This series written for and published by Edible Magazine in SC explores how South Carolina’s food system is evolving to overcome the growing challenges in order to meet the state’s needs. Check out the first article in the series if you missed it.

The winter season is rich with traditions and in the South, food is the star of the show. Sweet potato and pecan pie, cornbread and oyster dressing, greens and hoppin’ john are all invited to dinner. Recipes are as cherished as they are debated but everyone agrees that it is the freshest ingredients that make the best dishes. Long before locavores and farm-to-table restaurants, dinner tables in the South have been a celebration of sustenance and seasonality. Before refrigerated transportation and grocery stores, communities ate what was grown on either their land or their neighbors. It is easy to see how so many of South Carolina’s traditional dishes came to be simply by looking at a farmer or fishermen’s harvest schedule and the incredibly diverse and abundant range of local foods available in our state. At the peak of every season when gardens and farms grew more than could be eaten or sold, kitchens became de facto processing facilities, canning or “putting up” until the shelves were full.

While many families have continued to produce, harvest, process, and catch these same beloved foods for generations, the number of these operations still in business is staggeringly low. Currently only 0.7% of the population in South Carolina is farming on 4.8 million acres with only 6% of those farmers (0.000042% of the population or 25,000 farmers) are selling directly to consumers. In 1920, 11% of the population was farming on 12.4 million acres, so how did a state with such strong cultural ties to food and farming lose so many farms?

Over the last several decades, the shift in American values, culture, policies, technology, and infrastructure have had a direct impact on the country’s systems, including those producing and distributing food. Designed by people in power, these systems were shaped around the priorities of society and for decades these included efficiency, convenience, and cost. While these systems were effective at centering these priorities it also gave rise to a culture of fast, easy, and cheap consumerism. The benefits have come at the expense of human lives, health and safety, equity, environmental degradation, the erosion of local economies, rural blight, etc. 

Within the food and farming sector, these systems pushed farmers to focus on cash crops over community, placed technology and output over ecology, and drove the “get big or get out” approach that led to small farms being bought out and consolidated into larger monoculture farms focused on export. From the 1930’s Dust Bowl and the 1980’s farming crisis to the 2000’s dairy industry collapse and the pandemic’s meat packing plant deaths, generation after generation of farming communities, food system workers, and farmland have suffered because of these priorities. Farming currently has the highest suicide rate of any other industry in the United States and food system workers are the most food insecure population in the country. These are symptoms of a broken system; although some would argue that it is working exactly as it is designed despite the repercussions. Across sectors, there is a collective awakening to the negative consequences of our globalized systems. 

As these realities become widely known, consumers are increasingly demanding transparency and accountability for where, how, and who produces their goods and products. For the food system, this is being achieved by rebuilding the connection between farmers and consumers. In a way, the industry is working to find its way back to the country’s historical roots of neighbors feeding neighbors. Known as a “values-based supply chain”, “local food supply chain”, “foodshed” or “community food web”, these systems focus on building a network of individuals, organizations, municipalities, and businesses committed to create strong markets that put farmers first. The benefits of “buying local” extend beyond the benefit of consumers knowing their farmer and also create opportunities to support farmers whose production practices align with their conservation values, increase system resiliency, support the local economy, reduce the carbon footprint or food miles of their meals, increase the nutrient density of their food, access heirloom and specialty products, build community, and reduce farmland loss. 

But how far can a product travel before these benefits begin to diminish and it is no longer considered “local”? The definition of what constitutes local is still debated but is generally understood to mean products that are grown and processed close to where they are sold, purchased and consumed. According to the US Department of Agriculture local includes foods grown, caught, and/or processed within 400 miles or within the state in which it was produced. Based on the Real Food Challenge, local is designated by a 250-mile radius and extended to 500 miles for meat. For the branding of local food to be effective at differentiating products (and demanding a premium price), it is important for consumers to clearly understand what they are buying into. Putting this into practice has proven to be more challenging than drawing radius circles on a map.

Food and farming systems are as diverse and dynamic as the regions they serve; making a rigid one-size-fits all approach impractical. Variability is created by geography, planting zones, length of growing season, transportation, markets, arable soil, access to water, and regulatory agencies. What works in California might be impossible in Minnesota. While some areas can reasonably define that local products are sourced within 75 miles, others may need 500 miles to secure enough product to meet customer demand. In either case, those selling local products either have the trust of consumers or are able to document their supply chain. For direct to consumer sales such as farmers markets and community supported agriculture shares, the farmers typically set the distance based on time and transportation limits and consumers are able to buy directly from the farmer. But at some point, the time and cost to transport the product exceeds the potential benefit of the sale, naturally creating a smaller radius. 

Eventually the demand outgrew the limitations of individual farmers and 1:1 transactions. As restaurants, grocery stores and institutions joined the movement, the need arose for a third party able to source higher volumes of local food with more consistency. Enter the concept of local food hubs. Based on combinations of cooperative principles, mission driven intentions, and wholesale distribution practices, food hubs have emerged to help the local food movement scale up. These organizations and businesses have been a tool for social change rooted in a desire to support small to mid-sized farmers, ranchers, and fishermen in accessing larger markets. 

