Georgia Organics Announces the 2021 Class of Farmer Champions

By Lauren Cox

Lauren Cox is the Farm to Restaurant, Farmer Champion, and Organic Procurement Coordinator at Georgia Organics.

Fall has arrived and with it a much-needed turning of the season. The past couple of months our Farm to Restaurant team has been busy calculating Farmer Champion 2021 Round One invoices and are finally ready (and excited) to announce the newest additions to our Farmer Champion family.

2021 FARMER CHAMPIONS

These butcher shops, bakeries, cafes, and restaurants are located throughout Georgia and demonstrate the diverse way in which local sourcing is possible. Although not always easy, it is our belief here at Georgia Organics, that community-driven sourcing is part and parcel to creative and dynamic businesses that stand out among the crowd. We also know that movements often happen in a groundswell and judging from this list, we’ve got to say, these Farmer Champions are in great company.

Without further ado, check out our 2021 Farmer Champion family.

WHAT’S THE FARMER CHAMPION CAMPAIGN AGAIN? 

The Farmer Champion campaign began in 2019 as a way to understand, in earnest, which restaurants around the state source from local farms. Functionally, restaurants submit their purchasing invoices twice a year and from these invoices we calculate what percentage of their total food costs come from Georgia producers. Farmer Champions are the restaurants or bakeries that go through this verification process and spend at least 5% of their food budget with Georgia producers. Beyond that, Farmer Champions receive a Bronze, Silver, or Gold tier based on their percentage of spending after they’ve been in the campaign and submitted invoices for a year. Some gold tier restaurants spend as much as 80% of their food budget giving money back to Georgia producers (which is huge!).

REFLECTIONS

Two years after launching the Farmer Champion campaign, we have to admit we’ve learned a lot. Beyond its quantitative value, the campaign has given us the space and opportunity to build a community network for both furthering farmer/chef connections and supporting our restaurant partners.

In 2020, while the pandemic challenged our local food system in numerous ways, we were able to leverage that network to create Food Fight GA, a locally sourced veggie box program for restaurant employees and their families and partnered with Wrecking Bar Brewpub in Atlanta to host a mid-week farmers market for farmers to make up for lost restaurant revenue.

Now, as 2021 winds down and we reflect back on the dynamic evolution of the Farmer Champion campaign, we are grateful for the ways in which a simple system for quantifying local food purchases has continued to shift and grow. While our goal of recognizing restaurants sourcing from Georgia producers has never wavered, we have also learned that the Farmer Champion campaign is about so much more than that. It’s about community and connection.

CELEBRATING OUR TOP FARMER CHAMPIONS (in case you missed it)

A couple of months ago Georgia Organics held our Annual Awards ceremony where we celebrated our Land Steward and Pollinator winners in addition to four outstanding Farmer Champions that had the highest verified local and local, organic spend from producers here in Georgia.

We were joined by GO staff, board, partner organization members, and eaters from around the state and it felt great taking the time to celebrate folks doing good work in our Georgia food community despite the difficulties of the past year.

Moving ahead, each year we hope to continue this tradition of celebrating our top Farmer Champions and have already begun planning for next year’s event. Stay tuned and we'll keep you in the loop. 

KNOW A RESTAURANT IN GEORGIA THAT WOULD BE A GREAT FARMER CHAMPION PARTNER?

Reach out to Kayla Williams at kayla@georgiaorganics.org to learn more.

INTERESTED IN READING MORE?

Read on as Lauren Cox, who leads our Farmer Champion campaign, explores the meaning of this often-overused phrase and why recognizing meaningful farm to restaurant partnerships is so important. Click below to read The Rise and Fall of Farm to Table and Through It All Our Farmer Champions.