Events
Danny Harper
Thank you for a KILLER Tomato Fest Season!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s Killer Tomato events! Between our pop-up farmers market and the 13th annual Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival (AKTF), this year’s tomato season was one for the books. 

Thank you for a KILLER Tomato Fest Season!
Farmer Services, Farmer Field Day
Lydia Hsu
FARMER FIELD DAY RECAP: CLIMATE SMART GRAZING ...

The Winter Farmer Series consisted of in-person networking and educational events hosted at farms across Georgia in February and March. These farmer field days took place in lieu of the annual Georgia Organics Conference & Expo, which has evolved to engage regenerative farm and food advocates across the U.S. Southeastern region under the moniker “SOWTH.”

FARMER FIELD DAY RECAP: CLIMATE SMART GRAZING & PASTURE MANAGEMENT
Farmer Services, Farmer Field Day
Paul Sorah
ORGANIC GROWERS FARMER FIELD DAY RECAP: ...

On February 19, 2024, Georgia Organics kicked off the Winter Farmer Series with a Collective Organic Purchasing and Accessing Organic Markets Organic Growers Farmer Field Day in Keysville, Georgia. This Farmer Field Day, in particular, highlighted the strength that collective farming and selling models have in accessing more markets.  

ORGANIC GROWERS FARMER FIELD DAY RECAP: Collective Organic Purchasing & Accessing Organic Markets
Racial Equity
Communications

Last May, we engaged multiple organizations for anti-racism audits, ultimately choosing Widerstand Consulting, whose process involves document review and focus groups with staff, board, farmers, and partners to inform necessary changes.

“ ...together we will find a way to not just be allies but accomplices in the work of anti-racism. ” — Alexis Chase A MESSAGE FROM ALEXIS CHASE
Farmer Services, Farmer Field Day
Lydia Hsu
ORGANIC GROWERS FARMER FIELD DAY RECAP: ...

Georgia Organics hosts a series of educational workshops, Organic Growers Farmer Field Days (OGFFDs), as part of the Farmer Services GO Organic! program to provide a portfolio of services geared specifically towards transitioning and Certified Organic farmers. 

ORGANIC GROWERS FARMER FIELD DAY RECAP: Building Cooperative Organic System Models + 2023 Georgia Certified Organic Network (GCON) Program

Food Access

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Connections in Ag: An Interview with Miriam Pérez of Café Orgánico Marcala (COMSA) 

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By Monica Ponce 

Monica Ponce is a Worker-Owner at Love is Love Cooperative Farm and has been on the Board of Directors of Georgia Organics since 2020. 

 

Miriam Beté Perez and Finca Clave de Sol. Photo courtesy of COMSA. 

Monica Ponce. Photo courtesy of Love Cooperative Farm.

 

For years now, I have been getting my hands dirty on the farm. It’s been a long exploration of different landscapes, soils, plants, and practices. Along the way, I have had the chance to connect with farmers near and far, and I continue to be wowed by the stories I hear and the things I learn from fellow farmers.  

I was recently invited by Café Campesino, a Georgia-based organic coffee roaster and wholesaler, to interview Miriam Pérez a member of Café Orgánico Marcala S.A. (COMSA). COMSA is a group that has been a partner of Café Campesino through their importing co-op, Cooperative Coffees, since 2014. As a member of Love is Love Cooperative Farm, a worker-owned cooperative on 70 acres in Mansfield, Georgia, I was thrilled to have the chance to connect with another cooperative grower to learn more about her work! It’s awe-inspiring to see the care put into the plants and the alignment of her growing practices with the lunar calendar and larger ecology of the farm. 

If you want to support COMSA, pick up a couple of bags of Café Campesino Coffee. When you purchase Café Campesino’s Georgia Organics Special Blend Coffee, a portion of sales will be donated to Georgia Organics, so it’s a great way to support regenerative and organic farmers in Georgia, too! 

I hope our conversation inspires you to savor your sip. 

Monica Ponce: What certifications or third-party labeling do you have that has helped increase your markets? 

Miriam Beté Perez: Organic and Fair Trade certifications.  

Monica: What is it like to cultivate coffee? 

Miriam: Cultivating coffee is a passion for me! 

I started at the age of 6 on my grandfather's farms. For me and my cousins, going to the coffee farms meant hiking along trails, running, playing, and having a free life. We would arrive at the farm to harvest coffee beans and be in contact with Mother Earth. 

The cultivation involves several processes which we call cultivation tasks. We start by harvesting and selecting the seeds of the plants that have had the best development in the farm, after being cultivated for more than 3 years. Next, we create a coffee nursery, where the babies grow for 2 to 3 months. Then we continue with the selection and transplant the strongest and best-developed plants to the soil prepared with organic ingredients. These plants grow there in the nursery and/or shed for 3 to 4 months. Then they are transferred to the definitive field and the small trees are planted in a previously elaborated and prepared hole, where organic fertilizer was also added the previous year. 

