Good Food for Thought: Dish Dive into Wholesale and High-End Wholesale

By Kayla Williams 

Are you a farmer that sells to farmers’ markets or have a CSA but are ready to get into the wholesale market, either to restaurants or institutions? Luckily, we have some tips for you! On Thursday, February 26th, Lauren Cox, Organic Procurement Coordinator at Georgia Organics along with Zac Harrison, owner of Fresh Harvest, and Neil Ringer, Director of Operations of The Common Market Southeast shared knowledge on what the processes look like to enter the wholesale market in Georgia in a variety of ways. Previously, Lauren managed Woodland Gardens, an organic mixed vegetable farm in the Athens-area that sells to many restaurants in Atlanta and Athens. At Georgia Organics, Lauren works  closely with farmers to help them sell to  larger institutions and restaurants, from helping them crop plan to organizing QuickBook trainings, improving their marketing skills and more. Lauren shared her knowledge about some pros and cons of selling to restaurants and larger wholesale markets in general, as well as best practices – we’ll share some here.

Whichever way you decide to “slice your pie”, your farm will become more resilient if you have multiple revenue streams. Maybe you attend one farmers’ market on the weekend, have CSA (community supported agriculture) pick up on Tuesdays, and deliver to restaurants in your closest larger city on Wednesdays. Or maybe, you sell to one large wholesale customer on Thursdays, delivery to restaurants on Fridays and do a CSA pick up on Saturdays, skipping farmers’ markets all together! You can choose how you slice your pie, but it’s important as you scale up, to add more revenue streams so you can be flexible as needed. So how do you choose?

Restaurant Walk-In. Photo credit: Bailey Garrot.

Although restaurants can be unreliable customers due to frequent menu and staff changes, you can usually get the best wholesale price available and because you are harvesting to order, you won’t have any leftovers. If you decide to sell to a larger wholesale customer, like grocery stores or distributors, you may have to settle for the lowest price point for your goods (as compared to the retail farmers’ market price) but the transactions may be more reliable working with a larger institution, and they may come pick up the products from your farm rather than delivering to a restaurant. It’s important to remember that the type of operation you run may be a better fit for some wholesale than others – if you are small and very diversified farm, you may be a better fit for a high-priced restaurant that uses smaller quantities of many products. If you are larger and specialize in (let’s say) tomatoes, you may be a better fit for a local pizza joint that makes huge quantities of sauce daily

Quick Cleaning Turnips. Photo credit: Lauren Cox,

. No matter which revenue streams you choose, recordkeeping is essential. From knowing where things are in the field, to making sure you have a consistent inventory for your customers, to knowing the prices each item sells for through your various streams, to telling your employees where to harvest what, recordkeeping can only make your life easier and more organized. How you harvest, package and clean your products also make a difference in the world of wholesale. Minimize handling your products because the more you touch it, the more degraded it gets,  especially when wholesalers are aggregating, repackaging and redistributing. Cleanliness is key and minimizing moisture in washed greens, for example, extend the shelf life of your produce.

The Common Market, a non-profit aggregator and distributor, works with many institutions such as private schools, hospitals, universities, food service providers and municipal offices. The Common Market Southeast Headquarters are in East Point, GA but they also have a program based in Houston, TX and Philadelphia, PA. The Common Market wants to lower barriers and provide the infrastructure for local farmers to be able to sell to these institutions. The requirements for working with The Common Market Southeast are as follows: farmer must be in a 250 mile radius of their offices, must have sustainable growing practices, proof of liability insurance, be involved in a food safety program, and have a post-harvesting handling and packing system. Additionally, you must pack your products in wax boxes with your contact information on the label. During COVID-19, The Common Market Southeast received a USDA grant that allowed them to deliver over 96,440 boxes to families across the state, partnering with over 45 community organizations and purchasing over 964,000 pounds of local food purchased and distributed. Their systems and infrastructure made that work possible. A big thanks to Neil Ringer and Common Market for sharing with us and doing incredible work every day to make it easier for local producers to be involved in larger institutions!

West Georgia Farmers Coorperative Delivering to Miller Union. Photo Credit: Bailey Garrot.

Fresh Harvest, on the other hand, is solely residential. Each week, Zac Harrison texts all the farmers in the Fresh Harvest network (some big, some small, but all organic) and finds out what their availability is for the week. Based on which farmer has what products, he compiles weekly boxes that are delivered to homes around Atlanta. In addition to a weekly produce box, customers can add on other local goods, like local dairy, eggs, meat, prepared foods and more. Fresh Harvest’s offices are in Clarkston, GA and they employee many refugees that are based in Clarkston. Zac’s goal is to expand the reach and sale of the farmer, not to infringe on their other revenue streams and he wants to crop plan with farmers at the beginning of the season, so they can be guaranteed a revenue stream from Fresh Harvest.

No matter which route you decide to go down for slicing your pie, utilizing the tips from Lauren and working with folks like Neil and Zac who have the farmers’ best interest at heart, choosing to diversify your revenue streams can only make your farm more successful and resilient.

---

Interested in learning more about Lauren’s work? Check out farmtorestaurant.georgiaorganics.org/, follow Georgia Organics on Instagram @georgiaorganics, and Facebook at facebook.com/GeorgiaOrganics/.

