In the category of best farm/farmer, Tom Broz and Live Earth Farm tied for top honors with Jamie Collins and her Serendipity Farms—the second year in a row that Collins was selected as a Local Hero.
“It’s nice to be recognized as a significant part of this growing movement,” says Broz, “but heroes are only made by their network of supporters. Then there is the land and the workers.” He started the Watsonville-based CSA 18 years ago, and Live Earth now includes an important educational component that hosts 1,400 children on the farm each year. “I think farms can be a vector or a catalyst in connecting people to the issues we all face together,” he says.
Collins—who together with Broz formed a coalition of farmers supporting GMO labeling—shared the award. “I feel really loved by the readers and grateful that people appreciate the farm,” says Collins, who also writes the What’s in Season column for Edible Monterey Bay.
She started her Monterey farm 12 years ago and has a well-established CSA in the Monterey/Salinas area. This season she plans to add U-Pick sessions every Saturday beginning with strawberries on May 4 and moving through raspberries, tomatoes and pumpkins.
Runners up were: Jeff Larkey of Route 1 Farms and Joe Schirmer of Dirty Girl Produce, both in Santa Cruz.
About the author
Deborah Luhrman is publisher and editor of Edible Monterey Bay. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourishing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
