Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Profile

Meeting the challenge

A leading organic farmer found his calling at a party more than a decade ago.

By JACKIE RIPLEY
Published March 4, 2005

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Rick Martinez is adamant about growing crops without chemicals. He believes going organic is the best thing for health and the environment. And he believes we should leave the land as good as we found it, or better.

But don't ever accuse him of being over the top or on the fringe.

"I'm a conservative," when it comes to cultivating the earth's resources, said Martinez, who owns Sweetwater Organic Community Farm. "You need to pay as you go and not push it onto future generations."

Martinez, who lives in a rustic two-story farmhouse on Sweetwater Creek, never seems to be alone. There are always farm managers, farmhands and members of the farm's co-op competing for his attention.

"I tell them to call me on the phone so I'm not constantly up and down the stairs," said Martinez, who keeps a cell phone in the pocket of his trademark khaki shorts, and classical music in the background.

Sweetwater Organic Community Farm is a nonprofit organization with about 100 members. It takes up 6 acres of suburban property along Sweetwater Creek in Town 'N Country, although only 2 acres can be used for crops.

Over the years Martinez has made the name "Sweetwater" synonymous with organic farming in this area. He also has made a name for himself in the organic farming industry.

As a member, and past president of the Independent Organic Inspectors Association, Martinez, 51, has traveled the world inspecting organic farms.

"He's not just an inspector; he is an authority on how to grow organic products," longtime friend Doug Hoogs said. "Professionally, he focused on organics with a very resolute purpose. He has stayed true to the cause."

Hoogs should know. He was there more than a decade ago when Martinez made a commitment to organic farming.

They were at a party hosted by a mutual friend who had a penchant for challenging others to live their lives to the fullest. On this occasion, she asked each person to commit to a path for the rest of their lives.

"That was a defining moment in his life," Hoogs said. "He was asked to make a stand for something and he stepped over the line, made that move and has never looked back since."

That commitment has evolved into a business that has taken Martinez to 40 countries and keeps him on the road 15 days out of the month.

"First Puerto Rico, then Chile, then the rest of the world," Martinez said. "It just exploded. It's been fulfilling and exciting, a dream job."

Martinez recalls the early days when he would spend eight or nine days on horseback before walking nine hours to inspect organic farms in remote mountainous regions.

He has a more recent memory of flying up and down the coast of Ecuador, high above fishing villages, as part of an inspection tour. And he has taught others the craft of organic farming in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

"He has a zest for life and goes 100 percent," childhood friend Rita Fernandez said. "He just wants to get a project done, and he does it."

Martinez, who grew up in Tampa and speaks fluent Spanish as well as English, brings another strength to organic farming. As an engineer, he is often called upon to inspect the processing side of major corporations, such as Kraft and Proctor & Gamble, as they enter the organic food industry.

"I had it both, the farming and the technical," he said.

He also was a vegetarian before being a vegetarian was in style, Fernandez said.

"He's always been concerned about protecting the environment," she said.

Defending his environmental ideals is something Martinez says is a lifelong pursuit. But he also plans to spend less time traveling so he can spend more time with his family.

"We're close," he said. "It's a Latino thing."

Martinez, who can trace his grandparents' and parents' roots back to Cuba, Key West, Tampa Heights and Ybor City, has never moved from Tampa. But he has traveled the world.

He has sailed on voyages up and down the nation's coast and has experienced festivities such as Italy's Giacomo Puccini Festival at Torre del Lago.

"It was sensory overload," he said, "live, on a full moon on the lake."

But home is where the heart is, at least for Martinez.

"I'm close to my friends and family," he said. "I value that above all other things."

Jackie Ripley can be reached at 813 269-5308 or ripley@sptimes.com

Why did you trade in the life of an engineer for the life of a farmer?

Why did you become a vegetarian?

What will you do with more time once you have it?

Lie in a hammock reading Anna Karenina.

Do you have a favorite book?

Prince of Tides. It's the only book that ever made me cry.

[Last modified March 3, 2005, 09:12:11]