The
Impact
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Climate Change
ILLUSTRATION BY SHIDEH GHANDEHARIZADEH / NEXTGENRADIO
Britny Cordera speaks with Mitchell Pearson, founder of Phi Global LLC an urban farm in the Spanish Lake neighborhood. He provides nutritious fruits and vegetables and farming education opportunities to food insecure neighborhoods in North St. Louis, but with shorter growing seasons, extreme weather, and pests caused by warm winters, Pearson worries these changes are making it more difficult to grow culturally important crops like okra, tomatoes, and mustard greens. To adapt, Pearson is building hoop houses and uprooting his routine.
Extreme Weather Uproots Spanish Lake Farmer’s Routine and Bounty
Mitchell Pearson talks about how climate change is affecting his farming
Click here for audio transcript
Hi, I’m Britny Cordera with NPR’s NextGenRadio in St. Louis.
Urban farmer Mitchell Pearson provides nutritious fruits and vegetables to food insecure neighborhoods in North St. Louis. He’s also passionate about teaching young people how to farm sustainably. He worries that climate change is making it more difficult to grow culturally important crops like okra, tomatoes, and mustard greens.
MITCHELL:
“The, you know, the crickets, they make the noises when the weather changes the real loud, but I’m watching the birds as far as patterns what I don’t see, like I might see Cardinals certain time of the year, or different species of birds out, let me know that oh, something’s not right.
“I grew up on a farm, all my life, literally
My family has been farming in one form or another, since my great grandfather, okay.
“My name is Mitchell Pearson and I’m the founder of Phi global farms, Phi Global LLC. I’m a retired educator and artist and farmer. We’ve been here for about five years now.
“Climate change has impacted me, by the way I approach farming in general, you know, the extremes, like in this past spring, there was a big Cold Snap, right. And that set us back a while. And then now the summer there was that big heatwave we had and what we had to do was change the way we farm.
“So normally, if I would get up like 10 o’clock in the morning 11 o’clock, it’s 100 degrees. So we got to either farm earlier in the morning or later in the evening. And then that you know, if I have people that is working for me, that changes their schedule as well. So it just changes everything. And also the water demand, the stress on the plants all those things combined affects farming.
“If I plant tomato plants, those are real sensitive to cold, I lose them. So I have to start all over with that.We lost a few this spring, And it kind of set us back about a month behind they’ve just now started really ramping up as far as turning red.
“We’ve all agreed in our circle of farmers, that something is going on with these tomatoes. We don’t know. But we suspect that has to do with climate change, you know, and all the food that needs to ripen at a certain time. If climate change is going to affect the temperature, whatever that means, is going to throw off the timing of our food becoming, you know, ripe
“I hope the fall gives us enough room to complete our harvest. Because normally around the first part of October, that’s the last of the really good weather. After about the 10th, or so, things start changing and I hope that stays the same hope we don’t get an early, hard freeze.
“One challenge that that we’re working on, is to extend the season and try to protect the plants a little better by having hoop houses. You know, they’re like, they’re not quite a greenhouse, but they’re very similar to one. And if we can, you know, mitigate the fluctuations in the changes in the season, that might, hopefully that’ll help us stay on track, stay on, you know, stay on schedule to, to get our foods in the marketplace.
“I taught K through six for about 30 years. And what I discovered, it dawned on me about halfway through that public education is so vital to democracy. How do we teach The people coming up after us to respect the land and if we, as adults respect it. You know, one thing that we talked about a lot is how there’s so many yards, you know, why not take some of those yards and turn those into more food producing situations? As an educator, I’m always constantly constantly looking at ways. How can we build bridges, so that the children can get more connected to the land and to the environment.
Mitchell Pearson, founder of Phi Global LLC, sits on a tree on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, in the forest on his farm in Spanish Lake, Mo. “It’s important to teach the next generation how to care for and respect the land,” he said. “We as adults have to question if we respect the environment because we teach through behavior, not by what we say.”
BRITNY CORDERA / NEXTGENRADIO
North St. Louis County farmer Mitchell Pearson can tell that something’s off in the environment just by observing birds and insects when he examines his produce and feeds his chickens and goats every morning.
“The crickets, they make noises when the weather changes. I’m watching the birds, like I might see Cardinals certain time of the year or [see] different species of birds out,” said Pearson, who lives in Spanish Lake, Mo. “[They] let me know that oh, something’s not right.”
In recent years, Pearson has noticed many irregularities that have made it challenging to grow fruits and vegetables on his 13-acre farm, Phi Global LLC. Climate change has brought unpredictable extreme weather and hungry pests to the St. Louis region, which Pearson said has ruined much of his produce this year.
During the month of April, St. Louis witnessed record-breaking high and low temperatures. The cold snap set his tomato planting season back a month.
Mitchell Pearson, founder of Phi Global LLC, picks ripe tomatoes from the vine on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, at his farm in Spanish Lake, Mo.
BRITNY CORDERA / NEXTGENRADIO
“If climate change is going to affect the temperature,” said Pearson, “it’s going to throw off the timing of our food becoming, you know, ripe.”
Pearson is adapting to late springs by building hoop houses, a greenhouse-like structure that can be used to extend the growing season, keeping seedlings warmer for longer and protecting them from pests.
He also lost all of his squash, worth about $600, due to a squash vine borer infestation.
In the summer, Pearson changed his daily routine to accommodate sustained 100-degree days.
He used to wake up to tend to the farm at 10 a.m., but now, he often wakes up before dawn or works later in the evening to avoid dangerous heat.
“I don’t mind having to get up at five in the morning,” Pearson, “But my staff may not be used to getting up so early because [I employ] a lot of city folks.”
Mitchell Pearson, founder of Phi Global LLC, holds a handful of ripe tomatoes on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, at his farm in Spanish Lake, Mo.
BRITNY CORDERA / NEXTGENRADIO
He has been growing fruits and vegetables in Spanish Lake for five years, after he retired from 30 years of teaching. Pearson grew up on a farm and his family has farmed for four generations, largely in Kansas and Oklahoma. Like his family, he grows mustard greens, purple peas, red okra, onions and collard greens.
He believes growing food locally can help fight climate change.
“Not only does our food taste best,” Pearson said. “Locally grown is healthier for the environment. You reduce that carbon footprint when you buy a tomato grown in the region instead of having it shipped from Texas or California.”
Goats roam on Mitchell Pearson farm on Monday, Sept 12, 2022, in Spanish Lake, Mo.
BRITNY CORDERA / NEXTGENRADIO
Ultimately, Pearson is trying to reclaim history by growing food at his farm. Collards, which are rich in iron and contain antioxidants that can help prevent cancer, are one of the few foods enslaved African Americans were allowed to grow to provide nutrition to their families.
He wants to build an urban farm school in the near future to teach the community how to grow their own food. Urban farming is important for community health, cohesiveness, and cultural exchange, he said. He’s especially focused on educating young people–Phi Global is within a five-mile radius of four elementary schools in the Riverview Gardens district. Being near the schools allows him to invite children over to taste fresh vegetables and play with the chickens and goats, Pearson said.
“Farming is labor intensive. I’m out here sweating a lot,” said Pearson, “I love it. Farming makes me hopeful and gives me another day to live.”