Health Conscious: Sejah Farm Serves Fresh Produce Daily

ST. CROIX — Most locals, when craving fruits and vegetables, head to the supermarket to buy what their stomachs crave. Most locals don’t go to Sejah Farm, founded in 1998 by Dale and Yvette Browne, or any of the other local farms throughout the island to get their produce.

These farms are for the most part situated off the beaten path so they are less visible to the general public. However, Dale Browne said that that’s not the reason for the lack of interest.

“It’s not that much people don’t know about it, it’s the lifestyle in which you want to leave, or the type of eating style that you have — it’s whether you’re health conscious or not,” said Browne, who VI Consortium met alone at Sejah Farm located on Casper Holstein Drive, picking lemon grass for a customer. “Generally most people are just concerned about filling their stomach. They are not concerned about finding food that will be most fulfilling for their body.”

Goats and Sheep on Sejah Farm

The problem, Browne continued, is that people have developed certain eating habits over the years that are hard to break, and in order for there to be change, the populace must be reeducated.

“Food is actually the first medicine because medicine itself derived from the compounds of different foods. So it’s a matter of the type of eating style or eating habits that you want to develop, or what you’re accustomed to, or what you have come to know. And that’s what some of the main problems are,” he said.

Browne also lamented the territory’s current agriculture output especially as it once was a leader in the industry.

“We may not grow everything in the VI even if we have the climate where we can grow just about everything. But you’ll find that the health education in the Virgin Islands, especially the development of the agriculture industry is one that has been put on the back burner,” Browne said.

Sejah Farms offers a variety of produce and livestock. Browne calls it a ‘five-fold’ offering, which includes the production of vegetables, sheep, goat, chicken/eggs and an onsite market. The produce includes herbs, spinach, pineapple, eggplant, cucumber, lettuce, papaya and zucchini — just to name a few. Browne also works with the University of the Virgin Islands to do experiments and in the past has sold produce to local supermarkets, including Plaza Extra.

In relation to profitability, Browne said the business can make money but there must be planning, and as the conversation continued, he could not suppress the urge to speak out against the current state of agriculture in the territory.

Browne said he and his wife have become advocates of change because the islands can do much better. Indeed, in receiving an award during the opening ceremony of Agrifest 2015, Yvette Brown candidly offered her assessment of the industry, and admonished those in authority to refocus their efforts in bringing agriculture to the forefront of the government’s efforts to better the lives of Virgin Islands residents.

Dale Browne holds a freshly-picked yellow zucchini

“The heart of agriculture has been removed, and unless we restore it, it could be like a catastrophe, and I could go on and on,” Brown said. “We need to view the importance of the agriculture system here in the Virgin Islands, and unless all units come together in one accord to restore agriculture as its key economic development moving forward, we will remain stagnant as we are in the present moment.”

She continued, “I will do my best to continue to work on the behalf of myself, my family and everyone in this community, to ensure that what we eat is valuable to our system, to our children, and to our generations to come. I would like to see the day that at least 50 percent of what we eat do not come from some place so far, that by the time purchased, it’s garbage.”

At the farm’s market, a variety of produce were on display, including sizable pumpkins and a mixture of ripe and green papayas. On the open field, healthy-looking sheep and goats ran ahead as Browne gave VI Consortium a tour. He said everything on the farm is naturally treated.

Yet, for the 30 minutes that VI Consortium remained on the farm, only one couple came in to purchase goods. Browne said their customers visit at set times, and revealed that there was an increase in patronage during the Easter season from residents looking for eggplants and other vegetables.

Produce on display at Sejah Farm

The Department of Agriculture

Browne said the Department of Agriculture, although filled with skilled employees, remains handicapped because of the lack of funding, something he says is hindering the growth of the agriculture industry, a once dominant sector in the Virgin Islands.

“The territory was once called “the breadbasket of the Caribbean,” Browne said. “At one point the Virgin Islands produced more sugarcane than most places.”

He continued: “Agriculture is supposed to be the great economic tool to drive the community, but because we have become a consumer-oriented community, we forget about agriculture and only hear about it when someone loses their job, or when HOVENSA or Martin Marietta closes, and there’s never been no true initiative to bring agriculture back,” he said.

Despite the challenges, Browne remains hopeful. In total, Sejah Farms boasts 32 acres but currently occupies only 16. Part of the company’s growth strategy is to expand its livestock offering with more goats, sheep and chickens.

The farm is open everyday except on Sundays, and it also includes goods produced by other local farms so customers get the widest variety.

According to a blurb on the farm’s website, Dale and Yvette Browne are founders of the Virgin Islands Farmers Cooperative, Inc., which was organized for the resurgence of the Virgin Islands Agricultural industry. The pair was awarded the 2006 Livestock Farmers of the Year Award by the Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture, and continue to receive honors for the continued work in industry.