The Real Roots Food Systems farm stand is located at 4366 Sledd Lane. (Photo by Ash-Hobson Carr Photography courtesy Real Roots Food Systems)
Mark Davis, founder of Real Roots Food Systems, wants people to help grow the food they eat. Farming in Manchester and Mechanicsville, the 28-year-old launched RRFS this spring. Promoting regenerative agriculture, Davis composts scraps and coffee grounds from local businesses and recently established a formal volunteer program. Find the produce at Ellwood Thompson’s, Little House Green Grocery and his farm stand.
Richmond magazine: What inspired you to start Real Roots Food Systems?
Mark Davis: It really took a while for me to realize I didn't want to just be a homesteading farmer, as romantic as it is to just eat what you grow, sell a little bit of it and just live. There's so much more that has to be done to right the situation that we’ve found ourselves in.
RM: Can you elaborate?
Davis: We’ve spun off from what it means to actually know where your food comes from. … [Real Roots] is an attempt to reeducate people about what it means to participate in the food system and have it be not just sustainable, but regenerative.
RM: What do you grow on the farm?
Davis: I try to grow a bit of the classics — cherry tomatoes, eggplant.
But the angle I am really excited to explore more and that I got to do a little bit of this year is Afro-Caribbean, culturally relevant foods. I'm growing Scotch bonnet peppers, which are basically the hot pepper of Jamaica, and it’s very relevant to my Jamaican roots. Also, callaloo is a big one — I’ve been growing that a lot.
RM: Tell us about your volunteering program.
Davis: People can sign up for four-hour shifts. We do a combination of weeding, harvesting and composting, where I show [volunteers] the intricacies of how to compost on a larger scale. If you come back regularly, I try to start more advanced techniques.
RM: How do people react to spending time on the farm?
Davis: I’ll give you an example. A task like weeding, taking wiregrass out from underneath tomato plants in hot weather — as a farmer, I know that's going to be annoying. But if you've been working in a cubicle for hours a day, you can come out and work your muscles, work up a sweat, interact with plants, take beautiful pictures. … Then I go on Instagram, and they will have posted pictures describing the almost spiritual experience that they had [at the farm], when I was feeling bad I had asked them to weed.
RM: Where might you expand in the future?
Davis: In Virginia. I grew up in Fredericksburg, but this little Piedmont region is where I feel spiritually connected. I ain’t going too far.
