By Kimberly Koogler
Kimberly Koogler is Georgia Organics’ Community Collaborations Manager.
Crops in Season during Buyer Farm Tour at Levity Farms (@levityfarmsga)
On a recent Monday morning, I got to find out what the best way to start a new week is. It is definitely getting together with Georgia farmers, chefs, and early childhood educators on a gorgeous day at a beautiful farm to meander about and then enjoy a locally sourced lunch under a heavenly October sky.
Why might you find six farmers, three early childhood educators, and nine restaurants, caterers, and pop-up chefs gathered together on a Monday morning? To nerd out about local sourcing, of course!
It was our first time doing an event like this, and it unfolded so beautifully that we look forward to doing more of its kind. Our Farmer Champion team--comprising Lauren Cox, Farmer Services Director; Kayla Williams, Farmer Champion Senior Coordinator; Kimberly Della Donna, Community Collaborations Director; and myself—called this delightful convening. We did so because all the above-mentioned parties in attendance have in common a desire to serve up fresh, nutritious, delicious, local food to their community and to grow a resilient local food system in so doing.
Represented in this photo: Bistro Off Broad, A Kid’s World, Hearts of Harvest Farm, The Expat, Bread and Butter Farms, Puma Yu’s, Georgia Organics Staff, Ry’s Table, Slater’s Steakhouse, and Levity Farms)
So, we got together at the beautiful Levity Farms in Madison, GA, exchanged insights and ideas, and shared an exquisite lunch catered by the local Hallie Jane’s Catering, who sourced much of the produce from Levity Farms!
Georgia Organics’ Kayla Williams and Lauren Cox
Local sourcing talk over lunch!
Our gracious farmer hosts, Zach and Ilana Richards took us on a tour, told us their story, and showed us how they build and maintain healthy soil and where they are in their progress towards a closed-circuit, regenerative farming operation.
Everybody shared what it is they look for when starting a new purchasing relationship and what is most conducive to maintaining those relationships. Farmers talked about what helps them when working with chefs; chefs talked about what helps them serve more locally grown food on their menus; and our ECE representatives talked about the challenges of sourcing the volume of food needed to feed many kids multiple meals on a daily basis and the opportunity to plan ahead. While everyone in the room could probably use more time and help, nobody was lacking in passion, care, and respect for each other and each other’s work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Consistency and communication!
For farmers:
Send updated availability lists and/or check in consistently.
Also, let your buyers know what’s coming up soon, and try to give them an idea of how long you’ll be able to offer different items on your availability list.
For buyers:
Consistent ordering: When farmers know they can count on a regular order for you, they will grow for you.
Consistent communication: This is key to building trust and a solid relationship.
Provide your farmers feedback on their product. They want to make you happy!
Cultivating personal working relationships
“Community connection makes what we do magnetic.” So well said by Ilana Richards of Levity Farms!
Build a symbiotic relationship.
Check in with each other.
Planning ahead helps everyone!
Take some time to plan together and understand each other’s expectations. This helps chefs plan menus and gives farmers more information about what’s in high demand while they’re planning their season.
Some purchasing relationships, like those between farmers and ECE providers might benefit from drawing up a simple contract.
Georgia Organics’ Farmer Champion program works to bring local farmers, chefs, and aggregators together to increase sustainable and organic purchasing by Georgia restaurants, caterers, pop-ups, and early childhood education centers. By connecting farmers to these purchasers and eaters to these businesses that source responsibly, our local food system’s diverse patchwork of small and organic farms will grow and thrive. If you’re a buyer interested in learning more, please reach out to Kayla Williams at kayla@georgiaorganics.org and/or Kimberly Koogler at kimberlykoogler@georgiaorganics.org.
To learn more about Levity Farms, visit www.levityfarms.com or follow them on social media at facebook.com/levityfarms and/or on Instagram at levityfarmsga.
To learn more about Georgia Organics, visit georgiaorganics.org and follow us on social media @GeorgiaOrganics and at facebook.com/GeorgiaOrganics.