Emily and Mike Jensen, owners of Homegrown Farms in Bayfield, have been growing organic, chemical- and fertilizer-free product for the past 20 years.
And for the past seven of those, the Jensens’ carrots, beets, turnips, tomatoes, radishes and salad greens have been feeding firefighters at the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District’s three staffed stations, said Emily Jensen. The idea came from Fire Chief Bruce Evans, who wanted his firefighters to eat healthier.
“We’ve been growing food here for about 20 years, and one of the ways that we distribute it is through a CSA (community supported agriculture program),” Jensen said. “We support about 50 families in Bayfield that way. And one year, Chief Evans just reached out and asked if he could do that too.”
Evans said he encourages his firefighters to eat foods without refined sugars, saturated fats and artificial flavors in an effort to reduce their risk of cancers. To achieve that, the fire department buys three CSA shares ‒ each consisting of a box of produce with enough food to feed a family.
“If you eat a diet that is low in chemicals or refined sugars or highly saturated fats, which frequently cause inflammation, you can stave off a lot of these issues in the future,” Evans said.
According to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network’s fact sheet, firefighters are at a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer than the general U.S. population. Additionally, the network found that cancer accounted for 66% of firefighter deaths from 2002 through 2019.
The National Cancer Institute found that chronic inflammation leads to a heightened risk of cancers. A study published in the National Library of Medicine found that increased exposure to particulates, heightened stress and poor diet were all factors that contributed chronic inflammation ‒ all things firefighters commonly experience, Evans said. That is why Evans wanted to start feeding his firefighters healthy, locally grown veggies.
“The nutrition piece ‒ what you put in your body ‒ is just one piece of a larger program to try to keep firefighters safe,” Evans said.
The department already does what it can to keep the array of toxic chemicals released during a structure fire to a minimum ‒ like investing in special cleaning equipment for sanitizing firefighter turnout gear, wearing protective hoods during a fire, and equipping fire trucks with benzene and particulate scrubbers, Evans said. Making sure firefighters are eating healthy food is just another line of defense.
Evans, who helped spearhead the International Association of Firefighters Wellness Fitness Initiative, believes firefighters having a low-inflammation diet is important, because healthy firefighters and paramedics are better equipped to serve the public, according to a news release from Upper Pine.
“The district also conducts a National Fire Protection Association 1582 physical to assess fitness for duty; the process is also designed to catch cancer and heart disease early,” the release said. “It is all part of a comprehensive effort and just one more step to keeping our firefighters and paramedics healthy to serve the public.”
The release said veggies from Homegrown Farms are payed for through a small portion of the department’s budget. It’s enough for one meal per week, Evans said, and the veggies are usually used in a vibrant, seasonal salad prepared by firefighters.
For Jensen, feeding the firefighters is a great way to give back to the people who keep her community safe, she said.
“We’re proud of him in our fire district out here, and just glad to be part of it in this way,” Jensen said.
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
