Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

A few hours after we finished market on Thursday night, my family and I headed down to Savannah, Georgia for the annual Georgia Organics conference. I’ve been going to them since 2002, the same year both my tiny farm and Athens Locally Grown began, and like ALG, Georgia Organics has grown incredibly since then. It’s always great to get together with others from around the state who are trying to repair our broken food system, to share stories and learn from one another. This year had a bit of a different focus for me, though. In the last year, about a dozen new locallygrown.net markets opened up across the state (joining the nearly 200 others from across the country), including several in the southern part of the state. I spent much of the conference talking with market managers, growers, and customers from all of those markets, and they all told me how in less than a year, the food system in their communities has already become better. What we have managed to put together, all of us together, has truly inspired others to follow in our footsteps, and we’re all making a difference.

I happened to be set up next to Agatha Achindu at the conference. I’d never met her before, and it was great being her neighbor for the weekend. She founded Yummy Spoonfuls, an organic baby food company in Atlanta. In a small kitchen, she and a group of helpers make small batches of pure food, from wholesome simple ingredients, for babies and toddlers. I had Juniper, my one year old daughter, with me, and she tried and loved everything Agatha had to offer her. After talking with her for a while, I realized that she and her products would be a good fit for Athens Locally Grown, and so you can now find a new category on the website filled with what Yummy Spoonfuls has to offer.

We had another new producer list with us last week you may have missed. Southern Scratch is a caterer in Washington, Georgia, who makes, among other things, complete ready-to-eat meals made from ingredients from several of our other growers (such as Tink’s Beef and Lazy Willow Farm). Right now she’s listing one meal each week. Last week was fried chicken, braised collard greens, potato salad, and little chocolate pies. I bought one to try, and it was both filling and delicious. They’re pricier than cooking at home, but cheaper or on par with eating out, and it was comforting knowing she used the same ingredients from the same places that I would. It’s another sign that our food system is maturing, so that our growers’ harvests can be used is such a wide variety of other products.

I’m going to wrap things up here. We’re still in Savannah, and the busy weekend and the time change has me exhausted. I see over 1000 products are available this week, the most since the height of the summer last year. And here it is, not even officially spring yet. Happy shopping, and even happier eating!

Thanks so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, all of our growers, and local food in general. You all are part of what makes Athens such a great area in which to live. We’ll see you on Thursday at Ben’s Bikes at the corner of Pope and Broad Streets from 4:30 to 8pm!