River Bean
Arctic Organics

Began farming in Valley: 1987 Size of farm: 10 acres Crops and Livestock: Organic beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, potatoes, radishes, zucchini, tomatoes, turnips, arugula, collards, and about 50 other varieties of vegetables

River Bean, owner of Arctic Organics farm, began working the Valley soil in 1987. He put off his dream of farming until after graduating from Evergreen State College. At first, he felt hindered by the lack of money and land to start a farm. However, while attending college, he noticed many farmers started with nothing but their own two hands and a dream, convincing him he could have his own farm. To supplement the expense of the farm, River and his wife, Sarah, worked other jobs for the first ten years. River taught in the public school system specializing in Spanish and drama. Sarah worked as a graphic artist. Finally, in 1997, they were able to devote all of their time to the farm.

Today, Arctic Organics is set apart by its 100 percent, organically grown crops and livestock. River admits he wouldn't even know how to use pesticides if he had to. His crops vary from organic cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower to tomatoes, turnips and arugula.

River started a subscription program in 1989 for people in the community who trusted his growing/harvesting practices and appreciated the taste of the product. Likened to a magazine subscription, each week the program supplies a vegetable-loving family of four with a variety of produce fresh from the field. The family receives whatever is ripe that week, so what they get often comes as a surprise to the current 142 subscribers. No request for specific items can be made, but River provides recipes with any unusual produce so "consumers know what to do with it."

River enjoys being connected to the community through such things as his subscription program. But his community is much larger than average and stretches beyond the slopes of the Mat-Su Valley. People seek the quality of his product from such places as Cordova, Soldotna and Unalaska. Although Alaska Grown products are widely accepted and appreciated, River admits there are still many consumers who do not understand why it is beneficial to buy locally grown food.

For River, the importance of the Alaska Grown program is the awareness achieved by contrasting the tremendous distance out-of-state produce has to travel to the closeness of local producers' products. To River, "Fresher by Far" means the conservation of fossil fuels used to ship products long distances and the insurmountable freshness and quality of Alaska Grown products directly from the farm to your table.