A Dallas farm-to-table champion is pulling the plug: Profound Microfarms, the small farm in Lucas that provided locally-grown produce to chefs and the general public for nearly a decade, is shutting down its growing operation and discontinuing deliveries. Their final delivery and pickup day will be May 23.

According to cofounder Jeff Bednar, they were simply unable to keep the business afloat.

"It's always been tough for small farmers, and it's only getting harder," Bednar says. "I'd hate to count how many farmers and ranchers we've known in the last 10 years that have gone out of business. Honestly, I know very few farmers that could make it with out having off-farm income from a spouse or other sources."

Jeff and Lee Bednar first bought their 2.6-acre plot in Lucas in 2014, then spent three years learning hydroponic methods and building industry relationships. In May 2017, they began selling produce to Dallas-area chefs, helping to support DFW’s burgeoning farm-to-table restaurant scene, delivering to restaurants multiple times per week.

In 2018, Profound Foods received a USDA grant to create a local "food hub" — a business that helps small farmers grow by offering a combination of production, distribution, and marketing services. At their peak, by the end of 2019, they were serving 130 restaurants.

And then the pandemic arrived. They pivoted, expanding into retail sales in March 2020, offering weekly home delivery and pickup outpost options for home consumers.

Beautiful lettuces at Profound MicrofarmsProfound Microfarms

"Unfortunately, running a year-round food hub became tougher than we can sustain right now," he says. "It's disheartening we were not able to make it work after trying for 11 years. But we were able to raise our daughters the way we wanted to and we really had a great run. Profound impacted hundreds of Dallas chefs and thousands of families in our community and we'll continue to do that, just differently."

Over the years, Profound grew from harvesting greens to aggregating and delivering for other producers, then into community gathering spaces, commercial kitchens, and hands-on education.

"Profound has never been just a farm — it’s our commitment to connecting North Texans with local food, and that commitment will keep evolving even as the farm operations wind down," Bednar says.

So while the growing part has gone away, Profound will continue hosting cooking classes and other foodie events. In the interim, they'll also be listing their plants, hydroponic supplies, and greenhouses for sale.

Some of their stats:

• Moved more than $4.5 million of truly local food into North Texas kitchens.
• Sent 75 cents on every dollar to 185 farmers, ranchers, and producers in North Texas.
• Delivered 34,000+ restaurant and home orders.
• Donated over 90,000 lbs of fresh food to area charities and food banks.
• Hosted dozens of interns and hundreds of volunteers for hands-on learning on our farm.
• Helped over 22 companies launch food-based business in our incubator kitchen and hub.
• Hosted tours for more than 15,000 people, schoolchildren, and aspiring farmers.