Image: Miriam Perez. Photo courtesy of COMSA. 

Monica: How long does it take for the crop to be ready for harvesting? 

Miriam: The coffee crop is ready for harvesting in the third year. 

Monica: In what season of the year is the coffee harvest? 

Miriam: The harvest season in the Marcala region begins in November and ends in April. 

Monica: What is the harvesting process like? 

Miriam: When the collection begins, two containers are used, they can be bags or baskets. These are attached to the body of the person who is going to carry out the coffee cherry collection task. These containers are used to deposit the green, dry, and over-fermented beans on one side and the red cherries in the other container. 

At 3 pm, the coffee is received by the harvesters, weighing the coffee cherries and keeping a record of the daily deliveries for each person who harvests them. 

The red coffee cherries are placed in a sieve to continue with the selection of green, dry, and fermented beans that are mixed at the time of harvest. Then the depulping process is carried out to obtain a honey-processed coffee and/or it is taken to the sun-drying patio to obtain a natural, dry cherry coffee. 

Monica: What types of soils do you have and what are some of your practices to enrich/maintain the quality? 

Miriam: A large part of our soils is sandy loam soils. The good agricultural practices we use to nourish the plants and soil include: 

  • Preparation and application of organic fertilizers based on organic matter, mountain microorganisms, minerals, and living molecules. 

  • Application of bio-preparations. 

  • Sowing of Healing crystals. 

  • Pranic Healing meditations over the plants. 

  • Sowing of trees. 

  • Planting of coffee varieties resistant to pests and diseases. 

Cultivation tasks using the lunar calendar (Cleaning, pruning, de-leafing, sowing and re-sowing of coffee plants, application of solid and liquid organic fertilizers) 

Coffee cherries and green, dry, and over-fermented beans still on the branch before harvest. 

Monica: What are the ideal conditions for cultivating coffee? 

Miriam: Under a microclimate where there are trees, bushes, fruit trees, birds, animals, and diversity of living beings in balance. 

Monica: Has the weather become more unpredictable for you and how have you adapted/managed? 

Monitoring the temperature, relative humidity according to each season of the year, the movements of the moon and the stars in the cosmos are indicators that allow us to manage the diversity and times in the coffee farm.  

Monica: How many people work on the farm and do the farmers live on or near the farm? 

Miriam: Temporarily, 6 people work on the farm, and up to 20 people work temporarily, especially during coffee harvesting and processing. Two families live on the farm, and the other families are neighbors, while others live away. 

Monica: How did you find this cooperative as farmers? 

Miriam: We didn't find it, we started it, thanks to the importance of benefits received from being in a farmer organization. 

To learn more about COMSA and Finca la Fortaleza (Marcala) visit coopcoffees.coop/comsa or follow the co-op on Facebook (COMSA - Marcala) and Instagram (@comsamarcalaoficial). 

To learn more about Café Campesino visit cafecampesino.com or follow the Georgia roastery on Facebook (Cafe Campesino Roastery) and Instagram (@cafecampesino). 

To learn more about Love is Love Cooperative Farm visit loveislovefarm.com or follow the co-op on Facebook (Love is Love Farm) and Instagram (@loveislovefarm). 

To learn more about Georgia Organics visit georgiaorganics.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube by searching (Georgia Organics). 

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Farm To School Month: Spinach To Win It! Highlights

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By Olivia Mountcastle

Olivia served as our 2022 Farm to School Intern as well as the CDC Public Health Associate Program Fellow.

Thank you to all who participated in 2022 October Farm to School Month with our Spinach to Win It! resources, making it an enormous success! The creativity this year was unbe-Leafable! We are so excited to share that we reached…. Drumroll….. 

                          693,000 Students across Georgia with our #SpinachToWinit! Campaign 

Georgia’s Governor Kemp recognized the positive impact of statewide Farm to School work by declaring October as Farm to School and  ECE Month with an official Proclamation! This honor couldn't have happened without all of the amazing farm-to-school work YOU do.  

Georgia Governor Declares the month of October Farm to School/ECE Month state-wide.

We loved following our participants’ activities through the social media tag #Spinachtowinit. The spinach content shared by the students, teachers, faculty, and parents is entertaining and inspiring. You can find it all by searching #Spinachtowinit on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Choosing weekly winners was incredibly difficult—which is why we chose to pick more than one weekly winner.

Some of the innovative projects we saw included:

  • Painting with spinach  

  • 3-D printing Popeye 

  • Spinach songs and raps 

  • And so much more!

We’ve highlighted some of the amazing projects shared by compiling social media posts in a video. Check out all of the spinach fun from the month here.