By working with farmers to standardize their products and collectively crop plan around market demands, hubs can combine items or “aggregate” from a variety of local farms in order to meet the volume, quality, and selection expectations of larger buyers. They can also guarantee “source identification” so that the final customer knows what farm their products are from. On the production side, farmers can shift back to a focus on growing, harvesting, and grading products and hand over the marketing, logistics, and payment services to the hub. 

In South Carolina, the movement started with Gullah Farmers Cooperative and GrowFood Carolina and has since grown to nine food hubs, trading partnerships with three traditional wholesales, and the creation of the SC Food Hub Network. As a small state, these organizations and businesses must invest significant time on the logistics of matching buyers with sellers, trading between hubs to move this product across the state efficiently, and coordinating crop plans to meet demand. Food hubs have also embraced the need to, when appropriate, broaden “local” to include “regional” foods depending on the product and season. In South Carolina, three of the hubs serving the state are either on or adjacent to the border, buying and selling product from and to North Carolina and Georgia in addition to South Carolina. It has also led to the growth in partnerships that extend even further beyond our borders through the Eastern Food Hub Collaborative which spans from South Carolina to Maine. 

As the local foods movement continues to grapple with defining its boundaries and refining the logistics, there is still a long journey ahead for the system to build a system that is equitable and accessible to the community. During the inaugural statewide Growing Local SC Food Summit held in October of this year, food system leaders across sectors gathered to talk about and prioritize the challenges and opportunities for the state. The top four issues were the cost of food, policy reform, land access, and systemic racism. These challenges mirror those experienced across the country and while many need to be addressed at a federal level, the state and its leaders will play a crucial role in how these issues are addressed locally.

In the coming months and years, billions of dollars will be poured specifically into local food systems at the national level and millions of these dollars are already earmarked for South Carolina. For example, the SC Department of Agriculture requested $20,000,000 to support local food supply chain infrastructure from the state ARPA funds in September 2021 and continues to wait for legislative approval at the state house. This funding will be crucial in supporting the state as it prepares to utilize its recently awarded $6.1 million in funds through the USDA Local Foods Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement to purchase locally sourced food from socially disadvantaged farmers for distribution into underserved communities. Not only are these funds urgently needed but our state’s ability to equitably, efficiently and effectively utilize the funding received has a direct impact on how much future federal funding makes it to South Carolina. The South Carolina Food Policy Council and its members will be leading the conversation on issues like these and creating opportunities for individuals and organizations to engage and advocate through their committees, initiatives, and resources. Membership to the SCFPC is free and provides an opportunity to participate in conversations around the following topics: food access and insecurity, planning and transportation, racial equity within the food system, food is medicine, urban and rural local food, and branding and communication. I hope to see many of you at the next meeting as we continue to grow South Carolina’s local food system from farm and garden to table.  

This four part series written for Edible Columbia and Charleston explores how South Carolina’s food system is evolving to overcome the growing challenges in order to meet the state’s needs. Readers will gain a behind the scenes perspective of the system getting food from the fields and onto forks by walking through the process, people, places, and policies of South Carolina’s local food system.

One of the most pleasant surprises of the pandemic has to be the 20 million Americans who took up gardening, a staggering number not seen in the United States since the Victory Garden movement of the 1940s. In the midst of the COVID-19 chaos, people found refuge in their backyard sanctuaries and experienced the joy and empowerment that comes with growing your own food. The pandemic also pushed consumers to seek sources of food closer to home through local farms and markets when the shelves at the grocery store turned up empty.

Prior to the pandemic, the average middle-class or wealthy American living in a metropolitan area has likely not been given a reason to question the historically cheap, convenient, abundant, and diverse selection of foods. When functioning as designed, the globalized food system has the power to portray a world with no growing seasons, blemish-free food, and an abundance of choice for those with means. In contrast, millions of Americans, especially in rural communities, have long been living with a front row seat to the broken aspects of the food system in which food is inaccessible, unaffordable, or unhealthy.

In 2018, South Carolina ranked 42nd in the nation for poverty, with both rural and urban residents facing food deserts (lack of access to a grocery store) and food swamps (excessive access to fast food/convenience stores). With the onset of the pandemic, the challenges faced by rural and under-resourced communities became problems for everyone. There is nothing like showing up to the grocery store and finding empty shelves to spark an interest in how our food supply chains work (or don’t in this case). Layer by layer, elements of the food system were peeled back and weaknesses revealed. The public began to understand that the food system can be complex, inequitable, unsafe, fragile and unsustainable. Headlines filled with supply chain disruptions, meat packing plants shutdowns, worker deaths, food safety issues, challenges with food access, and endless lines at food banks painted a picture of a broken system. For those living with limited resources, the existing disparities only grew while healthy food choices continued to be unavailable and food unaffordable. According to a poverty study from the Sisters of Charity, nearly half of the state’s residents lived in areas of low food access in 2015, a time when the state had approximately 812 grocery stores. By early 2020, 105 of these stores had closed (12.9%), further reducing access.

