Tampa Bay’s oldest farmers’ market and community-supported agriculture farm is entering a new era.
Sweetwater Organic Farm was established in 1995 by Rick Martinez. It’s served the community for the past 26 years as a community-supported, nonprofit, urban organic farm and education center.
Martinez started the farm in February of 1993 as a hobby with six friends. It soon grew to 400 members as a CSA and introduced Tampa Bay to the idea of buying an annual share of a farm, and getting a weekly allotment of fruits and veggies as a result.
It’s also an agri-tourism destination that attracts many “eco travelers” every year.
While the farms acts as (and is zoned for) housing, retail and production, its mission focuses on education. Sweetwater has a relationship with schools and hosts a vibrant field trip program that peaked at 8,000 children per year. The farm hires interns and international students to volunteer.
At weekend markets, farmers sell their fresh produce to families and farm-to-table restaurants.
Along with other farmers, Martinez lived on the six acres of suburban property along the Sweetwater Creek in Hillsborough County.
As he got older, Martinez had back problems and aged out of farmwork. He moved off the farm in 2011. About four years ago, he tried to find a path for Sweetwater to move forward and handed the reins over to a new team. But it “wasn’t in the stars,” he said.
“We never really found the right combination of people with the right skill set to carry the farm on after my departure,” Martinez said. “Even as I was trying to phase out, it really became a race with time to find the right leadership and with my health crashing, it became a race with time, which is not a good environment.”
Martinez, 65, stepped off the board about six months ago. Because of internal issues and crop failure, the board of directors decided the farm wasn’t going to make it. They ended the season early and promised refunds to all the shareholders.
The ideal situation for Martinez was to find another nonprofit to take over the farm — but he found something even better.
Sweetwater is here to stay.
Chris Kenrick, a friend of Martinez’s, bought the farm and will continue its legacy under new leadership.
“Our ideal was to find another nonprofit. But this is even more ideal because it’s not going to another nonprofit, this will stay Sweetwater,” Martinez said. “It’s just going to be a change of leadership and taking the organization into the next generation.”
Kenrick, 35, is a huge believer in environmental stewardship and wants to see the farm serve the community for future generations.
“[Martinez] is really doing a service by not putting the farm on the open market,” Kenrick said. “How do you value 26 years of organic soil? How do you value 7,000 or 8,000 school kids coming to a farm on an annual basis to learn about where their food comes from? Learning that tomatoes don’t come from a can but they actually grow on vines, and picking fruit from a fruit tree and planting their first seeds.”
Kenrick lives in St. Petersburg and is the co-founder of St. Pete EcoVillage, a nonprofit that promotes urban agriculture. He was also involved with the creation of the St. Pete Peace House Co-op, Florida’s first cooperative housing project affiliated with NASSCO, the North American student cooperative organization.
“The impact of 26 years… We’re not even close to starting from scratch. We’re on top of the mountain already,” Kenrick said.
His goal isn’t to own the farm forever; it’s to get the farm back on its feet so it can continue to be a resource in the community.
“It’s not my personal asset, I’m don’t want to rely on it for my retirement,” Kenrick said. “But I am putting in my personal money to get it to a spot where it is 100 percent a community asset and nobody’s owed any money. That’s a leap of faith in the community because I want it to be even more of a community farm and an asset for a larger variety of people and uses.”
Kenrick wants to “get the farm in the black and don’t look back.” That’s why he’s starting a community crowdfunding campaign: Save the farm.
The goal is to raise $500,000 and get the farm debt-free.
There will be a meeting on the farm, at 6942 West Comanche Ave. in Tampa, on March 31 to support the new Sweetwater initiatives.
“We need to support our local farms, we need to support and connect with our local farmers,” Kenrick said. “Being in an urban environment is even more vital because you get people that are living around the farm.”
Kenrick doesn’t want one person to donate all of the money to save the farm. He wants the whole community to pitch in because the farm is a community asset.
“The community needs to come together and raise the money together,” he said. “I don’t want to have to depend on the farm to make any payments to me, I don’t want the farm to owe money. I want it just to be there in perpetuity so it’s never in jeopardy.”
At the March 31 meeting, Kenrick will begin the community discussion on how to keep the farm alive and carry the initiative forward. He will have sign-up sheets for volunteers and donors.
“Sweetwater needs the community and the community needs Sweetwater,” he said.
The farm was sold to Kenrick March 28.
“Rick [Martinez] is investing in me and we spent a lot of time working and talking about Sweetwater,” Kenrick said. “I never thought I would be in this position, it was never my intention to be in this position.
“It’s a teaching space. It’s an education space. That’s why I’m passionate. That’s why I’m putting in my own personal money to get the farm to a point where the community can really take off.”
“We’re announcing to everybody, ‘Hey, do you want to save the farm? Is this a community asset? Do you value the farm? Do you support urban agriculture? Do you support your local farmers? Do you want to know where your food comes from?’”
Kenrick is under contract with the board of directors to move forward with operations of the farm. Now that Martinez has closed on the farm and the land is owned by Kenrick, Martinez’s only participation will be as a mentor to Kenrick and any potential collaborators.
“I’m very excited that we found not only Chris but he has other people on board who are going to participate and continue our good work in the community,” Martinez said.
Recovering from back surgery, Martinez lives in the same house his parents lived in, not far from Sweetwater. He’s focusing on recovering his health, but he will still be around on the farm, eating Japanese plums straight from the tree. His faith is in Kenrick to get the farm in a good position financially so it be around for future generations.
“There always needs to be a succession for successful enterprises,” Martinez said.
The farm has already received donations and is on its way to the goal of $500,000.
“I want to… pay off [Martinez], pay off the board and get the farm in the black,” Kenrick said. “And then we build on education, build on the events, build on the market, create this co-farming, co-working culture where it’s not dependent on one person. We can really learn from different types of people in this space.”
Kenrick doesn’t know how long he will stay at the farm. He might just stick around until the operation is in the black, but he might stay for a while and live on the farm with his partner.
“I don’t want to die trying to save Sweetwater,” he said.
For the next six months, the farm will be run by volunteers. Previously, there was one paid full-time manager and the rest were volunteers and CSA members. Some used sweat equity to defray their share price, working at Sweetwater in exchange for a deal.
“It’s intergenerational, diverse, inclusive, accepting. It doesn’t matter what your beliefs are,” Kenrick said. “Once you come on to the grounds of Sweetwater, it doesn’t matter. It’s a space where everybody can come together.
“Everybody can come to the table and talk about the issues and think about solutions and break bread and have a meal together. We all have to eat, we should all care about our food comes from.”
You can find information on how to donate at the Sweetwater Organic Community Farm’s official Facebook page or call Chris Kenrick at 727-212-2883.
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This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 4, 2019.
