Andrea and Ben Hopper, of Tiny Planet Produce, like to call themselves “the new face of farming.” And it’s true; they are young growers with a fresh perspective, who practice diversified farming without synthetic pesticides and other chemicals, and who are contributing to the vibrant sustainable agriculture community of the Saint Croix River Valley.

Even the name of their operation, Tiny Planet, emerges from their philosophy on life and farming. “We feel it embodies our perspective on sustainable agriculture,” says Ben Hopper. It also seems to echo the connections they make with people everywhere they go: places like Kingfield Farmers Market.

Ben and Andrea’s path to sustainable agriculture began just a few years ago, when they were living in Washington State and working at a commercial garden. They then found internships on a small diversified family farm, a model in which they recognized their own future. However, knowing that they wanted to return to their roots in the Midwest, they left Washington to rent an acre of land outside of Osceola, Wisconsin. There, farming a wide variety of vegetables and a greenhouse full of bedding plants, they began looking for an assurance of quality for consumers who could not visit their farm.

The Hoppers encountered this through the Certified Naturally Grown network, a burgeoning community of organic and sustainable farmers.

The Certified Naturally Grown network is a farmer-to-farmer certifiers’ non-profit that provides farmers with a less-expensive alternative to the USDA organic certification. The USDA certification costs thousands of dollars and involves many bureaucratic hoops and many small farmers do not have the resources. Though USDA organic is a valuable process designed for bigger organic growers, Certified Naturally Grown is great for small farmers as it “strives to strengthen the organic movement by removing financial barriers to certification that tend to exclude smaller direct-market farms, while preserving high standards for natural production methods.”

The standard is as rigorous as USDA Organic, governing input requirements, land use practices, soil fertility and crop nutrient management, seed and planting stock, crop rotation practices, and pest and disease standards. It does not allow for synthetic pesticides and fertilizers nor does it allow the planting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In fact, it goes beyond the USDA Organic standards because it randomly conducts pesticide residue tests on farmers’ products, which the USDA does not do.

According to the website, “Certified Naturally Grown farmers reflect a commitment to work within the natural biological cycles that are necessary for a truly sustainable farming system – a system that works in harmony with micro-organisms, soil flora and fauna, plants and animals, to maintain and increase the long-term fertility of soil, leaving it even more vibrant and alive for the next generation of farmers.”

In 2008, Tiny Planet Produce earned their Certified Naturally Grown seal of approval, and haven’t looked back.

Tiny Planet’s good food activism does not stop there. They are also involved in efforts to get local, fresh food into nearby hospitals and schools. Working with Saint Croix Falls Buy Local’s “Thrive Local” campaign, they are brainstorming ideas on how to deliver healthy food to these public institutions.

Now in their fourth year by the Saint Croix, big changes are coming to Tiny Planet.  Andrea and Ben just signed a lease on a 20 acre farm not too far where they are now. They are excited about the expanded possibilities twenty acres will bring, and hope to start a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in the Twin Cities next year.

What attracts them to this “farming adventure,” as they call it? Creating magnificent vegetables out of living soil (Andrea jokes that if they could, they would “only be broccoli farmers,” because it is so beautiful to grow); feeding people year-round on healthy, local food (their website includes recipes for sauerkraut and sprouts, to get nice crunchy nutrient-packed vegetables in the winter); and, ultimately, sustaining the earth through agriculture, in true “Tiny Planet” fashion.

Information for this article from Tiny Planet Produce website,  Certified Naturally Grown website, and personal interviews.

Check out Andrea and Ben of Tiny Planet Produce at the Kingfield Farmers Market!

© Hannah Rivenburgh for Kingfield Farmers Market