As we approach the end of 2022, communities continue to feel the impacts of the pandemic but as a whole, many aspects of the food system have gone back to business as usual with one major exception: price. The 10.4% increase over the last year continues to fuel the conversation around why the US is experiencing the largest 12-month increase in food costs since February 1981. For those in food production, these costs are in many ways tied to an increase in price of inputs, transportation, and labor. Unfortunately, even at the current prices, the system is not capturing the true cost of production. This means that despite the higher sales prices, farmers are still challenged with reaching profitability, an issue the industry has been grappling with for decades. The majority of farm operators nationally have off-farm jobs or rely on the income of a spouse, which accounts for an average of 82 percent of total income for all family farms in 2019. Low profitability means low wages for everyone down the line and resulting in those working in the food supply chain having the highest enrollment in SNAP benefits than any other industry. It doesn’t take a math degree to recognize that this equation is not adding up.

South Carolina has a long agricultural history, with agribusiness currently representing the largest sector in the state with 1 in 9 jobs are in agribusiness with profits of close to $50 billion and 4.7 million acres of productive farmland. With these impressive numbers, it is hard to reconcile the fact that we are also a state in which 1 in 10 South Carolinians face food insecurity and our farmland received the eighth highest national “threat score” (risk of being converted to non-agricultural use) by the American Farmland Trust. While it is tempting to take readers on a journey through the evolution of how our food systems came to be what they are, the time for finger pointing, political posturing and polarization have passed. Less than 1% of South Carolina’s population is still farming (0.7%), and these numbers are actively threatened as the state continues to lose farmland. As the six fastest growing state in the US, American Farmland Trust has projected that in less than 20 years, we will lose an additional 436,700 acres of land to development. Farmland loss is attributed to a wide variety of factors, but for many, it comes down to money. To keep farmland productive, we have to keep it profitable. But history has taught us that this can not be profitability gained at the expense of our local people and places.

Understanding the challenges and recognizing the need for change is only the beginning. Having a clear pathway to change is crucial. In 2013, the Making Small Farms into Big Business report was commissioned to understand the potential for the state to grow their food system. The take home message was clear: the market opportunities are ripe for the picking. It revealed that historically, South Carolina has exported the food it grows and imports the food it eats. According to the study, 90% of food eaten in South Carolina was imported from outside of the state. By shifting production towards local markets, we could reap the benefits from farm to table.

These benefits extend far beyond the sales of local food but have demonstrated the capacity to be a tool for economic development. The growing demand for local food also brings with it a wide range of  physical and social infrastructure. Communities across the country, South Carolina included, have experienced the development of local food hubs, mobile abattoirs (meat processing), community kitchens, direct to consumer software, innovative small farm technology, farming apprenticeships, incubator farms, community gardens, farm to table restaurants, small grocers, food councils, and all of the associated jobs along the local food supply chain. What started as an effort to grow and sell food locally quickly becomes an opportunity to create jobs and increase community connectivity. The national data indicates that local retailers return 52 percent of their revenue back into the local economy, compared to 14 percent for national chain retailers and have a record of employing more locals for longer periods of time. Once heralded as only a trend, the local food movement has earned a permanent place in the food and farming landscape generating an estimated $20 billion dollars nationally.

Members of the SC Food Hub Network have seen local food sales grow from approximately $2 million in 2016 to $4.4 million in 2020. Pre-pandemic, this growth was achieved through robust farm to table focused restaurants, grocers, and wholesale accounts with a focus on creating profitability for SC farmers. Selling products as a premium does however create a barrier in accessing local food, something that was creatively addressed incrementally through gleaning (gathering unsold or unharvested crops for donation) and through grant supported programs.

In a surprising turn of events, COVID-19 actually created a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between local producers and those facing food insecurity. South Carolina food hubs, distributors, food access agencies, and community based organizations partnered to leverage millions of relief dollars to pay farmers for food distributed into local communities. While the Palmetto state was able to provide incredible support for farmers and community members to buy and distribute local food through these partnerships, this is only one part of the system. A long-term strategic approach will need to be holistic and explore the challenges in inequities from land access and farmer training all the way to nutrition education and food waste.

Now begins the hard work of keeping up the momentum and working collaboratively to find place-based, long-term solutions. National policies (i.e. Farm Bill), federal appropriations, allocations, and grants will continue to have significant implications for anyone working in the food system, but we cannot overlook the state level policy, regulation, and investments that have the power to truly elevate or suppress the growth and efficacy within local communities. Rising to meet the challenge is the Growing Local SC local food network, a multi-sector project building off the work of the South Carolina Food Policy Council and the South Carolina Food Hub Network (funded by the USDA with matching funds provided by the SC Department of Agriculture). With nine founding partners and 30 leaders representing everything from public health to farmer training, the network aims to cultivate a thriving, equitable, inclusive, resilient, and just food economy providing access to healthy food for all in South Carolina.

