Famed farmer hopes to inspire Roaring Fork Valley locals with small-scale model

Originally, Jean-Martin Fortier knew nothing about farming.

Now a world-renowned sustainable farmer, Fortier will be visiting the Roaring Fork Valley to share not just his tips to disrupt the globalized food industry, but also the community he’s created around small-scale farming.

From living in a teepee with his wife for their first farming season to buying land and establishing a successful farm where people come to train, he has now published a book telling his story and sold 350,000 copies in 11 languages. He also started a farm school.

“​​To boil it down, I always talk about replacing mass production with production by the mass,” he said. “It creates culture, it creates community, it creates resiliency.”

His farming model is under two acres and accessible for those interested in getting into farming. Over the past 20 years, he’s seen a vast number of small farms pop up and see success.

“Farming is never easy, but to have all these success stories, and there’s a lot of them, is super cool,” he said. “The movement is making a comeback and young people are getting into farming and reinventing the way they want to farm.”

Fortier is coming to the RFV by invitation from the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. John Middleton, ranch director at Rock Bottom Ranch, emphasized that sustainable and regenerative practices are important for people in this valley. 

“For first generation farmers to get a foothold in this industry, we need a more approachable model,” Middleton said. “(Fortier) has demonstrated over the past few decades what is really possible on a small scale. Coming into the dream of being able to farm and the reality — there’s a large disconnect. What he’s done is bridge some of that gap.”

Fortier sees the RFV as a place where many care about local food and local food systems. He’s hoping to inspire more people locally to get their foot in the door of farming themselves and provide what he calls a “template” for creating community.

“If you feel the calling is there, you should be there,” he said of his talk. “It creates connection, and that’s the part that’s really important to me … small scale farming is changing the world.” 

Middleton hopes Fortier’s visit to the valley will capture the imagination of younger farmers and show what’s possible locally. 

Fortier will be giving a free public lecture from 5-6 p.m., Aug. 5, at TACAW. To learn more and to register, visit aspennature.org/activity/jean-martin-fortier.

He will also be providing a farming workshop from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Aug. 6 at Rock Bottom Ranch. While the cost is $100, Middleton noted there is a sliding scale available. There is also the opportunity for people attending the workshop to camp at the ranch overnight Aug. 5 for $25 with breakfast included. 

“The beauty is that this is working,” Fortier said of small-scale farming. “This is not a pipedream. This is happening. This is on. We are proving that human-scale farming is profitable. You can make a living this way.”