 |
| | |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
COVER STORIES: BACK TO THE LAND...STILL
|
Dan Horan, A89
Organic farming at a family homestead yields vegetables
and pride in hard work done well
Back to Back
to the Land...Still
When Dan Horan graduated from Tufts in 1989, he did what seemed natural: he started
growing organic vegetables on his great-grandfather’s farm. “I had
never planted a seed in my life,” he says. “I always liked being
outdoors and I knew I wanted to run my own business.”
Today, his dream is thriving at Waldingfield Farm in Washington, Connecticut.
Horan and his two younger brothers raise and sell organic vegetables and ship
them to restaurants, health food stores, supermarkets, and farmers’ markets
in the Connecticut area. “It’s an incredibly rewarding business—taking
something from beginning to end,” says Horan. “It also makes a lot
of people feel good.”
Horan has advanced a business career while keeping his hands in the soil. After
earning an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management, he and his wife, Julie
Beglin, J89, settled in Manhattan. During the late 1990s, he divided his time
between overseeing an upscale grocery business in New York City and farm chores. “My
brothers and I shipped thousands of pounds of produce into New York and around
Connecticut,” says Horan. Today, he is the CEO of Papaya King, a 70-year-old
New York City institution selling hot dogs and tropical fruit drinks, and he
and Julie are raising their family in Brooklyn. At the farm, he plays a more
behind-the-scenes role, overseeing finances and helping with overall strategy
and planning, while his brothers run the day-to-day vegetable business. “I
jump on the tractor whenever I can,” he said from his New York offices. “I’ve
lost my hand calluses, but the farm is still a strong part of me.”
On the 18-acre Waldingfield Farm, the Horan family raises more than 100 types
of vegetables and specializes in heirloom tomatoes, growing more than 75 varieties
and harvesting nearly 15,000 plants. For Horan, the best part is that “my
whole family has become involved. The farm has become a meeting ground for all
of us.” Over the years, many Tufts alumni have visited and worked at the
farm, and many make an annual pilgrimage back to the Harvest Party—a celebration
of the year’s bounty.
Horan has always held a deep appreciation for the value of organic produce. “I’m
not a believer in industrial agriculture that’s chemically dependent and
monoculturally driven. I just don’t see it as the right thing for the planet.
I think there are certainly instances and areas of the world where organic growing
is difficult and the short-term economics are challenging, but as a long-term
effort, I think the dependence on chemicals to grow our food needs to be rethought.” For
more information, visit waldingfieldfarm.com. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