At the heart of this network is a desire to build and strengthen the local food system community in the state to increase awareness, connectivity and collaboration for existing organizations and businesses. The network leaders are interested in elevating the voices of those often missing at the table and ensuring that the path forward creates opportunities for everyone in the state. The network has a wide range of ways to connect from an events calendar, newsletters and Instagram to a listserv and committees. This October, the group will host its inaugural Growing Local SC Food Summit in Greenville, SC to hear from those at every stage of the food system to understand the challenges, opportunities, and priorities for those working on the ground. Stay tuned for the next issue where we will share stories from the people attending the summit and hear their perspective on the future of South Carolina’s food system. Follow along via Instagram @growinglocalsouthcarolina, the website https://www.growinglocalsc.org/, the newsletter, and participate in person at the inaugural Local Food Summit: https://www.opportunitysc.org/food-summit

Statewide Network to Strengthen South Carolina’s Food Economy

An established group of leaders across South Carolina’s food system are launching a new network, Growing Local SC, to cultivate a thriving, equitable, inclusive, resilient, and just food economy providing access to healthy food for all. The Growing Local SC   local food network is one of 30 national projects awarded funding through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Regional Food System Partnership Grant program. With ten project partners, matching funds from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, and project oversight from the South Carolina Food Policy Council, this highly collaborative and cross-sector network is a decade in the making. 

“Growing Local SC brings leaders together to create community-based solutions for a resilient food system for South Carolina,” states Project Director Nikki Seibert Kelley. Mrs. Kelley notes, “Local food systems are complex and highly place-based, making it essential for communities to build networks around the people working locally to get food from farms and gardens to the table.” The pandemic highlighted the vulnerability in global supply chains, demonstrating the importance of building regional economies able to withstand disturbances. Growing Local SC brings together agencies, organizations, coalitions, food hubs, and businesses to create a network focused on building systems to equitability, effectively, and economically source, aggregate, and distribute local food to South Carolinians. Growing Local SC is designed to be reflective of the state’s local food system and also includes Wholespire, University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health SNAP-Ed Implementing Agency, SC Food Hub Network (coordinated by Alison Pierce), Rural Resource Coalition, Bonita Global, LLC, Alianza Latina of the Midlands, SC State University Small Business Development Center, and Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. 

Food system leaders across the state are encouraged to engage in Growing Local SC by joining the South Carolina Food Policy Council as a member, participating in the annual meetings, and getting engaged through committees, local food councils, and coalitions. Visit www.growinglocalsc.org for more information.

Red Estatal Refuerza la Economía Alimentaria de Carolina del Sur

Todo el Estado – Un grupo de líderes establecidos a través del sistema alimentario de Carolina del Sur están lanzando una nueva red, Growing Local SC, para cultivar una economía alimentaria próspera, equitativa, inclusiva, resistente, y justa que le provee acceso a comida saludable a todos. La red local alimentaria Growing Local SC es uno de los 30 proyectos nacionales otorgados fondos a través del programa Regional Food System Partnership Grant del Departamento de Agricultura de Estados Unidos. Con diez organizaciones asociadas en el proyecto, fondos complementarios del Departamento de Agricultura de Carolina del Sur, y fiscalización por el South Carolina Food Policy Council, esta red intersectorial se ha desarrollado a través de una década.

“Growing Local SC junta líderes para crear soluciones comunitarias hacia un sistema alimentario resistente en Carolina del Sur,” declara la Directora del Proyecto Nikki Seibert Kelley. La Sra. Kelley indicó, “Los sistemas alimentarios locales son complejos y altamente influenciados por su localización, lo que hace esencial que las comunidades construyan redes alrededor de las personas que están trabajando localmente para llevar comida desde las granjas y jardines a la mesa.” La pandemia ha resaltado la vulnerabilidad de las cadenas de suministro globales, demostrando la importancia de construir economías regionales capaces de resistir disturbios. Growing Local SC junta agencias, organizaciones, coaliciones, centros de distribución de comida, y negocios para crear una red enfocada en construir un sistema para equitativamente, eficazmente, y económicamente obtener, agregar, y distribuir comida local a través de Carolina del Sur. Growing Local SC está diseñado para reflejar el sistema alimentario local del estado, e incluye Wholespire, el Arnold School of Public Health de la Universidad de Carolina del Sur SNAP-ED Agencia de Implementación, SC Food Hub Network (coordinado por Alison Pierce), Rural Resource Coalition, Bonita Global, LLC, Alianza Latina of the Midlands, SC State University Small Business Development Center, and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.

