What's a Specialty Crop?
“Eat your fruits and vegetables.” You've likely heard this statement since childhood. Research shows why it is good advice. Healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Fruits and vegetables are generally what people think of when we talk about specialty crops, but the definition of a specialty crop is actually slightly broader. The USDA defines specialty crops as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture). Eligible plants must be intensively cultivated and used by people for food, medicinal purposes, and/or aesthetic gratification to be considered specialty crops.
While specialty crops in the U.S. represent may seem small, comprising only 3% of harvested crop lands, they represent 40% of the harvest value and that value is growing quickly compared to other crops and agricultural commodities. As of 2007 there are over 247,000 specialty crop farms in the U.S., farming on nearly 14 million acres. Of that amount, family farms comprised nearly 200,000 farms, on close to 6 million acres. The market value of specialty crop agricultural products sold was roughly $68 billion dollars. According to this report roughly 95,000 specialty crop farms employ 1.3 million workers.
What Do Specialty Crop Farmers Grow?While not comprehensive, USDA identifies following list of plants as commonly considered to be specialty crops:
Fruits & Nuts
Grape (including raisin)
Plum (including prune)
Bean, Snap or green Lima (dry, edible)
Beet, tableBroccoli (including broccoli raab)
Cabbage (including Chinese)
Collards (including kale)
Garden, English or edible pod
Mustard and other greens
Radish (all types)
Squash (summer and winter)
Tomato (including tomatillo)
Culinary Herbs & Spices
Artemisia (all types)
Basil (all types)
Mint (all types)
Sage (all types)
Savory (all types)
St. John's wort
Potted Flowering Plants
Potted Herbaceous Perennials
Cut Cultivated Greens
Living Christmas Tree
Deciduous Flowering Trees
Deciduous Shade Trees
About our Mission
Farmroot seeks to provide an effective voice on legislative issues and public policy in support of specialty crop farmers. Through research, strategic communication and advocacy Farmroot helps develop and support public policy and legislation that improves the ability of specialty crop farmers to participate in a strong economically, socially and environmentally sustainable food supply in the United States.
We value policies and legislation based on scientifically supported data.
We value a strong and globally competitive food system that respects the rights of farmers and farm workers around the globe.
We value farm policy that provides opportunities and support for new crops, technologies, and management in to maintain the competitiveness of US agriculture including specialty growers.
Chris PawelskiCo-Founder & Director
Farmroot's founder and principle is a 4th generation onion farmer from the lower Hudson Valley's black dirt muck soil of the Orange County, N.Y. After leaving the farm to pursue a Master of Arts degree in broadcasting and film studies from the University of Iowa and a short stint in rural Wisconsin, Chris and his wife Eve moved back to NYS and the family farm in 1993. Chris has been full-time farming since 1996 and since 1996 has been actively involved with public policy issues as well as presenting the farmer's side of the story to the media. He has worked on issues on the local, state and federal level, ranging from crop insurance reform and disaster aid, labor and immigration issues, as well as conservation and general Farm Bill issues. Chris has appeared in hundreds of media stories in local, state and national press. In 2010 he testified before the United States Senate Agriculture Committee: Farm Bill Oversight Hearing: Maintaining Our Domestic Food Supply through a Strong U.S. Farm Policy.
Audrey YoungCo-Founder & Director
Communications Director, Farmroot
Audrey is a co-developer of Farmroot and a lifelong East-Coaster from Virginia, the Blue Ridge and Berkshire mountains. With an extensive background in grassroots advocacy, she designs and manages sustainable agriculture and environmental protection public affairs initiatives to advance public policy objectives for economic development and environmental health stakeholders. Audrey began her career at the DNC on the 1984 Mondale presidential campaign and later on Capitol Hill in the office of Illinois Congressman Terry Bruce. After more than a decade of campaign management and corporate public affairs work for one of the largest U.S. government affairs and public relations firms, in 1997 she built and continues to lead a high stakes communications practice aligned closely with Chambers top-rated litigators and regulatory attorneys and practices. Audrey, her three children and husband are avid novice berry farmers.
Eve PawelskiCo-Founder & Director
Finance Director, Farmroot
Eve was raised in Wisconsin with stories of farm life but never lived on a farm. While attending graduate school she met Chris and was smitten. Together she and Chris returned to his family’s farm in 1993 and have worked on a wide variety of agricultural issues including securing a $10 million appropriation for Orange County, NY onion farmers. With an eye for detail, Eve works with the very best related consultants in graphic and web design, social media, video, print, legal, and other disciplines. Eve is the former Agricultural Economic Development Director for Orange County, New York. She was selected as a New York State Senator 2002 Woman of Distinction. When she’s not in front of her computer you’ll find her outside with a good book watching the crop grow.
Farmroot Board of Directors“The Farmroot Advisors provides expert counsel and support for raising awareness of key specialty issues and public policy impacting specialty crop farming in the United States.”
Katherine Brieger, MA, RD, CDEDirector
Katherine is nationally recognized for her expertise in Care Coordination, Nutrition Services and Diabetes Management. She is Chief of Human Resources and Executive Director of HRHCare Planetree Institute and has been associated with HRHCare for over 27 years. Hudson River HealthCare (HRHCare) is a not-for-profit, federally qualified health center delivering comprehensive primary, preventive and behavioral health services. Katherine is also the President of the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved, and served a three-year term on the National Advisory Council on Maternal, Infant and Fetal Nutrition, including one year as Chairperson. She served as a faculty member of the national Health Disparities Collaborative (HDC) from 2000-2009. Katherine continues to serve as a long-standing member in the New York State Diabetes Task Force and has designed numerous successful programs that address diabetes and special populations, most specifically migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
Phil brings over 16 years of experience in agricultural development and marketing at the local, state, and national level as well as the experience of successfully starting and managing three food and development oriented businesses. Phil’s projects include strategic and business planning for public and private sector clients, regional studies of food marketing systems, and the design of Southern Maryland's tobacco-transition program.
Brian A. Nault, PhDDirector
Brian is a Professor in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY. His research and extension program focuses on applied insect ecology and pest management in vegetable crops, especially onion, potato and snap bean. He also has become interested in pollination services provided by native bees in vine crops, in particular pumpkin. Before coming to Cornell, Brian was an Assistant Professor in the Entomology Department at Virginia Tech, in Painter, VA. Brian majored in Entomology for all three degrees: he received a B.S. from The Ohio State University, a M.S. from the University of Georgia, and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University