Our October Farm to School Month, Spinach to Win it! content will remain available throughout the school year, and we encourage everyone to keep the fun going. Spinach season has just begun, so you can continue planting and harvesting spinach into the colder months. Thank you to everyone who participated in activities this month making this a wonderful Spinach-tastic success!

To learn more about our ongoing Farm to School programming, go to farmtoschool.georgiaorganics.org.

Thank you to everyone who participated in activities this month making this a wonderful, Spinach-tastic success!

Our October Farm to School Month, Spinach to Win it! content will remain available through the school year at farmtoschool.georgiaorganics.org/spinachtowinit. Past content from our annual October Farm to School Month campaigns is at gfft.georgiaorganics.org!

Visit georgiaorganics.org to see all of what we do and follow us on social media @georgiaorganics for updates and weekly happenings.

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Farm To ECE Success In An Urban Setting

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Guest blog contributors Cherie L.B. Trice and April Mixon

Cherie L.B. Trice is the Director of Development at Greenbriar Children’s Center and has a Master of Arts and is a Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA). April Mixon is the Food Coordinator at Greenbriar Children’s Center. Both are Savannah-based.

All images courtesy of the authors.

Greenbriar Children’s Center is excited to be recognized as one of the first ECE Farmer Champions with Georgia Organics!   

In addition to other programs for children and families, Greenbriar provides two quality-rated early childhood education programs for children ages six months to five years, primarily from very low-income families.

On average, one in five people in Savannah lives below the poverty level. The number is even higher for children under the age of five. Following Federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) guidelines, Greenbriar provides breakfast, lunch, and a healthy snack for all children in our early learning programs. 

In the Spring of 2022, we launched an initiative to provide fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables to our centers via a partnership with the Forsyth Farmers Market—the largest regional market in our area. 

The team recognized that the brains and bodies of young children grow at a rapid rate. They must receive essential nutrients to support this critical time of growth to support positive health outcomes into adulthood. We know that an increased intake of fresh produce can help to reduce the risk of childhood obesity and complications that may arise later in life, including Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and stroke. Under-resourced areas, which often have reduced access to grocery stores that provide fresh produce, face a higher risk for these health risks.  

Our partnership with the farmers market allows us to purchase fresh, locally-grown (and often organic) produce every week.

To expand our knowledge around this work, we have become a member of the Georgia Farm to Early Care and Education Coalition. To date, we have participated in various programs with fellow coalition members, including Quality Care for Children (QCC) and Georgia Organics.   

We have participated in the Georgia Early Care and Education Harvest of the Month campaign and, most recently, the Georgia Organics #SpinachtoWinit campaign.  

Spinach To Win It inspired us to give our children a tasty opportunity: to grow spinach and sample the leafy green in a variety of ways. We love the spinach pizza, spinach pesto, and other offerings we created!

In October, we also offered a parent-child nutrition night, informing parents about our efforts to provide their children with fresh, locally-grown produce every week.

We must recognize that low-income families often rely on low-cost, heavily processed food to feed their families. The two meals per day provided by childcare centers may be the most complete meals that a child in an under-resourced area receives. 

These meals must be as nutrient-dense as possible to provide the healthiest beginning possible for every child. And, getting to support local farmers to achieve this important work helps us feel even more connected to our community.

Learn more about Greenbriar Children’s Center at greenbriarchildrenscenter.org.  

You can also follow them on Instagram (@greenbriarsav), Twitter (@GreenbriarCCSAV), and Facebook (@GreenbriarChildrensCenter)

Contact their Director of Development Cherie L. B. Trice at ctrice@greenbriarchildrenscenter.org. 

To learn more about Georgia Organics, visit georgiaorganics.org and follow us on social media @GeorgiaOrganics. 

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Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) Fills Vital Food Gaps for Students Missing School Meals in Georgia

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By Caroline Croland

For families with children in Georgia, school closures this spring have significantly disrupted daily lives and caused instability. The pandemic has proven particularly devastating, however, for families who rely on free or reduced school meals to feed their children throughout the week. 

In Georgia, 1.1 million children under the age of 18 are threatened with food insecurity as a result of COVID-19 school closures.

With schools closed from March to May and uncertain re-opening plans ahead, many food-insecure families find themselves responsible for an additional ten or more meals per week per child. And while some school districts have been able to provide and distribute meals during the pandemic, many have been less able to meet the needs of their lower-income students.

But there is a new relief plan from the Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) in partnership with the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) that aims to ease some of this tremendous burden on families. 

In response to the pandemic, Congress passed the Family First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, which includes a benefit called Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) for families whose children received free or reduced-price school meals in the 2019-2020 school year, but were unable to access those meals due to school closures. The purpose of this program is to provide the value of two daily school meals to children participating in that program beginning in late July. 

Georgia families with eligible children will receive benefits, via their EBT card, of up to $256.50 per child, with each household being able to apply for up to eight children.  

