Sarah Frey: Saving the American Farm

Sam Gill is senior vice president and chief program officer at John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. In this role, he oversees all of Knight’s grantmaking programs — Community and National Initiatives, Journalism, and Arts. He also oversees Learning and Impact, Knight’s research and assessment program. Sam is the host of the podcast The Future of Democracy, a weekly conversation about the trends ideas and disruptions changing the face of democracy.

Sarah Frey has been described by The New York Times as “the Pumpkin Queen of America.” She sells more pumpkins than any other producer in the United States. Her family business, Frey Farms, plants thousands of acres of fruits and vegetables in seven states. With a mission to end food waste in the fresh produce industry, the family makes natural food products and beverages from imperfect or “ugly fruit.”  In The Growing Season: How I Built a New Life–and Saved an American Farm (Ballantine Books) , Frey tells the inspiring story of how a scrappy rural childhood gave Frey the grit and resiliency to take risks that paid off in unexpected ways. She was fifteen when she moved out of her family home and started her own fresh produce delivery business with an old pickup truck. Two years later, when the family farm faced foreclosure, Frey returned, took over the farm, and created her own produce company. Today, Frey Farms, is one of America’s largest fresh produce growers and shippers. Publishers Weekly noted that “Frey’s energetic, inspiring memoir will appeal to small business owners and anyone who likes a bootstrapping success story.”