Want to see if The Common Market may be a good fit for you or support their work? Check out thecommonmarket.org, follow them on Instagram at @commonmarketse and Facebook at facebook.com/thecommonmarketse.

Ready to work with Fresh Harvest or purchase a box? Visit them at freshharvestga.com/, follow them on Instagram at @freshharvest and Facebook at .facebook.com/freshharvestga.

Good Food for Thought: How We Slice Our Pie—Choosing Markets and Managing Revenue Streams

By Lauren Cox 

Lauren Cox is the Organic Procurement Coordinator at Georgia Organics

Aluma Farm’s very organized harvest board. Photo credit: Bailey Garrot.

Small farms operate much like other small entrepreneurial businesses. In addition to producing food, a farmer must also be a self-promoter, a marketer, their own research and development team, and very often juggle the wants and needs of a variety of customers. In the 6th installation of the Winter Webinar series, Farm to Restaurant’s Organic Procurement Coordinator leads a three-part webinar covering these activities: deciding on your basket of goods and services and creating a value statement, managing your weekly farm flow, and understanding how you divide up your farm based on your revenue streams.  

Whether you sell at the farmers market, to restaurants, wholesalers, or through a CSA program, you should aim to know your customer base and plan for moving product. Photo by Lauren Cox.

There are multiple ways for farmers to get food to their final customers. This ‘farmer to eater’ supply chain can include processors, wholesalers, restaurants, grocery stores, and retailers or simply go directly into the hands of an eater. Farmers can sell to each of these groups and should understand that each one of them has different wants and needs, including where they hold value and what they are looking for when buying from a farmer. 

This ‘basket of goods and services’ can also change over time depending on the farmer as well as the customer. While planning for the year ahead, ask yourself: What am I selling and why is it important to my customer? Remember, what is important to you isn’t necessarily going to be important to everyone else. Maybe your customer values being able to talk to you each week and ask questions about what they’re buying while you prioritize paying your employees fair wages and growing organically. One does not necessarily exclude the other but again, your customer’s values and where they’re prioritized might not be the same as your own. 

Thinking about a value statement or value proposition is also important. This can change with your customers and correlates to your basket of goods and services. If you can’t make money from your basket of ‘goods and services’ then don’t do it and always make sure you have a feedback loop to understand if your customer’s values are changing. Easy ways to do this include talking to your customers directly as well as conducting surveys to market-goers and CSA members. Also watching what sells quickly and what doesn’t is a non-verbal way to assess your markets. No matter what, having a feedback loop gives a farmer the advantage to help plan for growing any of their revenue streams. 

Planning for growth is important. Photo by Lauren Cox.

As you think about the year ahead and decide which customers and parts of your business will shift or grow, consider your current weekly farm schedule. Taking on more revenue streams could mean you take more time off the farm for market days. It could mean more time spent harvesting and delivering to wholesalers or restaurants. While planning, try this exercise: Make a column for each day of the week and then fill it with the general tasks you do consistently, for example, Monday’s are bookkeeping days, and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are workdays while Friday is a harvest day for Saturday market. Once this is done ask yourself, “Does my weekly flow feel well-paced? Is it packed in one part of the week and less busy in another? What if there were an emergency? Do I have enough time, in that case, to react? And finally, “Could I take on another sales channel?” Depending on your customer’s needs and values, you might be able to shift your schedule to take on new opportunities or give you that much-needed time on the farm you’ve been looking for.  

 Listing out your top sellers across your different markets can highlight your resiliency in withstands shifts in market demand. Photo by Lauren Cox.

How do we bring what we know about our customer base, our weekly bandwidth, and how we want to grow our business together to refine our systems and plan for the year ahead? First and foremost record-keeping is our biggest asset! Thinking about your ‘top sellers’ for each customer base and looking at your books to see if you’re making money on them can give you valuable insight (no pun intended) into whether or not you’re on the right track. Ideally, you should plan for growth and have multiple customers that are interested in the same thing in case one of them falls through. In addition to QuickBooks and surveys, keep a notebook with your weekly sales information. Walk around the first day of your workweek and write down what you need to sell, how much you have, and to whom you plan to sell it to (CSA, restaurants, markets, or otherwise).

This exercise will help you get better at understanding quantities of what you have to offer and how much space you are allocating on your farm for each sales outlet. As you think about the space on your farm and how it relates to your customer base ask yourself these questions: What isn’t selling to multiple customers? Are there other things I could use that farm space for? Are there other things I could sell to the same customers that also sell at other markets? Asking yourself these questions explicitly with give you a leg up in planning for growth and managing your revenue streams. 

This Good Food for Thought event was a workshop exclusive to Georgia Organics Farmer Members. Interested in becoming a farmer member for just $12 per year? Visit membership.georgiaorganics.org/farmer-membership. Join us for more Good Food for Thought by visiting gfft.georgiaorganics.org/virtual-events.

Good Food for Thought: Working Together—Cooperative Agriculture & Harnessing the Power of the Collective

By Kayla Williams

Kayla Williams is a Farmer Services Coordinator at Georgia Organics.

