Spring Grove couple has big role in organic farming conference

Posted: 2/14/06

Spring Grove couple has big role in organic farming conference

By David Heiller

Argus News Editor

The national largest organic farming conference has some local connections.

Chris and Kim Blanchard, who have an organic vegetable and herb farm in rural Spring Grove, are both involved in the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on February 23-25.

Chris is a board member of Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), which organizes the event. He is in charge of planning and scheduling the 60 workshops for the conference.

Kim will be co-leading one of those workshops, called ìScale and Profits on the Market Farm,î on Friday at 2 p.m.

The Blanchards market organic vegetables and herbs from Rock Spring Farm at 3765 Highlandville Road, just north of Highlandville, Iowa. It is halfway between Spring Grove and Mabel. (They live in Iowa but have a Spring Grove address.)

ìWeíre a little bit overwhelmed right now,î Chris said on February 8 of his preparations for the conference. But he was quick to add that he was excited too. The 60 workshops are more than the conference has ever had, and they are expecting more people than ever. Last year about 1,800 people attended it.

ìI think the workshops are the real core of the conference, the educational opportunity,î Blanchard said.

Blanchard became involved with MOSES in 2000 as it was evolving from a similar group in Viroqua, Wisconsin.

The conference had been held in Sinsinawa and Galesville, Wisconsin, but outgrew its facilities and moved to La Crosse, first at UW-L and now at the La Crosse Center.

It needed more staff too, so Blanchard got involved as a volunteer and now does it as a paid worker.

ìWe help each otherî

Blanchard speaks with a lot of enthusiasm and conviction about organic farming. He feels that organic farmers share information well. They can pick up the phone and call a direct competitor, Blanchard said. ìWe get answers from each other. We help each other out, which I think harkens back to an earlier way of life.î

Organic farming is growing at a rate of 20 percent a year, Blanchard said. ìAnd has been doing that for quite some time,î he added. ìThat is sustained growth.î

Why is that? Look at technology, Blanchard answered. In conventional farming, things like diesel fuel, herbicides, or the need for bigger equipment can combine to put people out of business, he feels.

Profit margins are too low in conventional farming too, he said. ìThereís nothing that the conventional farmer can do to control your costs.î

The market is growing for organic food. Two-thirds of all consumers bought organic products within the last year, despite their higher prices, Blanchard said.

Organic products used to be considered a fringe, weird thing, Blanchard said. ìNow it really is becoming mainstream from a consumer standpoint.î

He feels that is because people are worried about what they eat, and they think of food as something more than what fills your stomach. ìYou can buy food that supports your values or you can buy food that is destructive to your values. And people are beginning to realize that,î Blanchard said.

The Blanchards have been certified organic on their 12-acre farm since 2002. Most of their products are sold in Rochester and the Twin Cities through community supported agriculture. This is a subscription program in which people sign up in the spring and then receive weekly deliveries of vegetables.

The Blanchards also sell at a farmers market in Rochester, and to food coops and grocery stories in the Twin Cities. Kim is president of the Rochester farmers market board.

These days, the Blanchards are packing herbs that they sell under their label, plus they are still growing things in greenhouse.

They are also doing a lot of planning work, figuring out what and when they will plant this year. They grow about 70 different crops, with over 1,000 plantings. That involves dealing with different varieties and different crops planted on different days. ìAll of that takes some pretty tight planning work,î Chris said.

The Blanchards have three children: Zane, 13; Oliver 10; and Isabel, four.

For more information on their operation, see their website, www.rsfarm.com

ï Other connections: The Coulee Chefs Cook Organic event at the conference features La Crescent resident Ruth Lahmayer, who will be one of the celebrity tasters on Saturday afternoon. LahmayerÝis a nutritionist for Gundersen Clinic and does consulting in the food industry nationwide.

Also at this event, one of the dishes being prepared will be a glazed duck purchased from the Caledonia farm of Christian Gasset and Liz Gibson-Gasset.