Good evening local food lovers

Well, I’ve been an awful environmentalist this month. I wrote this from an airplane, and it’s my second plane trip this month. Alice Varon from Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) had seen some of my video work from our 2014 Farm Tour, and I am working on promoting a CNG farmer in Virginia this weekend. The farm was close enough to an old friend to make the trip worth it. A few years ago I bought a camera with the intention of promoting sustainable farmers through video, but it fell to the wayside in the last year. It’s also difficult to provide when most farmers themselves don’t have the time or funds to put towards marketing. Alice is in the middle of a two year grant and campaign that helps fund some great marketing tools for selected farms. CNG has a system that allows farms throughout the country to become certified, and many of the farmers in our market are proud to be a CNG farmer! Shade Creek, Leah Lake, Melon Head, Veggie Patch, Baker Springs, Taylor Creek, and Mountain Earth Farms to name a few, as you can see on the growers page. For those not familiar with CNG, it is a grass roots alternative to being certified Organic. The process is similar in that someone inspects your farm once a year, but with CNG, that someone is an accountable farmer in your area! It is a great opportunity for small farmers to show their commitment to a set of growing practices, and is less expensive. Becoming certified Organic through the U.S. Department of Agriculture can be very expensive, and CNG provides an alternative while still allowing farmers to stand out. Even though CNG is based out of New York, it’s interesting to see the participation in the Southeast growing rapidly. Which is great! Speaking of growth, Chuck Mashburn and I went out to visit two more growers this last week, and there are a few more growers in the queue. It is always interesting to see them appear out of the woodwork, hear how they started and their commitment to better practices. We look forward to introducing them to you.

Earlier this week I was dwelling on the choice of keeping these posts positive. I feel it is very important as it becomes more rare to hear or see positive stories surrounding our food system and farming conditions/labor/rights. The great news is that you are the change! This is the best thing we can be doing as a community. It is important to keep up with what’s happening in the political and economic realm but even if you have no interest, know that every dollar you spend is is helping build a stronger local food system. And with that I leave you with a favorite quote that has always challenged me to be the change:

All men plume themselves on the improvement of society, and no man improves. -Emerson

I’m going to go place my order, and I hope you join us this week!
Andrew in Hall, Teri in Habersham, and Chuck in Rabun