Deep South Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference, Day 1

After talking with Diane Claughton, coordinator of the Slow Food Gulf Coast chapter and owner of the Ocean Springs Fresh Market, I decided to attend the Deep South Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference on her suggestion. If nothing else, I figured it would educate me on local issues and interests, and give me a chance to meet people involved in our region’s agriculture. I was not disappointed.
The conference was held at Mobile’s Riverview Plaza hotel. Today I attended the “Farmers Markets and Community Food Projects” track. Following are some highlights and snippets.
The fact emphasized repeatedly throughout the day is that there is a growing interest in and demand for locally farmed produce, and there are not enough farmers to supply that demand. While there are nationwide trends, such as the decline in small farm ownership, that contribute to the problem, in our area–particularly Mississippi–hurricanes Katrina and Rita put many farmers out of business permanently. Farmers themselves complained of the disappearance of ag courses in the school systems, and the related problem of youth regarding farming as an unattractive or untenable profession. As one woman put it, ‘if my child came to me and said he wanted to be a farmer, I could not honestly encourage him [because of the economic difficulties farmers face].’ Another issue, with Gulf Coast states capitalizing on the tourist and retirement community potential of coastal counties, is the rapid conversion of rural land for the development of gated communities, subdivisions, and big box retail centers.
Another repeated request was for participants to contact their senators in support of a Farm Bill with provisions in support of small farmers, farmers’ markets, ATTRA, and USDA grants for community food projects. The latest speculation is that the bill will go before the Senate in January.
A lot of the farmers market presenters supplied advice on how to market the products. Everyone agrees that the business and marketing aspects of farming are just as important as the growing. Some presenters also emphasized ethnic products as an emerging market.
For me, the highlight of the day was the afternoon session on community food projects. Speakers touched on programs from “New York City”:http://www.justfood.org/jf/index.html to “New Orleans”:http://www.noffn.org/. There is a phenomenal one in just up the road in Birmingham AL, “Jones Valley Urban Farm”:http://www.jvuf.org/, which has grown to 3.5 acres in downtown Birmingham, uses sustainable agricultural practices, has several successful educational programs, and last year did approximately $45,000 in sales of organic vegetables and flowers. (That may sound like a lot of money, but executive director Edwin Marty was at pains to clarify that their expenses far outstrip that.)
There is really so much good work going on, and I would love to get involved in something similar here in Mobile. I talked to Marty briefly, and he said that as far as he knows there is nothing similar in Mobile, but that for many reasons this city is a perfect location for a community food project.
Part of my goal for this site is to create a place where people involved with local food can publicize their own efforts and communicate with others who have similar interests. I plan to contact a variety of sources to see what kinds of community food projects are already underway here, and what can be done to expand or connect them.