Gene Jonas, owner and operator of Hungry Bear Farm in Mason, said New Hampshire imports about 90% of its supermarket food from outside the state. That's in spite of the almost 4,000 farms in operation within New Hampshire, according to a 2023 study by the USDA.

Furthermore, most of the produce in grocery stores has been farmed using modern machinery and chemicals like pesticides and GMOs, the use of which has sparked ongoing debates over the negative impact of large-scale farming operations across the country.

Jonas has spent the last few weeks helping to educate New Hampshire residents about what he calls the largely unseen, negative effects of large-scale chemical farming in a presentation about the true cost of food, based on what he has learned from his own research and over 14 years of running Hungry Bear Farm.

It started back in the farm’s earliest days, after a fellow vendor at the Peterborough Farmers’ Market commented on the higher price of locally grown produce compared to what is in a grocery store.

“I began to question whether or not the store-bought food was really that much cheaper,” Jonas said. “Then a few years back, I began to see articles and books being written on what’s now known as ‘true cost accounting.’”

Jonas said true cost accounting is a way of tracking the economic impact of the agricultural system beyond simple monetary value; it also considers the environmental, social and health effects of such systems and how those can further impact the cost of large-scale factory farming.

Jonas cited a 2021 study on the country’s food system by The Rockefeller Foundation, which found that the United States spends a total of $1.1 trillion a year on food. When effects from rising health care costs, climate change and biodiversity loss are factored in, the cost grows to at least $3.2 trillion. So while factory-farmed food bought at the grocery store may appear cheaper in the short term, Jonas said people may end up paying more in long-term costs and negative effects to their health and environment.

Jonas used examples such as rising rates of obesity and diet-related diseases to highlight the major negative health effects caused by factory farming operations, which he said are attributable to the ultra-processed foods that are ubiquitous in the modern American’s diet.

Additionally, he said the overuse of largely unregulated chemicals in the industrial agricultural system has led to the contamination of humans, animals and the environment. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as  “forever chemicals” that don’t break down over time, have been found in the blood of 97% of Americans, and the presence of the herbicide glyphosate, which is used in RoundUp weed killer, was found in 93% of school lunches in a study initiated by the organization Moms Across America.

These chemicals, along with animal waste from factory livestock farms, have also been linked to environmental contamination in the United States and around the world, Jonas said.

The solution to many of these problems, Jonas said, starts with residents supporting local farms instead of relying on factory-farmed produce from their grocery store. It might be more expensive in the short term, but the potential long-term savings – both economically and environmentally – are significant, especially if the farmer is dedicated to growing produce organically, as Jonas does at Hungry Bear.

Everything at the Hungry Bear Farm is done the old fashioned way – “the best way I know how to grow produce,” Jonas said. All of the farm’s plots have been dug and tilled by hand. Instead of relying on chemicals, Jonas employs the use of cover crops and selective tillage to promote crop growth and regulate damage from insects and other pests. 

Selective tillage is a method of controlling weed growth without the use of herbicides. A plot is only tilled once after it is established, and again only if weed growth has made it absolutely necessary. Weed growth is controlled, however, by using cover crops like buckwheat and winter rye, which grow in the plots during the off-season.

“Think of bare soil like an open wound – you want to get a Band-Aid on it,” Jonas explained. “The Earth doesn’t like open wounds. That’s why weeds will grow through – Mother Nature will ‘repair’ the torn-out area.”

Cover crop growth prevents these weeds from taking root, and helps keep the soil fertile for planting produce in the spring and summer seasons. During growth seasons, Jonas uses weed cloth to prevent weeds, and covers certain crops with a light spun fabric known as a floating row cover to keep out unwanted insects and other pests.

All of these techniques negate the need to use potentially toxic chemicals – “I would never be a chemical farmer,” Jonas said. “I don’t believe in growing food with poisons.”

However, Jonas said the state mainly supports chemical farmers. Jonas was particularly displeased with the recent decision by the state Department of Agriculture to cease organic certification in the state. This means that farmers like him, who grow their produce to the national organic standard, will have to look for out-of-state options to be certified organic.

Additionally, Jonas said that the state was recently given $8 million by the federal government to give to New Hampshire farmers who suffered from last year’s unpredictable weather – but due to strict regulations from the state, over 80% of farmers were ineligible for the funding.

Jonas hopes that the state will start to consider ways for the food people consume to be grown in-state, instead of relying on importation. He acknowledged the state would never reach 100% of food grown in-state, “but I don’t see that as a reason to not be more self-sufficient,” he said.

“The average person joins a gym not because they think they’re going to be a gold medalist, they just want to improve their physical health. So we can improve, and we should – and the state needs to do more to help in that regard,” he said.

Since starting Hungry Bear Farm in 2009, Jonas has moved from selling produce at farmers’ markets to community-supported agriculture, or CSA. CSA programs allow residents to pay local farmers directly in exchange for a portion of their harvests throughout the year, either in advance or in installments. While the spring CSA season has already sold out, Jonas is accepting payments for the main season, which starts in June and runs for 20 weeks.

For information about Jonas and Hungry Bear Farm, and to sign up for Hungry Bear’s CSA, visit hungrybearfarm.com. Jonas’ full presentation on “The True Cost of Food” on the NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action YouTube page.