On February 17, the Good Food for Thought and Farmer Services team brought together many key players in the cooperative food world of Georgia. Eric Simpson of the West Georgia Farmers’ Cooperative, Terence Courtney of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Matthew Epperson of the Georgia Cooperative Development Center and Ahzjah Simons of the Sevananda Natural Foods Market presented on their respective works and then held a fruitful conversation about all things cooperatives from federal policies that support (and don’t support) cooperatives, how individuals can support cooperative businesses and the ways in which community is centered in the cooperative models’ by laws. Luckily, this webinar was recorded and available for you to watch!

You can connect with participants in this virtual event below…

• facebook.com/westgeorgiafarmerscooperative 

• facebook.com/federationsoutherncooperatives 

• facebook.com/gacoop 

• facebook.com/Sevananda.ATL 

Join us for future Good Food for Thought sessions! Upcoming dates and registration links at gfft.georgiaorganics.org/virtual-events.

Good Food for Thought: Culture and Connections—Farmer Organizing the SAAFON Way

By Kayla Williams

Kayla Williams is a Farmer Services Coordinator at Georgia Organics.

In this series, we’re revisiting our most recent Good Food for Thought conversations. To register for Georgia Organics’ upcoming Good Food for Thought events, visit gfft.georgiaorganics.org/virtual-events.

On February 10, the Southeastern African American Organic Farmers’ Network (SAAFON) partnered with Georgia Organics for a Good Food for Thought Webinar. Dr. Jahi Chappell, the new Executive Director of SAAFON, along with Tammy Harris, the Agroecology & Education Resource Coordinator. SAAFON focuses on supporting black farmers in the southeast, with member affiliates from Maryland to the US Virgin Islands, through direct services, community building and resource sharing.

Dr. Chappell shared his background in the world of sustainable agriculture that led him to SAAFON, the organizations’ values and its history. Tammy shared the ways in which those values are implemented into SAAFON’s programmatic work and more about specific initiatives they are currently working on.

I’m not going to spend time summarizing the content of the webinar, because it would be doing Dr. Chappell and Tammy Harris a disservice to the knowledge they shared about SAAFON. Instead, you’re encouraged to watch the recorded webinar, click below!

---

Want to learn more about SAAFON’s programming or become a member? Visit saafon.org, follow on Instagram @saafon_grows, and on Facebook at facebook.com/SAAFONgrows Want to support SAAFON’s work? Donate at saafon.org/donate.

Join us for upcoming Good Food for Thought sessions in our Winter Webinar series for farmers! Upcoming dates and registration links at gfft.georgiaorganics.org/virtual-events.

Good Food for Thought: Continuing Towards Deep Sustainability

By Porter Mitchell

Porter Mitchell is a Farmer Services Coordinator at Georgia Organics.

In this series, we’re revisiting our most recent Good Food for Thought conversation Continuing Towards Deep Sustainability led by Mark Cain of Dripping Springs Garden. To register for Georgia Organics’ upcoming Good Food for Thought events, visit gfft.georgiaorganics.org/virtual-events.

Mark Cain (front) and partner Michael Crane (behind) tend tulips Courtesy Beth Hall Photography.

Mark Cain and his partner Mike Crane chose the property for the creek. It was 1984 and the young couple wanted to reconnect with the land and begin their own farm. Like so many young farmers that came before them and like so many that would come after, they left the city and settled in a rural nook of the country to live out their dream of having their own farm.

Dry Fork Creek weaves through the back of the seven-acre property, located in a small valley nestled in the spectacular beauty of the Arkansas Ozarks.

“Mike and I used to set up a hammock by the creek on warm afternoons,” remembers Mark. It was one of the most special parts of their new lives as farmers. They would walk down to the creek together and relax in the hammock, enjoying the beauty and peace of their surroundings.

Creek Courtesy of Dripping Springs Garden.

But slowly the afternoons in the hammock became less and less frequent, and then they stopped altogether. There is endless work on a farm and no spare moments for laying in hammocks. There is irrigation to lay, tractors to fix, storms to recover from. There are hundreds of feet of onions to plant, thousands of pounds of greens to wash, and farmers market days that begin at three in the morning. “There’s no end to the work,” notes Mark. “You have to work incredibly hard to even earn a modest living.”

Photo Courtesy Dripping Springs Garden.

A few years went by. The farm was successful and growing a loyal customer base. But the work didn’t get any easier. A friend came to visit the farm and Mark took her on a tour of the property. They came to the creek. Mark explained how he and Mike used to love spending afternoons together in the hammock and how special the creek was to them. “When’s the last time you did that?” the friend asked. Mark couldn’t remember. It had been years.

Mark couldn’t stop thinking about the interaction. The very reason he and Mike began farming—to connect with the natural world and spend more time together—was totally lost in the farm’s whirlwind of constant work and stress.

He couldn’t keep going like this anymore. He was putting off enjoying his life—his hobbies, his friends, his interests—his whole life was consumed by the farm.

And he was getting older too. There wasn’t endless time to finally get around to enjoying himself.

“You don’t want to die wishing you had experienced all of these aspects of life,” reflects Mark. “How can we take time to enjoy what's important to you and still build up the farm?”

He realized that for his farm to be sustainable—to last and keep going—he needed to take care of himself. There is no sustainable farm without a happy and healthy farmer.

