When April and Sam McPherson wanted to find local organic produce to feed their daughter, Ella, they kept coming up empty handed.
“Sam and I were blessed to have our daughter, Ella, 2, and wanted nothing more than to provide her with the cleanest, healthiest diet free of dangerous chemicals, harmful preservatives and artificial food stuff ingredients,” she said.
It was more challenging than either had anticipated. But undeterred, the Brunswick couple decided to start their own organic food business to fill the void. Hence, Organic Food Co-Op of Southeast Georgia was born.
It started small, with the couple teaming up with regional and local farmers to buy produce for their friends.
It morphed into a full-on, full-time business with many individuals, families and businesses signing on.
The couple now has a thriving business, delivering various fruits and veggie baskets monthly to their members. It’s become more than a rewarding experience in both the business and personal sense.
But like all other areas, agriculture related businesses also come with a fair share of challenges. Most of those, McPherson says, are seasonal.
“Challenges come as seasons change, crops struggle or sometimes fail limiting local options and sometimes options all together,” she said.
“Organic celery is a great example. It’s tripled in price and is one of the most difficult vegetables to obtain this season due to struggling crops everywhere.”
Another challenge, McPherson adds, is removing the stigmatism about organic food.
“The label ‘organic’ turns people off at times. That’s why we like to say ‘real food,’” she said. “I don’t really need an organic label per say. I just need real food that I know has come from a reliable, sustainable farm with practices that don’t harm the land. I want to eat what my grandpa used to grow and eat.”
Like McPherson, Matthew Raiford has always believed in the value of wholesome “real” food. The chef and co-owner of Gilliard Farms in Brunswick has officially been in the local agribusiness for a little over three years. But farming has been in Raiford’s family for much longer. His great-great grandfather, Jupiter Gilliard, established the farm in 1874.
“I was first in Washington, D.C., working as a chef at the catering company who serves the House of Representatives. But I originally left there and went to the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agro Ecology and Sustainable food,” he said. “You actually go live on a 25-acre farm. So you eat, sleep and breathe farming. I got a certificate in ecological horticulture six months later.”
Even with extensive experience, Raiford has found many challenges when it comes to farming.
“One of the biggest challenges was getting used to being in this climate,” he said.
“We also have a longer growing season, but you have to time it with summer. When it’s 90 degrees you have to make sure you have plants that won’t be starving for water or nutrients.”
But Raiford has the agriculture aspect down to a science and is currently working to expand his farm-to-table business.
He and his fiancé, Javon Sage, will open a new business, the Farmer and the Larder, in downtown Brunswick. The two expect to have a soft opening during July’s First Friday event.
“It will be a culinary mixed use space. We are looking at doing a lot of things related to the food industry, bringing it all together,” he said.
They will offer a variety of classes to the public, Raiford says, and they have planned to partner with McPherson and her co-op business to show others how to cook up some unusual produce.
“We want to teach people how to cook something new - be it a vegetable they’ve never cooked or a different cut of meat,” he said. “A lot of times if someone just gives you a recipe, things don’t turn out right, but if you show them how to cook it … that helps.”
Raiford also plans to teach participants how to get the most value from their produce.
“We’re also going to teach them how to get the best bang for their buck. Once a month, we’ll take the bag from the co-op and show them how to cook everything in it,” he said.
