The state agriculture department is putting on a massive farmer's market Saturday in Forest Park that will offer everything from peaches to flowers. The event is an effort to convince residents to buy more locally sourced food and in turn drive business to Georgia producers.
The Georgia Grown Farmers Showcase at the Atlanta State Farmers Market will combine 40 farms under one roof to expose the state's $11 billion agriculture business to metro residents who are used to picking up their steaks or squash at Publix and Kroger.
"A lot of years you overproduce as a farmer, so you're always looking for more customers," said Drew Echols, farm manager of family-owned Jaemor Farms, about an hour northeast of Atlanta in Alto, Ga. "The locally grown movement is so popular. Everybody wants to know where their food comes from and this is a way to find out."
It's also part of a relaunch of "Georgia Grown," a program designed as a marketing and education tool for the state's agriculture business that was being underutilized when Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black said he took office in 2011.
"The campaign needed a complete overhaul," Black said. "When we arrived there was zero Web-based resources for this. There was no data collected on what had been done. This is more than having a logo and a few stickers. This is about making sure people know what we have to offer."
That's important because 80 percent of what Georgians spend on food comes from outside its border, experts said. A 2010 University of Georgia study concluded that the state would add almost $2 billion to its economy if each Georgia household spent $10 a week buying locally sourced food.
The revamped "Georgia Grown" program, www.georgiagrown.com -- whose roughly $140,000 budget comes from a specialty block crop grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- is focused on matching consumers with producers, an education program in schools, promoting agri-tourism and using restaurateurs to promote state products. The organization also is raising funds through memberships fees from organizations such as the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and Hendrix Produce.
Woodfire Grill Executive Chef Kevin Gillespie said access to locally produced food has improved in the last few years, with the Atlanta restaurant sourcing about 90 percent of its produce and meat locally.
Surprisingly, the toughest meat to get, until recently, was chicken. Despite Georgia's status as the nation's No.1 producer of chickens, the restaurant had trouble finding poultry truly raised on a farm until Gillespie hooked up with White Oak Pastures in Bluffton.
"They don't have ‘commodity' chickens that are raised in cages," he said. "Their chickens really roam on the fields when the cows aren't on them. That gives them more exercise and creates a better taste. They do it the old-fashioned way."
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