Mark began to change his relationship to work. He began to focus on training others and delegating so less was on his shoulders. He instituted a new farm schedule with a mid-afternoon yoga break to care for his (and his staff’s) minds and bodies. He began to focus on ease of movement in his work to put less strain on his body. He devoted himself to following routines, creating rhythms at the farm, and staying organized to reduce stress. He began practicing mindfulness to ground himself in the present and enjoy a cool breeze or the beautiful color of a flower instead of worrying about the work. And he created time for the rest of his life.

Dripping Springs Garden staff, photo courtesy of Dripping Springs Garden.

“We need to set boundaries around what’s important to us so the farm doesn’t eat all of it,” explains Mark. Farmers are not just farmers—they are people with hobbies, interests, friends, and families. Mark stresses how important it is to a farmer’s health and wellbeing to take time for activities outside of farming. 

“Your attention is a precious resource and we need to use it wisely. Remember what makes you feel good—spending time with your kids, taking a walk, playing guitar—these things can be worked into your schedule,” encourages Mark. 

“Farming is a big hog that will gobble up all of your time, so you need to build a fence around the things that are important to you and protect it.”

And take time to remember why you began it all in the first place.

“This is it! This is farming. Farming is beautiful harvests and a mountain of work that’s never done. Come to terms with that to learn how to enjoy what’s happening now.”

Check out the full recording of Mark Cain’s talk here: Continuing Towards Deep Sustainability

---

Learn more about Mark Cain and Dripping Springs at drippingspringsgarden.com/our-story

And check out regular tips from Mark Cain on our farmer newsletter, Grower News! Click below.

Reflections on Employee Management and Retention with Hearts of Harvest Farm

By Kayla Williams 

Kayla Williams is a Farmer Services Coordinator at Georgia Organics.

Aluma Farm staff harvesting together. Photo credit Bailey Garrot. (photo taken pre-pandemic)

Running a farm business requires more than just an ability to grow food. If you want to create a business that requires employees, you suddenly jump into managing people, payroll, and human resources. Managing employees can be overwhelming, from training people to fit into your systems to fitting them into the social fabric of your farm. Paul and Lindsey Sorah along with Mark Golden, co-owners/operators of Hearts of Harvest farm in Arnoldsville, GA, have prioritized employee management over the past three years of running their mixed fruit & vegetable, cut flower and mushroom operation.

Paul and Lindsey Sorah of Hearts of Harvest Farm. Courtesy of Hearts of Harvest Farm.

On Wednesday February 3, Paul shared some of his best practices for employee management and retention on a Good Food For Thought webinar.  

The conversation focused on the importance of communicating with your employees – not only do folks have different learning styles and may need to be given directions through multiple different mediums. For example, if you are trying to train three employees on how to wash and pack for market, one may synthesize that information best through demonstration, another may want the process to be written down, and someone else may appreciate being told through conversation.

Giving context to why you are doing what you are doing also can help folks process and internalize material. Paul begins each morning with tasks for the day written on the whiteboard, so all of the employees are on the same page about what the plans are – giving folks their tasks in advance rather than one at a time both allows the employees to manage their time and feel a sense of investment in the day. He has regular check ins with his staff – making sure they know that they can feel comfortable and empowered to give him feedback and lets them know that he cares about their experience working for him.  

Mark Golden of Hearts of Harvest Farm harvesting broccoli. Photo credit Bailey Garrot. (photo taken pre-pandemic)

When looking for employees, Paul emphasizes that “good vibes” is just as if not more important than having a lot of farm experience. Farming is an incredibly intimate job – from long hard days to deep conversations in the field, you want your employees to mesh with each other and with you. Hearts of Harvest gives new hires a 30-day trial period to figure out if they are a good fit – most folks have ended up staying, but some new hires spend two weeks and realize it’s not working for them.

Paul also recommended some “low to no cost morale boosters” regularly expressing gratitude for staff, hosting regular team potlucks, buying staff lunch on a particularly hard day, giving birthday cards. His staff also gets paid time off and flexibility around the holidays.  

It’s all of these practices and more that encourages Heart of Harvests’ employees to come back for multiple seasons.  

---

To support Hearts of Harvest Farm visit their website here, and follow them on Instagram @heartsofharvestfarm and at www.facebook.com/heartsofharvestfarm. 

Our Good Food for Thought Winter Webinar for farmers series continues, learn more and register at gfft.georgiaorganics.org/virtual-events.

The Rise and Fall of ‘Farm to Table’ and through it all, our Farmer Champions

By Lauren Cox

Lauren Cox leads Georgia Organics’ Farm to Restaurant and Farmer Champion campaigns as Organic Procurement Coordinator at Georgia Organics. She is also a former farmer.

Blazer of Farmer Champion Gunshow. Photo credit: Bailey Garrot. (photo taken pre-pandemic)

Farm to Table restaurant dining has had its ups and downs as popularity goes. From becoming a hallmark of California cuisine in the 1970s to reaching its zenith and broader accessibility in the early 2000s, the farm to table narrative of freshly cut greens brought in from bucolic fields to clean kitchens and hip restaurants was all the rage. Chalkboards went up, farm names were thrown around, and eaters felt empowered in thinking they knew where their money went.

