also its prima donnas, losing their flavor in stan-
dard refrigeration, but quick to spoil in the sultry heat, so the newest ma-
jor addition at the packing house is a 100-by- 14-foot tomato room where
the temperature is held at 56 degrees.
Participating farmers bring vegetables here by the truckload, in special
boxes that have never been used for conventional produce. Likewise, the
packing facility’s equipment is used for organic produce only. Most of the
growers have just an acre or two of organic vegetables, among other crops
grown conventionally. Those who stick with the program may expand
their acreage of organic vegetables, but rarely to more than fi ve, since
they’re extremely labor- intensive. After planting, weeding, and keep-
ing the crop pest- free all season without chemicals, the final step of
picking often begins before dawn. Some farmers have to travel an hour or
more to the packing house. In high season they may make three or more
trips a week. The largest grower of the group, with fifteen acres in produc-
tion, last year delivered 200 boxes of peppers and 400 of tomatoes in a
single day. Twenty- three crops are now sold under the Appalachian Har-
vest label, including melons, cucumbers, eggplants, squash, peas, let-
tuces, and many varieties of tomatoes and peppers.
The packing house manager labels each box as it arrives so the grower’s
identity will follow the vegetables through washing, grading, and packag-
ing, all the way to their point of wholesale purchase. Farmers are paid af-
ter the supermarket issues its check; Appalachian Harvest takes a 25
percent commission, revenue that helps pay for organic training, packing
expenses, and organic certification. Cooperating farmers can sell their
produce under the umbrella of a group certification, saving them hun-
dreds of dollars in fees and complex bookkeeping, but they still would
need individual certification to sell anywhere other than through the Ap-
palachian Harvest label (e.g., a farmers’ market). The project’s sales have
increased dramatically, gaining a few more committed growers each year,
even though farmers are notoriously cautious. Many are still on the fence
at this point, watching their neighbors to see whether this enormous com-