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Farmer Feature: Bruce and Hilda Rico Tipton
Summer 2008
A Small Family Farm, and Far-Reaching Heirlooms
Hilda and Bruce Tipton—owners of Hilda Rico Tipton Farms and Tipton International Trading Company, a produce business—tell a story that spans from North Carolina to Mexico. But as far-reaching as it may seem, it’s actually a story about staying close to where they come from, their family and agricultural roots, a story about heirlooms.
When Hilda, who was born and raised in Mexico, is on the tractor at their farm in Rutherfordton, NC, working the fields where they grow 42 varieties of tomatoes, she imagines what her mother would say: “You look just like your grandmother!”
After Hilda’s grandmother was widowed, she took on the traditional man’s work of running the family farm, becoming the first woman in her small Mexican town to plow her own fields. Her farm was successful enough that she was able to support and educate all of her children. Their doctorates and businesses “all began with her two mules,” Hilda says.
Hilda’s parents wanted a different life for her and when she asked to go to agricultural school, they did not allow it. In spite of this, today Hilda and Bruce—a North Carolinian—boast broad agricultural resumes which include farming in both of their home countries, studying heirloom varieties, working as produce inspectors, and running an import business (as well as working as a simple tomato picker). Their careers in agriculture have led them to places that might surprise Hilda’s mother—and impress anyone.
Bruce tells stories about the produce trade in an understated way. In the beginning they sound commonplace: “One day, I was walking through a muddy broccoli field in Mexico and I met a farmer.” But then they take turns like this: “His name was Vicente Fox.” Vicente went on to become the president of Mexico— in elections many believe to be the first truly democratic ones since the Mexican Revolution. Bruce became the presidential biographer.
But back to the farm, because it’s Rutherfordton, the town Bruce’s mother is from, to which Hilda and Bruce returned. After working in many areas of agricultural business in Mexico and elsewhere, the Tiptons didn’t plan to farm again. In fact, they hadn’t farmed in 20 years when they decided to start a simple home garden.
Bruce asked Hilda to pick up some Beefsteak tomato seeds on the way home. The feed store where she stopped carried heirloom Beefsteak seeds, which she bought and planted without much thought. The tomatoes grew--and grew and grew. Bruce was still working in Mexico, often away traveling, and Hilda couldn’t eat all the tomatoes that plants produced. So, she began taking them to the local farmer’s market to sell.
There, she met people who were interested in her tomatoes—and in heirloom varieties. She began to study heirlooms extensively and collect seeds from many countries. Now, while Bruce focuses on Tipton International Trading Company, marketing their produce to restaurants, resorts, and retailers, Hilda focuses on Hilda Rico Tipton Farm, the production of heirloom varieties of melons, carrots, cucumbers, squash, and more.
Tomatoes are still the Tipton’s main interest. An unusual tomato is even her namesake: the Hilda Pink. They talk about tomatoes like wine, discussing the subtleties of flavor, as well as the surprising array of shapes and colors heirloom varieties offer. Hilda loves the Black Cherry tomatoes so much that she can’t be sent to pick them; she eats them all “like grapes!”
Black Cherry tomato picking aside, the Tipton’s are involved, hands-on, in all aspects of their business. Looking down at the variety in a box she was packing—from wide slicing tomatoes to slender, cylindrical ones, from the translucent skin of a Hilda Pink to stripes of a Zebra, from ripe green flesh to deep mahogany—Hilda was struck by her fruits’ aesthetic qualities. She named their specialty tomato business The Tomato Art Company.
While the Tipton’s elevate food to an art, they also know it’s a necessity. “You think it’s tough paying for gas now. Wait until you can’t afford food,” says Bruce. He explains that he currently imports food into the U.S. as a part of his business because our country does not produce enough to feed itself, but he advocates for food independence. “We can’t rely on imports, and with the situation with fossil fuel the way it is, even food coming from California is going to be coming too far.” He is also feels strongly about the importance independent, small scale producers who can keep the food market competitive and provide local food.
Their products are certified Appalachian Grown. Appalachian Grown, a free program provided by the nonprofit organization the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), identifies farm products grown or raised in Western North Carolina and the southern Appalachian mountains. “When you see the Appalachian Grown logo,” ASAP’s Executive Director Charlie Jackson explains, “you know you’re buying fresher foods that support family farms, strengthen the local economy, preserve rural culture, and protect the natural beauty of the Appalachian mountains.” It is clear that Bruce cares a great deal about the economy and culture of the small town to which he is local.
Just as having worked in international markets informs the small scale farming to which Bruce and Hilda have returned, campaigning for President Fox, writing a political newspaper column, and his many activities promoting democracy and change in Mexico inform Bruce’s view of Rutherfordton. “There’s opportunity here,” he says to its “hardworking people” who have experienced an economic downturn. He believes the same is true throughout the U.S. and that our current oil-related economic challenges may actually benefit us in the end. “We can solve these problems. There needs to be something to get people moving again.”
The Tiptons hope young people’s interest in farming will be revived. While Bruce talks about the importance of maintaining the skills needed to produce food, Hilda returns to the varieties they cultivate, the careful work of tracking down the seeds and the stories of each. The tomatoes are true heirlooms, in several senses—preserving flavors and the traditions of the people and places associated with them, and quite literally giving future generations something to grow.
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-$1,000 helps farmers access new markets
-$500 brings a class of school children to a local farm
-$100 funds a cooking demo on how to prepare fresh foods
-$50 trains a farmer in new skills -$25 provides seeds and resources for school gardens
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