Todo líder del sistema alimentario a través del estado está bienvenido a colaborar en la red de Growing Local SC a través de una membresía gratis al South Carolina Food Policy Council, participando en reuniones anuales, e interactuando con los comités, las coaliciones y concilios de comida locales. Visite www.growinglocalsc.org para más información. ###

UPDATED 4/6 [See time sensitive advocacy issues at the bottom] Times of crisis test not only the character of individuals but reveal the flaws in our man-made systems – including how we get food from farm to table. As we face the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, many will feel a loss of control, safety and security. It is natural to cycle through the stages of grief during times like these: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. As someone working with nonprofits and farmers (arguably the riskiest small business of all), we must quickly move to the next stage: action. Nonprofits notoriously run on shoe string budgets, tenuous at the best of times; these organizations face further pressure in times of crisis because they often are charged with serving the most under resourced, under represented, and vulnerable populations. In parallel, our food system (especially our local food supply chain) from farmers, field workers and food hubs to food banks, farmers markets, and restaurants, are all operating on the tightest of margins, the lowest of wages, and the highest levels of risk often directly dependent on uncontrollable variables such as the weather and the economy. In summary, this crisis is about to create a ripple effect that will place both those most vulnerable and those serving them at risk. Which brings us to the question: how can we increase our resiliency in this time of crisis?

First, we should all regularly review the recommendations directly from the CDC including testing, best practices, and posters.

Second, it is important that we spend time learning how we can take care of ourselves as individuals first, including accessing healthcare through tele-health programs when possible (in Charleston, MUSC is providing tele-health coronavirus screenings with promo code “COVID19”). Third, keep an eye on information mapping the spread of this virus (but honestly, it is just pretty depressing). And finally, we all could use some good old fashion advice from an Italian Grandma, some heart warming community singing to lift our spirits, or an inspiring compilation of some GOOD NEWS from across the country. Now that the basics are covered, we can dig in to the tactical aspects of this challenge.

Resources for the front lines

To all the nonprofit leaders out there (and social impact businesses a like), if there is one thing that our industry is capable of, it is acting quickly on a tight budget with a spirit of collaboration. So many organizations have pulled together incredible tools/resources shared below. Together SC created this incredible post: “What to do if the Coronavirus comes to call” that outlines a thought process as well as shares tools. Resources range from internal operation considerations, communication strategies to recommendations on “shoring up financial reserves” and considerations around discrimination relating to the virus. You can also check out risk management tools for your team, tools on what your board should being doing during this time , how to handle cancelling an event, how to manage teams while working remotely, and how to shift your strategic plan in a time of crisis. As employers it is also important to keep up to date with the fair labor standards, strategies for shifting your human resource practices, and unemployment policies during this time (also check your local Department of Employment). Lowcountry Local First advocates for local businesses (including farmers) in South Carolina and has already begun gathering feedback from their members through this survey to collect and share ideas for weathering this storm and supporting local businesses and farmers safely during this crisis. If you are looking for an active nonprofit Facebook community, check out the Nonprofit Happy Hour official COVID Development Teams thread.

LISTS OF LISTS: National Good Food Network has compiled this folder on Google Drive to store the valuable resources that are being passed along in their COVID-19 ListServ which includes Resource Spreadsheet with resources curated from across the country and organized by food systems topic. For folks in the Southeast, here is a compilation by state from Southern SAWG. ATTRA has an easily searchable directory that does include funding resources and ASAN created this great highly organized spreadsheet with tabs full of resources for all of the categories listed below- many of the resources are specific to AL but also includes regional and national as well.

HEAL Food Alliance has created robust working documents full of resources as well as Food & Land Sovereignty Resource List for COVID-19 (compiled by Soul Fire Farm, Black Farmer Fund, and Northeast Farmers of Color). The National Council of Nonprofits includes resources in addition to those above “Nonprofits and Coronavirus, COVID-19”. The Restaurant Workers Community Foundation list includes information and resources for restaurants and workers. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future’s Food Policy Networks team has compiled Food Policy Council focused list of resources, models/examples, funding, and other shared practices in COVID-19 response. Clara.nibbelink@gmail.com compiled and organized resources into Google Drive folders and By Vanessa Garcia Polanco has created an incredible list of articles.

FUNDING: The National Center for Family Philanthropy has compiled a list of funding that includes this incredible map of local funding across the nation. Step one, see above. Farmers, see the section below. In addition to the robust list of funding sources above, you can also Apply for Disaster Assistance Loans for Small Businesses Impacted by Coronavirus (COVID-19) through the Small Business Administration (SBA). Food Access groups can apply for funding in support of youth food access programming. If you are a prior Crossroads funding recipient, you can apply for additional support. I would encourage those working in food and beverage to see if there are local fundraisers, like those hosted in Chicago or the virtual tip jar sites listed in the article.

I am working on transcribing the list below but until then, see below.

FOOD ACCESS groups, as noted above can now apply for funding in support of youth food access programming. USDA proposed a number of changes to school meal programs – comment period ends March 23, 2020. There is also this helpful handout on where and how to donate food that can be shared with your networks. Eat Smart Move More SC created an incredible list of resources including best practices on how to safely distribute food using grab-and-go and other distributions techniques. There is also a great example of creative food distribution strategies in NYC, a national Gleaning Map for food recovery, and an online food calculator for shopping during a pandemic.

