Farm Aid, Purple Sweet Potatoes, and the Change we wish to see!

You must be the change you wish to see in this world. – Gandhi

Last year when I went to the Farm Aid advocates meeting in Pennsylvania I had one intention- spread the word that I wanted to help! I know very little about government programs and haven’t the slightest idea how to help a farmer through a loan process. However, what I have is a community of customers that want to eat organic foods and that ought to be of use to some struggling farmer. Actually, I knew that in the right hands, that information would make all the difference.  My youngest brother that farms our family land always says to me, “What I want is an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. I don’t want to be a row cropper and I don’t want a confinement building. I want to farm in a way that is good for my land, and my animals, my family and my neighbors – I just never knew it would be so hard to make a living being honest.”  Keep the faith I tell him, we will get there.

So, after two days of advocate meetings discussing everything from loan programs to how to handle a call from a suicidal farmer (that was heartbreaking) we were all gathered in the lobby of the hotel shooting the…you know what. Well, except me. It was Friday so I was over in a corner working on the final touches of the menu for y’all and writing my grammatically incorrect newsletter.  It was September and not much produce grows in Florida during September. However, it does grow in Georgia, and NC, and South Carolina and that is a far sight closer than California. So- I looked around the room and thought to myself “Someone in this room must know an organic farmer that wants to sell to me that is in NC, SC or GA. “

I decided to go chat with Scott Marlow, who works for RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International) in North Carolina. I explained my plight of trying to find regional food for Florida’s off season. He gave me a name – Eastern Carolina Organics (ECO). Oh, I was tickled pink! I sent an email off to them the very next day.

That was September and next week we will get our first load of produce from them. Purple Sweet Potatoes!  Why did it take so long? Logistics. How did we get it from them to us? Also, did I have enough demand to be able to move it without it being cost prohibitive?  After all, it’s not very economical to ship one case of sweet potatoes nor is it environmentally sound. So, between then and now we have been growing my customer base to be able to have a market. Secondly, we have been working with like-minded businesses along the route from ECO to us, so that we could make the shipping work. Finally! We made it happen. As I write this to you, your sweet potatoes are still in the field but by Wednesday they will have been harvested, shipped to our warehouse, put in your box and hopefully be on your dinner table!

This whole endeavor may not seem like a big deal, because it is such a small drop in the bucket to the challenges that face our food system. However, the only way to eat a field of greens? One bite at a time.

Although I am very proud of this small step in the right direction- what I am more in awe over is the fact that all of you have made this happen. I have said it before and I will say it again – Without you, my customers, I would one girl standing out in left field but with you- we are force to be reckoned with. We are a community of people making a difference, and creating a foundation that the next generation will be proud to stand on. We are able to give the farmers a fair price for their goods (An honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, I daresay), we are able to have access to wholesome and awesome food at economical prices, and we are able to do a lot of good between those farms and our tables.

So, thank you, Space Girl Organics foodie freaks, for being awesome. And enjoy those purple sweet potatoes, because by eating them- you are the change we wish to see!