Jennifer Owens, Senior Vice President of the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute is excited to see the program take hold in Georgia. "P-EBT is a unique opportunity that is being used throughout the county to get children access to healthy meals. This is a critical program, especially now as the recession takes hold," says Owens. 

Owens volunteers at a local food bank and encounters families who are used to relying on school meals and who are now subsisting off half a carton of eggs for the week. “The need is dire, and that is why it is so important for community organizations to get the word out about this program,” she says.

Beginning the last week in July, any family who already receives SNAP benefits will have their benefits loaded automatically to their EBT card.

Families who are on free and reduced lunch but do not participate in the SNAP program must apply through DFCS at dfcs.georgia.gov/pandemic-electronic-benefit-transfer to receive their benefits. Families will be required to enter the student’s Georgia Testing ID (GTID), also known as the student ID number, when applying for benefits. This number can be found on their child's report card or obtained from their local school district. Once an application is submitted, the cards will arrive by mail within 3-4 weeks.  

Officials are urging families to apply for these benefits as soon as possible, as the state is required to pay out these benefits until September 30. These benefits last 365 days from the time that they are issued.  

Lauren Waits, Policy Advisor at the Atlanta Community Food Bank has been working to get the word out about the program. "Food banks have seen such a dramatic increase in need due to COVID. We are working hard to convey the urgency of applying for these benefits" Waits says. "The problem is real, and we hope that families provide their information so that they can claim this money as soon as possible." 

It is important to note that in families whose children are in Community Eligibility Program (CEP) school systems--where all attending students receive meals—are automatically eligible to receive these benefits. 

It's also important to note that these benefits are available to all students receiving free and reduced lunch, regardless of citizenship status. "Congress designed this program so that the use of P-EBT will never count against the public charge requirement or hinder anyone in their path to citizenship," says Waits. 

Families receiving P-EBT benefits will be able to use these benefits wherever SNAP benefits are accepted, including select local farmers markets. “Providing families directly with SNAP benefits will give them the opportunity to go to farmers markets and stretch those dollars further while give them more diverse choices and nutritious offerings than a food pantry would typically provide,” Owens states.   

When speaking to Suzanne Girdner, who leads the Georgia Food Oasis program, she emphasizes that P-EBT relief fills a deep void in pandemic support for families:  

“This important because our families had very little support on addressing meal gaps and had to quickly come up with 10-20 additional meals a week with school closures during March-May; GA is finally recognizing and honoring these families’ challenges and provided the belated or back-dated support they needed, frankly, in Spring. This comes at a time that families undoubtedly continue to need help with school start delays and this will help them fill critical meal gaps they continue to face.” 

Girdner adds, “For us this is also a great way for families to get more nutrient dense foods via local farmers markets, produce boxes that accept and/or double SNAP which is exactly what young developing minds and bodies need to thrive.” 

On the topic of these benefits being applied to secure food grown by Georgia farmers and sold at Georgia farmers markets, we also spoke to Wholesome Wave GA about their critical work ensuring EBT/P-EBT dollars work doubly hard at Georgia farmers markets, nourishing SNAP shoppers with the most nutritious, locally-grown food possible.  

For this new episode of The Georgia Foodcast, we spoke to Will Sellers, Sarah Moore, and Emme Raus of Wholesome Wave Georgia about both P-EBT and their other pandemic-focused work.

Wholesome Wave GA has led the charge in ensuring that families receiving SNAP benefits—also including P-EBT participants—can double the value on their EBT cards at 68 different farmers markets across Georgia throughout the Georgia Fresh for Less program. They also provide direct, personal help for those applying for SNAP benefits for the first time, which has included a huge influx of Georgians with jobs eliminated or furloughed due to the COVID-19 economic recession. For more information on first-time application to the SNAP, click here. 

Click below for the full conversation.  

Kimberly Della Donna, Georgia Organics’ Farm to School Director, accurately summarized how this pandemic relief is vital for both families and will also help farmers, and can hopefully foster connection during this challenging time:

"P-EBT is a critical strategy to support students nutrition during COVID-related school closures. We're especially excited about the option families have to use the benefit at local farmers markets and farm stands, where they can support small farmers, make community connections and learn about Georgia's local food and agriculture systems."

If you do not already receive SNAP benefits and seek to learn more and apply for P-EBT, visit dfcs.georgia.gov/pandemic-electronic-benefit-transfer. For additional COVID-19 information for Georgia families and individuals, visit gafcp.org/coronavirus/. 

Caroline Croland is the Fundraising Coordinator at Georgia Organics. To learn more about Georgia Organics, visit www.georgiaorganics.org and follow us on Instagram @GeorgiaOrganics, Twitter @GeorgiaOrganics, and at www.Facebook.com/GeorgiaOrganics.