Farmers receive only 15.9 cents of every dollar you spend on food. The system is designed to enrich middlemen, not the people growing your food. This holiday season, you have the power to change that.
We are in a season of abundance. Tables overflow with food, kitchens buzz with preparation, and we gather to celebrate with the people we love. We search out special ingredients, plan nostalgic menus, and create memorable feasts. But here's what most of us don't see: while we're planning elaborate holiday spreads, small-scale farmers are wondering if they'll make it through winter.
Small Farmers Need You — Right Now
Their livelihoods depend on direct sales during peak seasons like this. They're raising heritage turkeys, growing heirloom crops, and producing value-added goods. All counting on their community to show up when it matters most. When we buy from industrial producers instead of small farmers, we're literally choosing who survives in agriculture. When you buy direct from a local farmer, they receive 100% of your food dollar, not 15.9 cents. That's the difference between feeding the system and feeding a farmer, and between a farm staying viable and shutting down.
You Need Small Farmers
Small farms aren't just businesses, they're cornerstones of local food security, ecological stewardship, and community resilience. Take Burns Blossom Farm in Chico, California. Kyle and Mel Burns are certified organic farmers who are dedicated to building soil health, creating pollinator habitats, and nourishing their community. On their farm you’ll find blue bird, native bee and barn owl boxes, and a beautiful hedgerow with over 800 native plants. They sell directly at farmers markets, through a CSA, at their on-farm stand, and online (check out their hot sauce gift boxes!). They're working with Chico Unified School District to grow food for local schools and they employ young people who are then trained in organic farming. Their farm is a living example of how agriculture can sequester carbon, support pollinators, and strengthen community bonds all while producing nutrient-dense food.
Q: What do you wish more people understood about the economics of small-scale farming?
Kyle: Small-scale farming operates on very thin margins, even when it looks vibrant and successful from the outside. The true cost of producing organic, regeneratively grown food is extremely high! Hand labor, land, inputs, and certifications all add up, and yet small farms like ours compete with large-scale industrial operations and imported produce that benefit from economies of scale and subsidies.
When you buy directly from a local farm, you’re not just paying for food, you’re investing in living wages, soil health (and your health!), biodiversity, and community resilience. Every dollar goes right back into the local economy, supporting people who care deeply about the land and their neighbors.
Small farms aren’t overcharging, we often are charging the same or less than supermarkets. We're undervalued for all the public benefits we provide that don’t show up in a grocery store price tag.
Q: What would it mean for your farm if more people bought directly from you this season?
Kyle: If more people bought directly from us this holiday season, it would make a real and lasting impact! Every purchase supports not just our livelihood, but our mission to grow healthy, organic food, care for the soil, and provide meaningful, year-round jobs in our community. Your support helps us reinvest in next season’s crops, maintain our equipment, build needed infrastructure, and weather the challenges of climate extremes and unpredictable harvests.
Though we farm year-round, winter is our slow season as abundance naturally tapers off. Direct support during this time helps keep our farm thrive and keep our team employed while we prepare the ground, literally and figuratively, for the season ahead.
Support With Your Fork: Your Holiday Shopping List Just Changed
Small farms survive on collective action. If every household redirected just $50 of their holiday food budget to local farms, we'd keep dozens of farmers afloat through the slow season. This holiday season, buy your meat, sweet potatoes, greens, herbs, apples, and dairy directly from the people who live in your community. Better food for you. Fair pay for them. Stronger food security for everyone.
- Visit LocalHarvest.org or your local farmers market
- Search "local farm near me" or "CSA near me"
- Ask your farmer about holiday boxes or winter shares
Find your farmers. It's that simple.
PS: ALL the people who grow, harvest, and process our food deserve dignity and fair treatment. Migrant and immigrant workers are the backbone of our food system, yet they face exploitation, unsafe conditions, and now, under this administration, direct threats to their safety and livelihoods. This Giving Tuesday, we matched donations to support organizations fighting for farmworker rights and food system justice. Learn more here and consider supporting the farmers and farmworkers who feed us all.
