Is Locally Grown Food Available in Bastrop? The Bastrop County Local Food Fair has the Answer.

Loss of prime farmland, increased events in extreme weather, rising costs to produce fresh local food, and gaps in local food production infrastructure are challenges that Bastrop County faces in growing the local food movement. These are some topics that the Texas Center for Local Food (TCLF), in partnership with Bastrop County Cares and other local organizations, will highlight and address when it hosts the first-ever Bastrop County Local Food Fair on November 10.

This family-centric event will bring together farmers and agricultural specialists like chefs, food business owners, food system workers, land conservation representatives, educators and community members.

The food fair will also include:

• A farmers market featuring fresh, locally-grown produce from Bastrop County
• Food and farming-related panel discussions to educate and engage the community in the importance of local, sustainable food
• An opportunity to honor migrant workers and recognize the vital contributions they make to Bastrop’s food system and community

Good food is alive and well in Bastrop County

The fair’s primary goal is connecting the community with local farmers and celebrating the county’s rich agricultural heritage. Highlighting the county’s diverse farming history and its potential to grow the local food movement is the first step in preserving and fostering the local food economy.

Skip Connett is one of the fair organizers and cofounder of Green Gate Farms, a certified organic vegetable and flower farm in Bastrop. This will be a unique opportunity to let people know what local food is all about, adding that he hopes Bastrop can become a thriving “food hub.”

Connett notes there are only seven vegetable producers in the county that sell to local markets. He hopes the fair will highlight the need for more producers and the challenges they face. He adds that Bastrop is ranked among the top 15 counties in Texas that have lost the most farmland to development. Bastrop is a bedroom community of Austin, which is in Travis County and loses over 20 acres a day of farming land.

Like many fast-growing communities in Central Texas, Bastrop’s agricultural roots are being paved over in favor of development. With the costs of farming rising along with property values, Connett knows of several nearby farmers under pressure by developers to sell their land. According to the American Farmland Trust, Central Texas counties, including Bastrop, rank among the top U.S. counties for farmland loss. If development continues, the Trust estimated Bastrop could lose an additional 13,300 acres of farmland to non-agricultural use by 2040.

According to Connett, the vast majority of farmers cannot make a full-time living growing produce. He cites escalating overhead, the unpredictability of Texas weather extremes, and the fact that most of the agriculture in this area is best suited for raising cattle.

Helping to grow people’s awareness of local farmers and what they face

Connett says that the Bastrop County Local Food Fair hopes to achieve the following objectives:

• Appreciate the health and nutrition value of consuming local food and how to support the farm-to-table movement.
• Set aside more land into conservation zones.
• Educate consumers on the challenges of growing food using sustainable methods. 
• Open up agriculture to a more diverse segment of the population.

The food fair incorporates all three farmers markets within Bastrop County, including Bastrop, Elgin, and Smithville.

The event will also include a panel discussion about issues relevant to farmers and consumers, such as:

• What are the threats to our natural resources and efforts to protect them.
• How to increase awareness and participation in USDA nutrition programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget so they can afford nutritious food.

Connett highlighted an exciting partnership that three Bastrop farms have with a culinary school to increase awareness of local food available for restaurants. He hopes the Bastrop County Local Food Fair will become an annual event.

Planting an important seed

Norma Mercado, Executive Director of Bastrop County Cares and a former employee of Bastrop ISD, is the individual who came up with the idea of the food fair. She works with Sue Beckwith, Executive Director of TCLF, who created the organization with farmers to increase sales of healthy Texas-grown foods to Texans, preserve farmland, mitigate the effects of climate change, and support resilient communities.

About 95% of the food produced in the county isn’t processed, sold, or consumed in Bastrop, according to a release from the TCLF. Mercado says, “Skip and I are part of the Local Food Action Plan,” created to address the lack of local food sources. “He was doing one thing and I was doing another,” but noted how they found common ground in wanting to create the connection between local farms and locally grown food. 

Mercado echoes Connett’s desire to make people more aware of Bastrop’s locally grown food. “There is a disconnect. People don’t know where to buy locally grown food.” She cites the example of the legendary Elgin-based BBQ restaurant Southside Market & Barbecue. “I asked them where they got their onions. They indicated they must purchase from out of the county because, in Bastrop County, they cannot keep up with the demand of onions needed.” The owner of Casa Chapala restaurant also indicated she would like to support locally grown food, but it’s not easily accessible.

Mercado pointed out the importance of the event in recognizing the contributions of migrant workers. “We wanted to bring awareness to migrant farmers and workers,” noting that Mercado herself grew up in a migrant family.

Help support farmers in Bastrop County

Angela Ryan, Operations Manager for the Bastrop Economic Development Corporation, notes that this “event underscores the importance of agriculture to Bastrop County and the need to make our community aware of why farming and buying locally grown produce is vital.” To learn more about starting a farm, starting a restaurant using locally grown fruits and vegetables, or developing an agri-business in Bastrop County, contact us here.