“Oh, I knew I was in the right place when I walked up and saw you ladies! How bout the color of those walls in the office- now that’s a woman’s touch,” remarked Linda Hughes, a wide, approving smile across her face.

The Produce Box’s Warehouse Manager, Operations Director, and Engagement Director– all women, indeed– had the pleasure of meeting Linda on a humid Friday afternoon when she brought us a few cases of her organic sweet potatoes to feature on our menu.

“Now I retired in 2007-or so I thought. Stanley and I got married in 2007 and I moved to the farm full-time in 2008. And girl, it’s been full-on ever since then!”

Linda is married to Stanley Hughes, a third-generation black farmer who was “born and reared on the same dirt that’s been farmed by his family for over 110 years.” Stanley grows a variety of organic crops on one of North Carolina’s 2,000 or so ‘Century Farms’- farms that have been in continual family ownership for over 100 years. Stanley is devoted to farming without pesticides and building the soil health and beneficial insect population on-farm.

Stanley is one of the founding members of Happy Dirt, formerly East Carolina Organics, an organic produce distribution company located in Durham, NC. There’s a good chance that much of the local organic produce you see from Happy Dirt on our menu can actually trace its way back to Stanley- or one of the many small North Carolina growers that Happy Dirt purchases from.

112 years in operation and Pine Knot Farms isn’t going anywhere, Linda says. They’ll never sell out to corporate farms- the likes of which is happening all across America. The United States is in the midst of an alarming consolidation and corporatization of farmland that makes it difficult for small and mid-sized farmers to compete. The number of farms in the US has been declining for decades, while the average farm size has increased. If and when smaller farms do go out of business, these larger agricultural operations are eager to buy them up.

“Keep purchasing from small farmers- y’all really helping folks like us,” Linda said as we stood in our Produce Box parking lot. Black gauzy ribbons trailed behind her sunhat, lightly fluttering in the preliminary breeze of a summer thunderstorm soon to roll in. “And lord, we do need that rain!”

“I told Stanley- feeding America isn’t going nowhere. So we’re gonna keep doin’ what we’re doin. And soon enough, organic is gonna be just as big as big conventional farms.”

Linda and Stanley are onto something, that’s for sure. Certified organic U.S. land for growing crops or livestock has more than doubled in the last twenty years, up to nearly 5 million acres. Growing consumer demand for cleaner, more sustainable food has been a driving force for more farmers to get into organic production. But even the organic sector is seeing mass consolidation and corporate takeover, like the global company Driscoll’s ownership of a staggering 64% of the United States’ organic berry market. Which is why, beyond labels, it’s most important to really know your farmers: the real, living, breathing humans behind the food you eat.

Despite the clouds rolling in, Linda’s presence lit up the day like the very sun that feeds her husband’s crops. And it is conversations and relationships like this that light the fire for why The Produce Box does what we do: purchasing from small farmers and artisan producers across North Carolina to strengthen our state’s food system. Because we’re stronger together- and we need each other.

Local supply chains are not just more sustainable, ethical, resilient, and fair- they’re more joyful, too.

Linda and I could have stood there gabbing in our parking lot at the North Carolina State Farmer’s Market all day, but she had to get going before the rain set in. Off with a smile and a hug, she climbed back into the front seat of the farm truck. “Now I’m gonna go and get me some skins down at the Market. Those Nahunta pork skins, you know? And I hope they aren’t closed, Lord I’d be so sad! I’m gonna take some back to the workers at the farm.”