COMMUNICATION TOOLS: As we all begin the process of social distancing, quarantines, and in some cases, sheltering in place, we will rely more heavily on digital communication tools. As someone that already works from home, I can say that there are an array of choices. Google and Microsoft are offering their conferencing tools free-of-charge for a limited time. Slack’s free version is very robust and I highly recommend it for teams or collaborations, including industry collaborations (ex. area Food Banks coordinating). GoToMeeting is also offering their remote work tools free for three months. Zoom has a free option, just get ready for that 40 minute meeting cut-off. If you are like me and have to worry about the occasional baby cry or kiddo interrupting your call (we’ve all seen the video), I personally have gotten creative by adapting a little video conferencing space in my closet and when necessary taking calls in my car in the driveway.

To my farming friends, you are not alone and there are entire networks of food system leaders working hard to come up with solutions, including the National Good Food Network who dedicated an entire session to this process at their conference last week and have already created a COVID-19 Response Team listserv and working document. The National Young Farmers Coalition also has an array of resources to stay connected and in touch, including a survey to find out what your needs are. If the thought of another tough season has you feeling completely overwhelmed, there are farmer crisis hotlines available including Farm Aid at 1-800-FARM-AID (1-800-327-6243), the RAFI-USA hotline 919-542-1396 and press #1 for the Farmer Crisis Hotline or toll-free at 866-586-6746 or the suicide prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 (online chat also available).

If you are in need of financial support, I encourage you to look at the funds available through SBA mentioned above– if you need it, here is specific language that clarifies that farms ARE included in the EIDL program (which is NEW and has not made its way to the actual SBA offices yet) as well as the Paycheck Protection Program as described here by CFSA. Even if you are unsure of your status, it is recommended that you go ahead and gather the necessary documents so you can apply as soon as your able, as funds are first come, first serve. Also check out this incredibly robust list from ATTRA: https://attra.ncat.org/covid/#assistance including a new fund from American Farmland Trust- Farmer Relief Fund

Farmers can also find general disaster resources here and many state farm organizations, such as the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (NC and SC) and The Food Well Alliance (ATL) have pulled together additional resources. As we all know, the spring season is often the most profitable for farmers selling direct to consumer and with market closures and the downturn in the economy, now is not the time to have an abundance of supply and no way to connect with the demand.

The most comprehensive and proactive measures I have seen are those taken by 4PFoods in Virginia, as outlined in the following case statement as well as this robust trading and connections spreadsheet created by Farm to Institution New England (FINE). The overall message: We have to quickly shift the flow in our supply chain by directing food traditionally sold into farmers markets and restaurants and instead focus on selling to customers using home delivery services, redistributing to food banks and school feeding programs. This process includes leveraging the schools buses not currently in operation, cold storage that is currently empty, food service workers without jobs, and above all- gaining financial investments from the public and private sector to implement these strategies.

So what can farmers do in the immediate future? Here are some ideas:

• Is there a shelter in place order in your city, county, or state? Make sure you are reaching out to your Department of Agriculture for support in providing proof of your essential status. For example, the SC Commissioner of Agriculture, Hugh Weathers, has drafted a Notice of Essential Food and Agriculture Employee form that farms in these areas may fill out for each employee certifying them as an essential employee.  They should keep this letter with them while commuting to and from work.  Commissioner Weathers also sent this letter to the law enforcement community in regards to his notice.
• Make sure you have contact information for your customers so you can communicate with them, keep them informed on social media, and outline what steps you are taking to protect your products and workers (washable containers, gloves, masks, social distancing, general food safety practices). If you are a U-pick operation, there are even resources to build your own wash station.
• Reach out to your local food hub to see if they have the capacity to buy your product or if they are aware of any processors able to process, dehydrate, and/or freeze as well as provide storage.
• Connect with home CSA Delivery Farms and CSA/Box Services to see if they are able to buy and sell your products.
• Create your own pre-packed boxes for customers and develop curbside pick-up or delivery. There are a variety of softwares out there Local Food Marketplace, Farmigo, Barn2Door, CSA Member Assembler, CSAware, HarvestHand, The CSA Toolbox and soooo many more. You can also check out the recorded webinar from Oregon Tilth on this topic for resources and support.
• Consider making value added products with pre-approved recipes (remember, you will have to go through proper channels in your state to meet the processing requirements- examples resources from CA and NC) and/or working with companies that can do this for you. You may even know of chefs in your area that would like to partner on products that they can use in their kitchens when business picks back up.
• Market the fact that there are great health and immunity benefits of fresh fruits and veggies (ex. high vitamin C in berries and broccoli) as well as sharing recipes for immune boosters like fire cider.
• Encouraging customers to buy and bulk and freeze in case of quarantine.
• Sell gift cards that customers can cash in later on in the year.
• Reach out to your local food bank to see if they have the capacity or resources to purchase product. If you simply are not able to harvest, you can also see if they have any groups interested in gleaning.
• For the farmers markets that have remained open, here is a good example of how a market in NC is making an effort to reduce exposure. Also see below on the campaign for #farmersmarketsaregrocerystores
• If you are operating a market, check out this awesome example drive through order form from the East End Farmers Market in KY.
• Check out this great post from RAFI-USA on alternative sales options for direct to market farmers.