Then, sadly, came greenwashing. Fad started to come before fact and some restaurants who said they were farm to table -but really weren’t- got called out.* The resulting sour taste left in everyone’s mouth, from restaurant clients to chefs and restaurateurs themselves, has unfortunately endured, in some form or fashion, to today- the street cred of publicly labeling oneself ‘farm to table’ all but vanished.    

Nowadays, when you see locally-sourced food at restaurants, it’s often quietly tucked into the menu rather than spotlighted for all to see. A discerning eye may notice a pickled summer vegetable accompanying a main dish, a cured meat and local cheese board, and almost always the telltale ever-changing daily menu. The chefs and restaurants who sourced from these farms, foragers, and artisanal cheese makers back in the day have continued to do so despite the lack of faith and marketability ‘farm to table’ now holds The challenge now, however,  with being less vocal about this sourcing is that it’s even harder for local-food-loving customers to find out where to go.

For those who may not know, truth is, there are many flavors of ‘farm to table’. Some restaurants will choose to support farmers through seasonal, ‘one-off’ purchasing. Take, for example, the neighborhood pizzeria that only changes its menu, once a year, for tomatoes. Then there are highly visible, highly marketable, pre-pandemic farm to table dinners featuring a prix-fixe ‘journey’ through a local farm’s walk-in cooler, steep price point, and the always exciting chance to eat dinner seated next to an honest to goodness, dirt under the nails, Canadian tuxedo-wearing farmer. There are those fundraising events that ham up chef-farm partnerships and even those restaurants that find themselves having crossed over into the farmer world through rotating chef demos and food tents at a local weekly market.

Nathan Brett of DaySpring Farms and Chris Wilkins of Farmer Champion Root Baking Co. Photo credit: Bailey Garrot. (photo taken pre-pandemic)

All these  examples are valid ways for restaurants to support the local food movement , but if you were to ask a farmer where it counts, they’ll likely tell you that it’s those restaurants that buy from them week to week and month over month, that truly represent the farm to table ethos. 

Quite often, the weekly flow for a farm to restaurant sourcing relationship looks something like this: The farmer walks out to their field on Monday morning and checks what’s ready for harvest. They then send a list of what’s available to whoever leads weekly ordering at the restaurant; often this is done directly with the executive chef, their chef de cuisine, or sous chef. Within a 24-hour window, the farmer receives the restaurant’s order and harvesting begins. One day passes then the farmer pulls fresh produce, meat, grain, etc. from a post-harvest temporary home, loads everything into a van, and makes the drive to deliver. Sounds pretty straight forward right? Well, not exactly. 

West Georgia Farmers Cooperative farmer dropping weekly orders at Miller Union. Photo credit: Bailey Garrot. (photo taken pre-pandemic).

Many factors determine what a successful (and therefore long-lived) farm to restaurant relationship looks like. First off, does the price point work for the farmer AND the chef, and is the farmer growing something the chef wants? What about a chef that is unwilling to work with different products in place of an ingredient they originally planned for? Let’s be honest, folks, some things just don’t grow well in Georgia.

And what about supply? Some farmers may not individually have enough of one thing to supply a high-volume restaurant so is the effort in training and retraining the kitchen to switch dishes and the servers to remember the substitutes even worth it? Where is that farmer who sells unripe, green strawberries anyway?? And most importantly, will people show up to eat at these restaurants or order take out in the middle of a pandemic? 

Chipping away at the mythical meaning of ‘farm to restaurant’ is valuable so that eaters can support restaurants that support farmers if they so choose. Having the knowledge to make thoughtful dining choices is more important than ever, as we’ve seen restaurants both big and small, locally owned and corporate alike, forced to permanently close their doors during the pandemic.

The takeaway is that without a doubt, where you spend your money as a consumer counts. 

Aluma Farm owners Andy Friedberg and Andrea Ness with Chef Terry Koval of Farmer Champion The Deer and The Dove. Photo credit: Bailey Garrot. (photo taken pre-pandemic)

In 2019 Georgia Organics created the Farmer Champion campaign based on hearing from chefs and farmers what it looks like when restaurants source locally, day in and day out. Many of the aforementioned questions came up, but none of them deterred the restaurants that were committed to their Georgia farmers. Weekly purchasing of local products and these conversations helped inform the creation of a tiered, quantifiable scoring system based on the percentage of a restaurant’s total food costs going towards in-state and Certified Organic producers. Learn more about this system and our Farm to Restaurant program at farmtorestaurant.georgiaorganics.org/.

To date, 20 restaurants are part of this campaign, hailing from Atlanta, Athens, and Macon with their contact info listed on the Restaurants page of Georgia Organics’ Good Food Guide at gfg.georgiaorganics.org/restaurants.

In the realm of ‘farm to restaurant’, there is no doubt that relationships reign supreme so as you think about where to eat, consider supporting these connections and what they mean by eating with our Farmer Champions.

---

Find Farmer Champions near you on the Restaurants page of The Good Food Guide at gfg.georgiaorganics.org/restaurants

Learn more about the Farm to Restaurant program at farmtorestaurant.georgiaorganics.org/

*In 2016 the Tampa Bay Times released an investigative article titled Farm To Fable, that exposed instances of green-washing by popular Tampa Bay restaurants. Georgia Organics’ Farmer Champion campaign seeks to create transparency in sourcing and be a resource for eaters who are interested in supporting chefs and restaurants that buy from Georgia farmers while the Farm to Restaurant program works with Georgia farm to help them become restaurant ready. 

