Sarah Frey

Sarah Frey (born July 24, 1976) is an American farmer and entrepreneur. She is the CEO and owner of Frey Farms, which she founded at age sixteen.

Early life and education Frey was born July 24, 1976,

The family's original 80-acre farm, which they called the Hill, is five miles from Orchardville and thirty miles from Mount Vernon in southern Illinois.

At 15, she moved out of her parents' house.

Her parents' financial situation had become dire. She purchased the farm outright at age 18. Most of her pumpkin crop is not suitable for eating, but is very popular for Halloween lantern carving. Although pumpkins are the most popular produce, the business also farms watermelons, cantaloupes, sweet corn, and hard squash. In 2018, Frey Farms launched Sarah's Homegrown. Sarah's Homegrown is focused on agua frescas and fresh produce. Frey Farms is a Certified Women Owned Business.

She created Tsamma Watermelon Juice as a way to use the "ugly fruit" that would otherwise be discarded or tilled back into the fields.

Sarah Frey serves on the United Fresh Government Relations Council and the National Watermelon Promotion Board. She is also a member of the Illinois Agriculture Coalition committee. Frey is currently on the steering committee for the IBIC.

Her second book, The Growing Season (2020), was reviewed by Publishers Weekly and the Boston Globe, The New York Times, Kirkus Reviews and The Library Journal.

Politics Politico reported during the 2024 Presidential Transition of the incoming Second Trump Administration, Frey was suggested as a potential candidate for Secretary of Agriculture to President Trump by his daughter Ivanka Trump.

In 2019, Frey was recruited by congressional Republicans looking for a female candidate to replace Republican Representative John Shimkus after he announced his retirement but decided not to run.

Reception The Boston Globe called her "a woman with a potent sense of self and an unmatched ability for inventing and selling herself in a business world often skeptical of or hostile to women, especially those without pedigree or connections."

Published works For the Love of Pumpkins: A Visual Guide to Fall Decorating with Pumpkins and Ornamentals (2007) The Growing Season: How I Built a New Life--and Saved an American Farm (2020)

Awards and recognition

PMA "Eight Women Leaders You Should Know" 2020 Women in Produce Award

Personal life Frey is divorced with two sons.