Advocating for support

Beyond keeping the operations running, we will all have a role to play in advocating for policies and relief packages that take the broader food system as well as nonprofits into consideration. Much of the work will need to be done at a state and regional level, just as the folks at 4PFoods. It has been indicated that agriculture is considered “Critical Infrastructure” but there are a lot of questions about where activities around food access and farmers markets will fall in these definitions.

There is currently a campaign from the National Young Farmers Coalition to urge members of congress to include farmers in their relief packages and you can also sign up for action alerts or also use this form from American Farmland Trust.

Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and allied organizations have assembled an advocacy toolkit to help communities fight to keep their markets open, and to re-open markets that have been wrongly closed.

“The toolkit includes a link to COVID-19 Operational Guidelines and Tips for Farmers Markets, which provides information on social distancing and sanitation practices that should be implemented at markets to maintain public health. It also includes resources to use when convincing local authorities to allow markets to continue and advocacy strategies to generate public support for the issue in your community. Please share these resources with the hashtag #farmersmarketsaregrocerystores.“

The team at Local Progress has pulled together a number of recommendations and actions highlighting the need for advocacy around equity during this time.

At the end of the day, we all have the opportunity to support our local farmers and reach out to nonprofits in our community to find opportunities to help, even from the safety of our homes. I hope we can use this time to cherish those we love, spend more time outdoors connecting with nature, and leverage this as a catalyst towards building a more resilient local food system.

Nothing stokes the fires of activism like becoming a parent. Passions eroded down to resignation can be quickly reinvigorated by a newly vested interest in the future. As the freshly minted parent of a daughter (a perfect, beautiful, tiny human named Wren) my own desire for a better world has been magnified tenfold. The stakes have been raised for the me to play my part in creating a brighter future for her while ensuring she grows up with strong female role model. 

My convictions on the importance of our food system are shored up with the knowledge that my work in the field will be my legacy to my daughter. If she is to reap what we are sowing in my lifetime, I have an even greater incentive to invest in organizations, projects, and people who share my vision and values for the future.

This spring, thanks to Edible Charleston, I had the opportunity to connect with other local women in the food system to gain insight and perspective on the role they are playing in shaping the future of food. 

FarmHER: How women are shaping the South Carolina food system

Close your eyes, and picture a farmer. There’s a strong chance that you imagined an aged and sun- worn grandfather figure.

But the face of farming is evolving. About one million women are currently running farm-based businesses, representing 30% of the total farmers in the country. And as farmers age out, the next generation is increasingly coming from outside of traditional circles. Individuals with non-agricultural- related degrees, people of color, indigenous people, veterans and members of the LGBTQ community are taking to the fields, and they’re bringing big ideas with them.

According to the National Young Farmers Coalition, these new farmers are more likely to be committed to environmental stewardship and to be advocates for equity and inclusion in the industry. This new wave of farmers is seeking more than a career–they’re after an opportunity to make a difference in their community and in their lives.

“You’re probably not going to get rich farming, but your quality of life is going to be high,” says Danielle Spies, co-owner of Sea Island Savory Herbs on Johns Island, a thriving plant nursery she runs with her business partner, Ella Cowen.

“I really appreciate when people come in and see that we are an all-women’s farm,” Spies says. “I like raising my daughter seeing strong women, and showing her we have the confidence to do it all on our own.”

The two friends purchased Sea Island Savory Herbs in 2013 with the major incentive of having the flexibility of raising their children while growing a strong business. Despite years of working at the farm prior to buying it, the first years were challenging.

“It felt like we had to prove ourselves. There’s pressure to know everything; to have more, grow bigger and look perfect,” Cowen says.

Spies’ advice to farmers getting started is to “surround yourself with people you enjoy working with, do what works best for you and your business, go with the flow and follow your heart.”

Six years later the two still love their jobs, enjoy working together, and have built a successful business that is leveling up the herb game in restaurants and markets throughout the area.

Changes in demographics aren’t the only aspect of agriculture evolving. Farmers in growing numbers are seeking opportunities in urban communities, from empty lots and rooftops to hydroponic tunnels and shipping containers. Traditionally a rural industry centered solely on crop yields, farming has expanded into cities, with urban farmers seeking opportunities for economic development, education and empowerment.

Germaine Jenkins of Fresh Future Farm is one such pioneer, cultivating more than healthy food in the Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood of North Charleston. For Jenkins, her farm not only provides access to healthy food but also teaches farming skills applicable to home gardens or agricultural businesses.