Good Food for Thought: Accessing NRCS Programs for Your Livestock Operation

By Kayla Williams 

Photo credit: Deep Grass Graziers  

Looking to create a rotational grazing plan or add fencing to your pastured cattle operation? Improve your water quality by creating stream barriers to prevent your pigs from getting into the water? The NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) is here to help! On Wednesday January 27, Good Food for Thought hosted a webinar featuring Bryan Hager of Crager Hager Farm, Ricky Dollison of Dollison Farms, and Jose Pagan from the NRCS to share resources and advice on accessing NRCS support for livestock operations. The NRCS is not a regulatory agency, and they work with private landowners on a voluntary basis.  

Ricky Dollison of Dollison Farms

Bryan Hager of Crager Hager Farm 

After verifying that you are registered with the FSA (Farm Service Agency), an NRCS agent from your region will help you first create a map of your property and then, a conservation plan based on your land and needs from land use on specific fields to soils maps. 

The NRCS has soil scientists, biologists, grazing land specialists, engineers and more, all to help you evaluate your land and create a conservation plan that works for your operation, so we encourage you to be expansive in the questions that you ask NRCS–you may be surprised with what they can help you with.  

Photo credit: Ricky Dollison of Dollison Farms 

From planting trees and shrubs along streams to watering facilities for your livestock to forage planting and creating a rotational grazing plan, there are many projects that the NRCS can assist you with. The majority of these NRCS conservation programs are funded by EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program). 

To incentivize and support these conservation projects, the NRCS will reimburse you based on the volume of activity like acreage of field seeded, linear feet of fencing installed or number of watering stations. They do have advanced reimbursement funding available for folks from underserved communities, so it doesn’t hurt to ask if that’s applicable to you!

Ask your NRCS representative about “Land Conservation Initiatives” – they have special pools of funding for specific projects they are working on, like establishing long leaf pines and protecting gopher tortoise populations in South Georgia.   

Infographic from NRCS 

Ready to contact your local NRCS office? Here are some tips to keep in mind! 

Not all projects will be funded, and the most funding is available at the beginning of the federal government’s fiscal year in early October, so keep that in mind when you are planning when to begin the process with NRCS. If you’re hoping to build a barn, purchase equipment or build perimeter fencing with funds from the NRCS, think again. Their role is to support existing farm businesses, not to put your business into initial operation. 

When you sign a contract, they set aside funds to reimburse you for, so don’t sign up for more projects than you can realistically implement! Be sure to keep records of everything relating to the project. You are expected to complete the contract in two years and when you do complete your contract, contact NRCS to receive your payment.

---

Join us for upcoming Good Food for Thought sessions in our Winter Webinar series for farmers! Upcoming dates and registration links at gfft.georgiaorganics.org/virtual-events.

---

Kayla Williams is a Farmer Services 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. 

Learning Beyond the Classroom: Fulton County School Nutrition Celebrates Black History Month

Kimberly Della Donna in conversation with Denielle Saitta

Kimberly Della Donna is the Farm to School Director at Georgia Organics. Denielle Saitta is the Project Manager of Marketing & Communications for Fulton County School Nutrition Program.

---

Denielle Saitta, the Fulton County School Nutrition Program Project Manager of Marketing and Communications, is affectionately known by her team as “the School Nutrition Cheerleader.” She is part of an entire team that loves to celebrate. In addition to providing nutritious breakfast and lunch daily to over 96,000 students, Café Managers implement seven marketing promotions each school year that incorporate nutrition education, special holidays, and school-sponsored events. 

Each month Fulton cafes recognize a different cultural cuisine to explore nutrition, culture, and culinary traditions while marketing the offerings of their menus. This initiative celebrates the many cultural backgrounds that make up Fulton County Schools’ students, teachers, and staff. This month they are celebrating Black History Month, honoring black culture and remembering those who have made great strides throughout history. 

Denielle sees the month-long celebration as an educational opportunity to fill in the gaps not found in textbooks or classrooms. “By exploring different heritages and cuisines, we honor and celebrate different cultures. From something as simple as an ice cream scoop or as commonplace as refrigerated trucking, African Americans have always been vital creators and inventors and have helped shape food industries.” 

A Fulton County School Nutrition education display, courtesy of Denielle Saitta. All images are from pre-pandemic celebrations.

Fulton County School Nutrition has celebrated Black History Month since Denielle started in 2016. “Every year, we provide Café Managers promotional resources and nutrition education material. Some café Managers have conducted nutrition education lessons on influential African Americans in food and George Washington Carver. We offer a limited-time Southern Fare menu to students and the school community. The menu may include southern breaded chicken, locally grown collard greens, black-eyed peas, peach or apple crisp, and fresh fruit. The celebration provides students the opportunity to examine the connection between food and nutrition with African American culture and history.”  

Denielle notes that the Black History Month celebration is just one of many Fulton County Schools promotions that bring learning beyond the classroom and into the cafeteria. “Our cafes have always been an extension of the classroom! The Fulton School Nutrition Program helps set goals for nutrition education, physical activity, and other school-sponsored activities. All 95 Café Managers plan and implement two classroom-based nutrition education related promotions each school year. Café Managers visit student classrooms for the lesson or will have the students come to their ‘classrooms’ – the kitchen! Inviting students into the kitchen gives Café Managers a chance to show students all tools and equipment they use when preparing their school food.” 

