Three decades ago, the Jones family farm nestled on Lake Erie in rural Ohio, where it thrived under patriarch Bob Jones, Sr. Nowadays, it's brothers Lee and Bob Jr. who are at the helm, but many of the practices have remained the same.
In the 1980s, devastation struck, with a severe hailstorm endangering their livelihoods. The family had to start over again on 6 acres of land, marketing mainly to farmers' markets. A chance encounter led Lee Jones to a chef with a custom request, sparking a transformative shift. "At the time, the American market for vegetables was all about production, not quality. It was all about tons per acre. Because of that, nutritional levels in vegetables have been declining, leading to an increase in diseases, obesity, diabetes, and much more. She (the chef) was the first to tell us that there would be a good market for quality product, without chemicals, at least that's what chefs were looking for," says Lee Jones.
Regenerative farming and sustainable practice
"My father always said, 'We're just trying to get as good as the growers were one hundred years ago.' But why is it that in 2024, with all the technology we have available, our nutritional levels are 50 to 80 percent lower than 100 years ago, and continue to go down. The difference we noticed when looking at farmers guides from 100 years ago, lied in the rebuilding the soil naturally instead of chemically. It's about working in harmony with nature, not about outsmarting it. That's why we grabbed back to regenerative agriculture."
Over the years, the farm evolved into a culinary landmark, enticing chefs with abundant microgreens, heirloom vegetables, and edible flowers. They started delivering to chefs worldwide and made a name for themselves as a farm. During the covid pandemic, they noticed an uptick in the demand for healthy vegetables amongst everyday consumers and started catering to this new market in the United States as well.
The way Lee sees it, the farms growers use now are also their grandchildren's farms, and like anyone in agriculture knows, it's the aim to leave the land in better shape than it was when you found it. "We need to be critical about this. Working together is the only way we'll survive. We have a lot of ground to make up for, no pun intended."
For more information:
Lee Jones
The Chef's Garden
Tel.: 800-289-4644
Email: info@chefs-garden.com
https://www.chefs-garden.com/