Certified Organic - Mhonpaj's Garden

The last several posts went through the nuts and bolts of certified organic farming. The farm with which I worked this summer is certified organic, and near the close of my time with them, I asked my supervisor, Mhonpaj, to talk about why being certified organic is important to Mhonpaj’s Garden.

She gave me an earful, but it boils down to two main elements. First, as an undergrad, she read a lot about food systems on the side and her interest grew over time. Mhonpaj believes that many health problems could be prevented by switching to organic, from ADHD to cancer to diabetes.

Second, the Minnesota Food Association trained the Lee’s to farm organic. The MFA’s program sessions include “Intro to Organic Farming,” “Farmers Market Success – Learn new ways to … emphasize local, certified organic,” and “Record Keeping – Learn how to keep good records for business planning, organic certification, and for financial institutions.” Becoming certified was the natural outcome of Mhonpaj’s focus on health and the MFA’s program.

Whenever I talk to people about Mhonpaj’s Garden, I say that it is the first Hmong-owned and operated certified organic CSA. This introduction highlights their unique position in the Hmong agricultural community, their adherence to national standards, and their method of distribution, but it fails to capture the depth of the operation. I wrote in July that Mhonpaj’s Garden is “a curious blend of subsistence, organic, and mission-driven agriculture.”

This better captures the essence of Mhonpaj’s Garden. The organic piece is important, but not the whole story. “Subsistence” refers to how the Lee’s are really farming for themselves, a point Mhonpaj emphasized in our most recent conversation. What they put in their CSA boxes, sell wholesale, and vend at the farmers market is really just the extras. That said, they need to break even and so sell through different channels. They are sharing their produce with the people who know its value and are willing to pay the true cost.

And mission-driven? When I started, I noticed that their web site lack a mission statement. I asked Mhonpaj about this, and she said that every year her vision changes. And while winter is the time for organizing and planning for the year ahead, sitting down to pound out a mission statement is consistently the last thing on her mind. Still, her passion for education and outreach and the cooking demonstrations that she and May do signal a deeper purpose for their farm than just sharing their extra vegetables.

Mhonpaj pointed out that early American settlers started out farming organically, but would make the switch to reduce labor costs. “There’s not enough community discussion” around organic farming, she said. “The only source of education is the stores, [but] they are not there to educate; they are there to sell a product.” Why would someone selling herbicides tell you how to rotate your crops to control weeds? “Learning to farm organic is almost like a hidden education,” she continued. “It’s like it’s top secret, behind the counter - you gotta ask for it.”

Mhonpaj plays an exhausting role. Not only does she call the business shots on the farm in addition to her job as an interpreter at HCMC, but she is a solitary liaison between organic agriculture and Hmong farmers, along with the MFA. “No one besides the MFA is helping the farmers. Nowhere else speaks Hmong,” she said, “We have to show by example.”

Photo by Chue of red oak lettuce growing at Mhonpaj's Garden.