Although 2021 celebrations and promotions are happening virtually and school meals are picked up curbside and enjoyed while social distancing, the Fulton County School Nutrition Program remains dedicated to serving all students nutritious, safe, and customer acceptable meals in support of academic achievement.  “For many families, schools are the one place their children can get a nutritious meal,” said Alyssia Wright, Executive Director of the Fulton County School Nutrition Program. “While the location and meal service method might be different, our students and families can count on us for nutritious and safe school meals.” This month, students can enjoy the cultural exploration and culinary celebration of Black History Month along with a delicious meal!

---

Danielle Saitta is the Project Manager of Marketing & Communications for Fulton County Schools Nutrition Program. To learn more about the Fulton County School Nutrition Program, please visit, https://nutrition.fultonschools.org/ and follow us on Instagram @FCSNutrition, Twitter @FCSNutrition, and at https://www.facebook.com/FCSNutrition

Kimberly Della Donna is the Farm to School Director 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.

Three Locally-Inspired Winter Recipes from Recent Guests of The Atlanta Foodcast

By Mary Elizabeth Kidd

We’re sharing some warming recipes from our recent Foodcast and blog guests to keep you cozy this winter and to make great use of the season’s produce.

The following recipes were provided by guests of our recent episode of the Atlanta Foodcast, which featured leaders from three independent Georgia co-ops and groceries: Ahzjah Simons of Atlanta’s Sevananda Natural Foods Co-Op, Kara Brown and Theo Horne of Athens’ Daily Groceries Co-op, and Kristin Russell of Savannah’s Brighter Day Natural Foods and the Sentient Bean.

You can read more about these stores and listen to the episode at ATLfoodcast.com.

---

RECIPES FROM THREE GEORGIA NATURAL GROCERS

Graphic courtesy of Daily Groceries Co-Op

Local independent and cooperative grocers, particularly health-driven food stores, fill a special role in nurturing a holistic, connected, nourished community, so we were excited to talk to them about their role in their respective communities of Atlanta, Athens, and Savannah.

We explored how they’ve each braved the ever-changing pandemic economy and engaged with their neighbors during the ongoing pursuit for racial justice. For this episode, we also spoke to Bilal Sarwari, Membership & Communications Manager at National Young Farmers Coalition. Bilal will be joining the Atlanta Foodcast as a guest host soon, stay tuned!

You can listen and subscribe to the Atlanta Foodcast wherever you access podcasts, links and show notes are available at ATLfoodcast.com.

Enjoy the following recipes…bon appetit and remember to #StayLocal with Georgia Organics!

DAILY’S VEGETABLE SOUP

Courtesy of Theo Horne, outreach & marketing manager at Daily Groceries Co-op in Athens (dailygroceries.org/), via the Daily’s Fresh Manager, who adds: “This is a great recipe for tossing in all those veggies sitting in your fridge that are getting a little past their prime.”

Vegan, Gluten Free

INGREDIENTS

Veggies to add some heart:

• Carrots

• Onion

• Celery

• Green bell pepper

• Potatoes

• Zucchini

• Curly kale

• Cherry tomatoes

• Approx. 1.5 Tablespoons of tomato paste

• 2-3 Veggie bouillon cubes

• We’ve also been known to also toss in cauliflower, radishes, shallots, etc.

Herbs & spices to keep you warm:

Start with a teaspoon of each, add more to taste:

• Turmeric

• Ginger

• Curry Powder

• Basil

• Oregano

• Garlic granules

• + 1 tablespoon of sugar

 DIRECTIONS: Click here to view full cooking directions on Daily’s blog!

---

Savannah’s Brighter Day Natural Foods. By Mary Elizabeth Kidd.

HARVEST VEGGIE BOWL

Courtesy of Kristin Russell, owner of Brighter Day Natural Foods (brighterdayfoods.com) and founder & owner of the Sentient Bean (Savannah)

Makes 4-5 servings. Vegan, Gluten Free

INGREDIENTS

1 small butternut squash

1 lb. Turnips

½ lb. Brussels sprouts

1 medium sweet onion

2 cups black rice

4½ cup water or broth

2 Tbsp. fresh chopped sage (dry works in a pinch, but reduce to 4 tsps.)

6 cloves garlic - peeled

Approx. 3 cups almond milk

1 cup cashews

Salt to taste 

Pepper to taste 

Olive Oil 

Fresh chopped parsley - optional

DIRECTIONS

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.

Securing the base of the squash on a cutting board, cut top-to-bottom down the middle. Remove seeds. Lay on the pan with the inside facing up.  Pour olive oil and sage into the bowl of the squash and rub olive oil on the rest of the squash face.  

Peel turnips (optional), then chop turnips and brussel sprouts into bite sized pieces. Toss in olive oil and spread out evenly on a second baking pan. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Roast whole garlic cloves on the same pan.

Roast all veggies for 45 minutes. Check the turnips and brussels and shake the pan about every 15 minutes to prevent uneven browning. If the squash is still too firm, roast for 10-15 more minutes.

