VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — According to the Census of Agriculture, less than half of the about 44,000 farms in the Sunshine State are run by women.
One woman farmer in Volusia County, Pauline Copello, is making a difference selling organic produce.
On her farm, Pauline's Lucky Market Garden, family means everything.
“I’m proud of what she contributes to her local community, and we get to eat her delicious produce," said Olga Ehrlich, Pauline’s sister. "It’s pretty good.”
Copello, who has more than 20 years of farming experience, keeps her farm organized. Everything has a place.
“We are getting some seedlings ready for transplanting," she said. "We’re moving them out of the trays they were originally seeded in, take them individually, and we’re putting them into a holding tray.”
Copello specializes in making salad greens and gets the mixes she uses to start seedlings just down the road.
She said she knows deep down that this is a field she has been called to do.
“I grew up in a family that did organic gardening. So, I’ve had a taste of it already in my blood,” Copello said.
Her attention to detail is what keeps her customers coming back for more.
“I do love farming. It’s harder as you get older. It’s harder to keep up, but I do love to do it,” Copello said. “I’m very passionate about what I grow, as well as how I grow it.”
When she occasionally meets a fellow woman farmer, it brings Copello a sense of pride.
“I value every woman farmer I come across," she said. "For me, whether you’re a man or a woman, you do it because you love it.”
Copello's farm produces about 700 pounds of vegetables every year, and that means putting together about 1,400 bags of salad greens, she said.
She takes her produce to market in DeLand, where it can be purchased.
Copello said she hopes to keep growing produce for as long as she can.
"We love what we do, and we want you to love it also," Copello said.