For Jane Marynik, farming was not a childhood dream.  

Attending college in her 30s while juggling  four kids at home, Jane Marynik’s goal was to get a physical therapy degree. It wasn’t until she joined the sustainability club and cared for a rain garden that her interest in farming budded. At the same  time, her youngest son developed a soy allergy, and in her words “soy is in everything!” Her solution? Start  farming.

Currently, Marynik manages a 240-acre organic farm in Minnesota, 20 miles south of Lake Superior. A couple years ago, she started her own bean operation. Marynik joined me for an interview on a rainy day in the midst of a snow storm. After the interview, she’d be headed out to crawl “through a wet field harvesting beets by hand” before the freeze set in. “It’s going to be great” she chuckled, before settling into the couch for our interview. 

As an organic farmer, Marynik is passionate about environmental stewardship. Making sure her operation fits within the existing ecosystem is the first step. That starts with soil management.  Whatever goes into the soil on Marynik’s farm will eventually runoff downstream into Lake Superior. Instead of synthetic fertilizers, Marynik  uses compost for soil microbes, which are microscopic life forms, such as bacteria, that cycle nutrients and purify pollutants. Microbes keep the soil healthy naturally, without altering the environment and changing local ecology like pesticides.

The soil on Marynik’s farm is alive. Bugs and worms and critters are everywhere. On a bigger farm” she argues, “where they overtill and overspray, it’s just dirt. Soil is a living thing, dirt is just dirt.”

Such soil management policies make all the difference in a warming world. Minnesota has a water problem. As climate change makes droughts more frequent and longer lasting, soil quality can make the difference between turning a profit or taking a loss. 

Marynik’s microbe-rich soil retains moisture. During droughts, the soil stays healthy. Conventional farm soil becomes a hard crust during droughts, so when it does rain, the soil is unable to absorb all the water, leaving farmers to watch as their land washes away. Unlike these farms, Marynik’s nutrient -rich soil is able to soak up the influx of water. 

Farmers are taking more and more steps to make sustainable changes, both on their farms and in legislation. Marynik has met “a lot more people that are trying to do some sort of sustainable farming.” Marynik believes farmers can be leaders in addressing climate change. This is why Marynik likes farming. ”It allows you to work on some of these big issues that are affecting everyone,” she says with a smile. “I’d like to think that amounts to something.”

Sustainability looks different depending on who you’re talking to. In the Minnesota area, smaller farm operations, like those of Native Americans or the Hmong, focus on food sovereignty and growing culturally important foods. Native Americans practice seed saving. Hmong groups have huge community gardens where each family can grow their food. “In farming”, Marynik explains, “there are a lot of opportunities to do things to take care of the environment.”

Sustainable soil practices that smaller farmers are utilizing are not just a matter of combining organic farming and commodity crops. For one thing, organic farms and commodity farms can’t be in the same area. Organic farmers grow specialty crops, primarily for consumption. Commodity farmers grow commodity crops like corn and soybeans primarily for processing. Commodity crops are sprayed aggressively with pesticides. As these pesticides are sprayed, overspray can  drift onto neighboring farms. Organic farming does not allow for unchecked pesticide use, so there must be a buffer between farms to avoid this drift. 

But that’s only the start- there’s “also a bit of a cultural issue,” according to Marynik. Farmers who grow commodity crops have huge operations and often look down on organic farmers, whose operations are small because of the more rigorous standards concerning pesticides and harvesting. Commodity farmers tend to be older and stuck in their ways. They aren’t really open to doing things in a new way. While some commodity farmers get their organic seal, “they spend a lot of time trying to prove it makes financial sense to their neighbors.” 

Marynik hopes to one day buy her own land. But land is expensive.  Marynik credits young farmer lobbyists, who advocate for land to be more affordable and for young farmers to get student loan forgiveness, for progress. “Farming is a public service,” says Marynik.  Without us, “people wouldn’t be able to eat.” It’s essential to support farmers as we would any other public servant.”

Having a smaller operation allows Marynik to be more intentional with what happens to her product and meaningfully engage with the community. In addition to local stores and restaurants, Marynik sells her product in a local  REKO ring (Reko is a Finnish word for “fair consumption”)- each week, farmers post what they have to sell, and then consumers can contact them directly and arrange a pick up. For many farmers, this arrangement gives  them agency. Small farmers may have young kids, so sitting at a farmer’s market all weekend isn’t possible. 

However, Marynik is  aware of the disadvantages low-income communities in the area faced when accessing fresh produce. Organic farming is expensive. “I’m growing these small scale beans and I’m charging $7 a pound, which is ridiculous,” she exclaims, “but it’s what it costs.” She also participates in a  farmers market that helps lower income people access fresh, organic food by SNAP benefits. Essentially, if they put $7 towards a pound of beans, they will receive $7 to put towards more groceries. Her goal, she asserts, is to ensure that “locally-grown organic produce isn’t just available to people that can afford it on their own.” 

Proximity gives you power. Marynik was adamant that “given the choice between choosing organic far away or non-organic local, I’d still choose local.” Seeing the food you eat being grown and forming a relationship with the farmer who grows it is the best way to gain transparency. Farmers with local networks are able to make an impact in their communities.