Talk about a bumper crop. According to Georgia’s Department of Agriculture, the state boasts 144 farmers markets, and counting.
What’s in the markets as summer heat reaches its peak are healthy harvests of peaches (of course!), field peas, watermelons and cantaloupes.
But, what you may not know is that Georgia farmers are producing some surprising products, such as ginger and turmeric grown by Verdant Kitchen near Savannah, and olive oil from Georgia Olive Farms in southeast Georgia.
The number of farms across the Southeast represented on the region’s restaurant menus is greater than ever.
“We always had our farms listed on a chalkboard, but now there are so many farms we work with, they don’t all fit on the board! So what we do now is list what’s in season,” said Steven Satterfield, executive chef of Miller Union restaurant in Atlanta.
Smart farm-to-table
There are more than 2 million farms in the U.S., and over 90 percent are family farms. Many folks imagine “family farms” as small in size, with a few cows, a pig, some chickens and a plot of vegetables. But, the average size of a family-owned farm is more than 440 acres dedicated to growing a specific crop or focusing expertise on raising one kind of farm animal.
Terry Murrell and his son Carter grow rice in Mississippi, following in the footsteps of previous generations. But, modern agriculture’s focus on conservation of resources, including water, which is key to growing rice, has brought changes in the way the family farm is managed.
“We don’t flood the fields with as much water. We give them just enough for each stage of growth,” said Carter Murrell, who has a degree in agronomy from Mississippi State University.
Rather than having to drive his truck around the hundreds of acres of rice fields to adjust irrigation flow, Murrell can monitor it from an app on his cellphone. “It saves fuel and keeps a record of irrigation, which we compare to rice yields to see what works best,” Murrell said. (Nutrition note: Rice is naturally gluten-free.)
Organic growth
There’s more demand than ever for organically grown foods — a challenge for farmers seeking suitable land. It’s also a challenge for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “organic police,” who identify foods fraudulently labeled as organic.
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