Benjamin Shute and Miriam Latzer

by Grist.

Farmers, Hearty Roots Community Farm
Tivoli, N.Y.

In a shallow 2008 New York Times style-section article,
Benjamin Shute was portrayed as a hipster farmer. But growing food is no trendy
pastime for him and his business partner, Miriam Latzer, 35. Since 2004,
they’ve run Hearty Roots Community Farm, which is
tackling two big challenges facing sustainable agriculture: 1) the scarcity of
affordable land for new farmers; and 2) the need to broaden access to
sustainably grown local food. They’ve already had to move their operation once
because they couldn’t afford the multi-million-dollar sales price of the land
they’d been renting near New York City, but they got up and running again on a
new rented 23-acre farm. Their crew of nine people produces food for 400 New
York City families through a CSA program, and they work with
city agencies and NGOs to get 1,000 pounds of produce each week to five food
pantries in Flatbush, Brooklyn—bringing fresh, top-quality food to people who
otherwise wouldn’t have access to it. Shute is also working to organize the National Young Farmers’ Coalition, a new
nonprofit that provides support for beginning farm entrepreneurs. Read a Grist
article about Shute and other young farmers.