Consumers are buying into organic farms

CHICAGO — Axel Burlin plucked oat grains from the farm field, rolled them around in his hand and marveled that he was growing cereal.

"Can I eat it?" the 10-year-old wondered out loud.

Axel was on his first visit to Two Roads Farm, a 400-acre organic farm in Shelby County, Ill., in which his parents were investing $25,000.

As consumers become increasingly aware of what they eat, they are also taking control of where their food comes from. Some shop at farmers markets. Fewer go out and buy stakes in an organic farm.

It's a small trend that reflects the growing interest in organic food consumption. But the recession also has helped nurture this idea for people of means who want to invest their money in places other than the volatile, and now languishing, stock market or in certificates of deposit or savings accounts that pay 1 percent interest or less.

"It's a safe investment," said Dr. Stephen Rivard, who in 2006 diversified his portfolio by investing $75,000 in an organic farm. Since then, he has plunked down an additional $200,000 in two other farms. The return is not immediate, Rivard acknowledged, but he counts on eventually benefiting from increasing food prices and a steady rise in farmland value, especially because organic farms command higher prices than those where chemicals are used to kill pests and weeds.

Another investor, Howard Harris, said a side benefit is the fun his children have when visiting the farm: "The kids like saying that they are farmers."

Axel's mom, DD Burlin, is not only a believer that organic products are healthier and better for the environment, she said she is also helping test a model for organic agriculture than can be replicated around the country.

The River Forest, Ill., mom also is a trained cook and for years has been focused on nutrition in preparing meals for her two boys and husband. Then last year she read "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" and realized she knew little about the origin of food.

The book prompted Burlin, 42, to buy food from local farmers who let their cows graze on pasture and didn't spray vegetables with pesticides. But that wasn't enough. She wondered how she could help other farmers move away from conventional agriculture so that more families would benefit. Then, at a conference on family farming, she met David Miller, a man on a mission to build an organic farm business that could compete with conventional farms.