Southwest Virginia agent honored for 1 million pounds of produce donations

It started with a turnip. Well, to be accurate, with 60,000 pounds of turnips.

In fall 2009, Darin Greear, a real estate agent with Long & Foster Real Estate since 2004 and a farmer in southwest Virginia, had a bumper crop of turnips. For years, he and his wife, Tabitha, had donated produce to local hunger relief groups, but 2009 brought far more vegetables than they could give away through smaller associations.

That’s when Greear connected with the Society of St. Andrew, offering them turnips from his farm, Windy Hills Farm in Riner, Va.

“We’ll take them all,” Greear recalls his contact at the Society of St. Andrew saying to him at the time, before he’d told them exactly how many thousands of pounds he had. While Greear supplies all the produce—mainly turnips, but also a variety of squash, pumpkins, corn and tomatoes—the Society of St. Andrew and other food banks he’s work with, coordinate the gleaning—that is, the picking and packing of all the produce from the farm.

“I had no idea the need was so great,” Greear said talking about that first conversation with the Society of St. Andrew and his realization about food insecurity in the region. They collected 60,000 pounds of turnips that fall 2009, and the next year, he planted 5 acres of turnips—bringing about 100,000 pounds.

The Greears did the same the next year, and the year after, until this fall, when Greear’s total donations topped 1 million pounds of produce—an honor for which the Society of St.  Andrew and several other local nonprofits recognized him earlier this month.

Greear said he hadn’t realized just how much they’d donated until he was presented with the Feeding Virginia honor. In addition to representatives from the Society of St. Andrew, Greear’s friends and his family, the local TV stations, WDBJ, WFXR and WSLS, joined in the celebration, sharing their stories about his contributions to the community.

While Greear has built a successful real estate business over the years, his passion has always been farming. He grew up in a family of farmers, and he says he’s most at peace riding his tractor on the land at Windy Hills Farm.

“I sell real estate to support my farming habit,” Greear said.

That habit, however, extends far beyond the fields. In addition to his work in real estate and agriculture, Greear is deeply involved in the community, serving on the national board of the Society of St. Andrew, the executive committee for Young Life, the Blacksburg Battles Cancer board and the Farm Bureau Board. He also volunteers with the New River Valley Sportsmen for Kids group.

What began years ago with an unexpected surplus of turnips has grown into a sustained commitment to addressing food insecurity in southwest Virginia—one harvest, and one donation, at a time.

Why Turnips

Turnips can last up to a year when stored properly, Greear explaining, making them ideal for food banks. They’re also versatile—you can bake them (similar to a baked potato), pickle them (Greear’s favorite is with garlic and red pepper), or eat them raw, plain, dipped in ranch (as many of the younger volunteers at the farm enjoy) or with a splash of vinegar and salt.