Nonprofits and government agencies work hard to analyze needs and forge solutions. They consider system issues, the supply chain, aggregation, resilience, food justice, food security, streamlined procurement for institutional buyers, equitable access to land, fair labor practices, sustainable growing practices. Yet much of this discussion points to a basic truth. For all the system analysis and policy advocacy, it all comes down to individual people who are willing and motivated to take on the staggering challenges of farming.
Farmers must have a bottomless reservoir of energy and determination to gain access to land, prepare the soil and plant, harvest, clean, and transport food to have it enter that much-studied food supply chain. Fortunately for us, some young people are not deterred from entering the ranks of beginning farmers.
ONE STEP AT A TIME: KEEP STEP FARM
For Humon Heidarian, the decision to create Keep Step Farm in 2024 was a long time in the making. His upbringing in his parents’ Persian culture gave him a deep appreciation for connection to the land and its natural ability to provide healthy, fresh food. A graduate of Walter Johnson High School and then UMBC with a BS in Environmental Science, followed by a graduate degree in Public Administration with a focus on food policy at University of Vermont, he knew he loved the
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Photo: Melane kinney hoffmann