“I want to share so much about what I am learning; to get people’s hands in the dirt and show them it’s not as complicated as we are led to believe,” Jenkins says. Urban agriculture provides many farmers with lower barriers to entry, easier access for customers, opportunities for education and reduced transportation costs.

“Being in the middle of a residential neighborhood is golden because we are where the customers are,” Jenkins says. She also believes it is important for residents in the neighborhood to “see people who look like them growing their food.”

Jenkins is creating opportunities for black farmers to build connections and share best practices with the community by hosting the inaugural SC Black Farmers Conference on March 26. Bringing industry leaders such as Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm and author of Farming While Black, Erika Allen of the Urban Growers Collective as well as an impressive roster of local chefs and artisans, the event aims to provide a balance of best practices, networking and celebration. Community is at the heart of Jenkins’ farm, because from her perspective, you can work smarter and not harder by bringing in experts in to expand your operation. “You can’t do everything yourself,” Jenkins says.

With only 2% of the population in agriculture, the industry is in a position to open the doors to all individuals and production methods.

“Before we didn’t have enough markets and now we don’t have enough farmers,” says Helen Fields, co-owner of Joseph Fields Farm on Johns Island. “We need to continue to get more young people involved.” Fields and her husband, Joseph, have been running their farm as partnership since the early 2000s, with Helen handling the business side of the farm while Joseph focuses on production and sales.

“If it wasn’t for mentorship, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Fields says. “A farmer needs to be affiliated with other farmers and farming organizations because that is your teaching tool. As things change, you need to be prepared.”

Having started one of the first USDA-Certified Organic Farms in South Carolina, the Fieldses have worked hard to keep up with industry trends and they are passionate about mentoring the next generation through farming apprenticeships.

For aspiring farmers, these apprenticeships provide invaluable hands-on experience.

“I was mentored by a very strong-willed woman,” says Jess Martin of her apprenticeship with Casey Price. Price owns Jeremiah Farm & Goat Dairy on Johns Island, where in addition to running a Grade A goat dairy, she also provides mentorship for new farmers interested in livestock.

After gaining invaluable hands-on experience working with animals, Martin became the farm manager at Wishbone Heritage Farms in St. George, where she oversees pasture-raised sheep, hogs, chickens, ducks and cattle. Martin credits Price as well as Celeste Albers of Green Grocer with providing her the support necessary to face the challenges of livestock farming.

“These are women who aren’t afraid to get in there and do the dirty work. I’m lucky to have connections with both of them. Those relationships help me stay confident,” Martin says. As a petite woman of 5 feet 3 inches working with 500-pound hogs, she is often questioned about her ability to handle animals. But she feels that being a woman in the livestock industry is an advantage.

“I think that we are more nurturing and take a more of an intuitive approach to things,” Martin says. “I feel like I can interact with animals without having to rely on physical strength.”

Martin is passionate about pushing her industry towards more humane practices that include quality grazing and feed, which honor the animal and ultimately result in a superior product. As a livestock farmer, Martin wants “to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.”

Agriculture’s capacity to effect positive change is a draw for many new farmers. But if you weren’t raised on a farm, finding the resources and a network to get started is challenging. For Laura Mewbourn, owner of Feast & Flora Farm in Meggett, it came down to finding the right people.

Similar to many new farmers, Mewbourn’s collegiate roots are not agricultural; prior to farming she spent years working in academia.

“I went to college and picked the major I was supposed to pick, and ended up in an office job like I was supposed to. But I would walk past landscapers working and think ‘oh gosh, that looks really nice’ but I never let myself go much deeper than that.”

Upon moving to Charleston, Mewbourn stumbled across the Growing New Farmers Program and decided to explore farming as a potential career. While preparing for the transition from academics to agriculture, she immersed herself in podcasts and read countless books on the life of a modern farmer. Yet it wasn’t until her first few weeks in the program, working with her farm mentor and gaining hands-on experience, that she knew she could physically and mentally be a farmer. Without land to inherit or an experienced farm family to lean on for technical support, Mewbourn looked to other farmers in the local network for help.

“You need to find farmers who understand the position you’re in and who are willing to lend their assistance,” Mewbourn says. In order to build a farm from scratch, she relied on these farmers to provide guidance on everything from plowing the fields to buying equipment. Mewbourn acknowledges that farming is a trade requiring a lifetime of research and learning but at some point you have to take the leap, even if it is a small one.

“At the end of the day, you just have to do it,” Mewbourn says. Three years later, she’s managing a successful farm and hosting apprentices of her own.

The challenges these women have overcome represent the greater obstacles the industry is experiencing as farmers across the country work hard to feed their communities. It’s important that as consumers, we not only support farmers at the market but that we invest in the programs and policies focused on building an equitable, inclusive and resilient food system. If the industry continues to attract hardworking, innovative farmers like these, the future looks bright . . . and delicious.

Original article in Edible Charleston available HERE.