With fuel and transportation prices at an all-time high, the demand for locally grown produce has never been stronger. But for a Victor couple that’s spent a quarter century growing vegetables for their community, the reason for their current success isn’t so simple.

Luci Brieger and Steve Elliott of Lifeline Farms have built an incredibly diverse farm on about 40 acres west of Victor, growing just about every vegetable imaginable and punctuating their bounty with fruits like raspberries and strawberries. In 25 years of growing produce and selling it to a grateful and growing Missoula market, they’ve never experienced a stronger demand for their produce than now.

“It’s true there’s a cultural shift going on, but it’s hard to know its effect because so many things have happened at once,” Brieger said. “We’re seeing spectacularly huge crowds at our farmers market, but we can’t say why.”

One of the reasons, Brieger suspects, is the media’s recent embrace of the local food movement, something she and her husband have been a part of for more than half their lives. She cites Barbara Kinsolver’s successful book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” and Michael Pollan’s best sellers “Ominivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food,” as examples of America’s hunger for fresh, local food. And “everywhere you turn,” she said, “there are news stories about childhood obesity.”

“All these things are leading to a cultural food shift nationwide,” she said,” but whether that’s what we’re seeing now locally is hard to say. It may just be that the cold weather we had set people’s gardens back, so they’re going to farmers market right now.”

Elliott, who was out of town at a friend’s wedding at the time of the interview, has his own theory, Brieger said.

“Steve believes there’s an alienation in our culture, and that food is one thing that allows us to feel authenticity. Every step along the way – growing it, preparing it, and eating it – food offers an authentic experience to people. It’s one thing people can relate to.”

Authentic lifestyle

Recognized by their adoring farmers market fans for their affable demeanor, sun-burnt smiles and exceptional produce, Brieger and Elliott have succeeded in bucking both a national and regional trend. They began farming in the early 1980s on the heels of a national farm crisis in a county that would see a significant loss of farm land over the following three decades.

After paying off a farm debt accrued by previous farming partners on leased land, the couple bought their own farm land in 1993. Twice they’ve added to their acreage by buying adjacent parcels, and each year they buy new farm equipment to meet the needs of a thriving and profitable agriculture operation.Currently they grow vegetables intensively on about eight acres and have 15 acres of irrigated pasture and hay ground. They raise about 50 sheep, two or three cows, several dozen chickens and a couple of pigs. They also have three children – Fisher, Wendell and Allie – in the Victor schools, and they’ve spent considerable time and effort working toward sustainability in every facet of their lives.“We’ve been conscious of non-sustainable fuel use from the beginning, and we switched to biodiesel three years ago in our tractors and car,” Brieger said. “We have a solar electric grid-tie system for our farm and solar water heating in our home. We’ve always been careful to consolidate trips to town to minimize fuel use. So, sadly, there’s not a lot more we could do to lessen our fuel consumption.”

Local versus industrial food

Because Missoula is the primary outlet for their produce, and because locavores crave their veggies round the clock, Elliott and Brieger deliver to the Garden City three times a week, which is a big drain on their resources. Their biggest outlet, by far, is the Good Food Store, whose recent success has paralleled their own. And the Saturday Farmers Market continues to be the single best way for them to market their produce directly to the consumer.

“Michael Pollan, in ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma’ makes the case that paying a little more at the Farmers Market really saves you money in the long run,” she said. “First, the food is better for you because it’s so fresh, and second, you don’t waste as much because you only buy what you need. So I really think people’s knowledge of (the value of farmers markets) is improving.”

Such locally and regionally oriented food shopping goes against what the giant food corporations and USDA are promoting, Brieger said.

“We have an industrial food system based on subsidies to feed crops like corn and soy beans and to the cows that feed on them,” she said. “The result is people are eating foods with high-fructose corn syrup that’s not good for them, and our nation’s health is suffering.

“People instead should eat plants that are good for their bodies. The problem is apples, carrots and peas don’t have advocates at the nation level.”

Brieger hopes that the current high fuel prices will eventually make people’s lives better because the corn-syrup based processed food will become more expensive.

“Until junk food becomes expensive, then people’s diets won’t change,” she said.

The future of farming

In the 25 years she’s been farming, the challenges to making it as a truck farmer in the Bitterroot Valley have changed, Brieger said.

“In the old days, the challenge besides weather and our own stupidity was the market,” she said. “That challenge has disappeared for us and probably for other growers too. The Good Food Store needs and would buy three or four times what we grow. They need three or four more Lifeline Farms.”

Though a growing market now means that farms like Lifeline will sell everything they grow at a good price, Brieger still worries about the future of agriculture in western Montana.

“I’m concerned about how young farmers will get started,” she said. “Land prices are not based on how productive the land is; they’re based on speculation and development.”

Brieger said that models exist for communities to buy farm land and train young farmers, but she doesn’t see the Bitterroot community making strides in that direction.

“I’m happy we passed the open lands bond, but we’re not where we need to be on training farmers and making equipment available,” she said. “Our apprentices come and work here and leave overwhelmed about how they could ever afford to start a farm.”

Brieger believes that, as a community, we need to identify our best irrigated farm land and protect it – not at the expense of the land owners. That land, she said, should then be made available to local growers.

“We can’t count on Mexico, China or even California to provide our food,” she said. “We need to make sure we’ve got farmers locally who can produce it.”