After the veggies are in the oven, start black rice in a rice maker or on the stove top. Combine water, black rice, and salt to taste. If using the stove top - over medium-high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt, reduce heat, cover, and cook for about 30-35 minutes.

Spread out cashews on another pan, seasoning optional, and roast for 10 minutes. 

After veggies are done, scoop the squash meat out of the skin into a bowl. Add cashews, garlic and small amounts of almond milk incrementally until your texture is smooth and thick but able to pour.  (Almond milk varies depending on the size of the squash)

Layer the rice and roasted veggies in a bowl and top with the butternut puree. 

Great to garnish with some of the toasted cashews and fresh parsley.

---

Ahzjah Simons of Sevananda Natural Foods.

Golden Buddah Bowl

Courtesy of General Manager and Co-Op Director Ahzjah Simons of Sevananda Natural Foods (sevananda.coop/) via Kitchen Manager Michelle Taber, who adds: “This is a great warm and filling soup recipe…not to mention one of our favorites here at Sevananda.”
Serving size 6. Vegan

INGREDIENTS
One 15 oz. earth balance spread, tub
1/3 cups celery, diced
Two 4.5 oz. jars ginger, chopped or minced
3/4 cups carrots, coined
3/4 cups onions, diced
1/3 quarts potatoes, frozen or Yukon gold, diced
Four 108 oz. cans garbanzo beans, with liquid
1/8 cup curry powder
2/3 Tbsp. cumin powder
1/4 Tbsp. black pepper
2/3 cups unchicken broth powder
1/3 quarts water
1-108 can coconut milk
1/4 Tbsp. salt

DIRECTIONS
1. Melt Earth Balance in pot
2. Sauté onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes with spices
3. Dissolve unchicken broth in water and add to pot
4. Add chickpeas, salt, and coconut milk
5. Simmer 30 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

---

Good Food for Thought: Planting an Indoor Garden with Children

By Kimberly Kooger

We enjoyed some much-needed, light fun in our virtual Good Food for Thought farm to school workshop last Wednesday, which was all about indoor gardening activities you can do with children, especially during the winter. We started with a mindful moment, in which we considered what we would like to cultivate in our students over the next few months. Answers to this prompt were varied, thoughtful, and inspiring, including the desire to cultivate “trust”, “a sense of empowerment”, “curiosity”, “impermanence”, “good caretakers”, “consistency and seeing things through”, and many others.

Teacher and farm to school extraordinaire, Jenna Mobley led us through a brief overview of a seed’s basic needs with a catchy song to go along, as well as what is possible to direct-seed outdoors when it’s cold. Then she took us on a deeper dive into practical and innovative ways you can start seeds indoors, as well as other gardening explorations you can do with kids inside, connecting all of these ideas to Georgia education standards and real, practical lessons.

We ended the workshop with comments about what indoor gardening activities folks are excited to try over the next couple of months with their students, and we gave away googly eyes and seed starting mix to one of the “most spirited” participants. Some takeaways in case you missed it:  

• You can start seeds in almost anything, as long as it has the ability to drain excess water, which means you don’t have to go out and buy a bunch of new stuff! We even learned how to make a simple seed starting pot with an empty toilet paper roll. 

• Just with the simple activity of starting seeds inside, you can teach students about nurturing living things and responsibility, math, and science, and even instill in them a sense of hope for the future.  

• When it’s cold outside, in addition to starting seedlings, there are many fun and creative garden prep tasks you can do inside in anticipation of spring planting, as well as garden-themed center activities.

  Check out some of these great ideas in the below webinar recording.

  You can sign up for upcoming Good Food for Thought sessions at gfft.georgiaorganics.org/virtual-events.

---

Kimberly Koogler is the Farm to School 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.

The Poor People’s Campaign Demanded Just Treatment of Small Farmers

By Porter Mitchell

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent the last months of his life working with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to organize the Poor People’s Campaign, also known as the Poor People’s March on Washington.  

Poor People's Campaign

The campaign sought to unite poor Americans of all backgrounds to demand economic and human rights. The campaign demanded an end to economic exploitation, a universal basic income, opportunities for employment, and guaranteed food and housing. In the midst of organizing the campaign and supporting the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, Dr. King was assassinated on April 3, 1968.  

Ralph David Abernathy Sr. and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In the wake of King’s assassination, Ralph David Abernathy took on leadership of the campaign. The Poor People’s Campaign made organized sets of demands of multiple government agencies, including the USDA at the end of April 1968.  

The campaign’s demands of the USDA centered on eliminating hunger, ending the USDA’s favoritism to large scale growers, supporting farm workers, supporting the formation of farmer cooperatives, and ending the USDA’s pervasive and flagrant practices of racial discrimination, particularly towards Black farmers.  

The campaign’s demands of the USDA were largely ignored, especially the call to end the USDA’s disgraceful practices of racial discrimination. This would again come to a head during the Pickman vs. Glickman lawsuits of the 1990s and early 2000s.  

In remembrance of King’s legacy and the countless activists who have worked for food justice and the fair treatment of small farmers, we encourage you to read the campaign’s demands of the USDA and hold time and space for reflection: bit.ly/sclcppcdemands  

---

Porter Mitchell is a Farmer Services 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.