Labors of Love: Colorado’s Agriculture Industry Boasts Diverse Talent
In partnership with: Colorado Department of Agriculture
Most farmers, especially small farmers who make up 87% of Colorado producers, will tell you that farming is hard, but that the path they walk is a way of life. The rewards of farming are measured in production values and economic success, but also in sun-kissed cheeks, calloused hands, nutritious food and the love of a community that supports one another.
The number of U.S. farms and dedicated agricultural land is declining as farmers age and their children move to cities.
Global trade disputes and climate change present unprecedented challenges. Black and brown growers have been historically dispossessed of land in the U.S. and face systematic barriers across the food system, compounding an already difficult path.
But this is a story of survival, resilience and the ways in which so many find their path in agriculture.
Many farmers support their labor of love with off-site income, find their calling in nonprofit work or creating niche products. These essential heroes are terraforming an economic landscape that has not historically monetized and valued this labor.
Meet some of Colorado’s industry leaders using their unique skills and innovation to support our agriculture system.
Zephrine Hanson
Zephrine Hanson of Hampden Farms is a farmer and entrepreneur. Hanson has been farming since 2017 after moving her family to Colorado on a journey of healing, self-care and empowerment. Hanson is an Air Force veteran and a Black woman in the Veterans to Farmers program at Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms, where she conducts a lavender feasibility study and teaches how to grow, harvest and use lavender in numerous ways.
Hanson describes herself as a serial entrepreneur. “All the cumulative jobs I have stepped into led me to be the kind of farmer I am today,” she says.
Her multiple communities include her family, Veterans to Farmers, Mile High Farmers and FrontLine Farming. Each provides different support in Henson’s agricultural career as she navigates her path as a person with intersectional identities.
Harrison Topp
Harrison Topp is the director of membership at Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and a partner and manager of Topp Fruits, LLC, in Western Colorado. Topp has been working in agriculture for a decade in various capacities, including school garden education, advocacy and operating his own farms. Topp credits much of his current fruit farm’s success to having his whole family’s support, including their off-farm income, which covers daily or yearly expenses.
See more: Meet 4 Diverse Colorado Farmers
“We are overcoming this challenge with grit, ignorance and endurance,” Topp says. “Every farmer that I know who has been farming for more than 10 years has failed at least once – bottomed-out failed, rise-from-the-ashes kind of failed.” Topp feels that young farmers need to know they will have these moments.
Fatuma Emmad
Fatuma Emmad is executive director and head farmer of FrontLine Farming (FLF), a People of Color (POC) and womxn-led nonprofit that focuses on farmer advocacy and food justice with an explicit focus on building toward new antiracist food systems. Emmad co-founded FLF with Dr. Damien Thompson. She also serves as the president of Mile High Farmers and is an educator for kindergartners and up to college level at University of Colorado Boulder, where she teaches environmental justice in the masters of environment program.
Emmad is grateful for the seeds of knowledge she carries from those before her and for the way in which land has always provided a home away from home.
Jennifer Scharpe
Jennifer Scharpe is the executive director of Colorado Foundation for Agriculture, a statewide nonprofit that works to advance agricultural literacy for elementary students. Scharpe grew up on a farm in Minnesota, which influenced her decision to work in agricultural advocacy. She continues her family legacy through educating the next generation and advocating for farmers across the state.
Scharpe shows that every one of us has a role in advocating for our farmers and the food system that supports us.
See more: Colorado Farmers Explore High-Value Markets
Kasey Neiss
Kassandra (Kasey) Neiss is the data activist and systems manager at FLF, working on policy and data advocacy, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach, system management, and at the farm. Neiss has worked for political campaigns, cannabis businesses and racial justice coalitions. This year, she helped launch a nonprofit farm program in Aurora and is the Colorado Farm and Food System Response Team’s data analyst.
Some of her earliest memories are of family urban gardens and cooking with elders.
– By Fatuma Emmad and Kasey Neiss
Learn More
To learn about some of the great Colorado organizations mentioned in this story, check out these websites:
Colorado Foundation for Agriculture: growingyourfuture.com
FrontLine Farming: frontlinefarming.org
Mile High Farmers: milehighfarmers.com
Veterans to Farmers: veteranstofarmers.org