Online Farmers Market Adds New Options

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer
The South Cumberland Farmer’s Market, which allows customers to order local produce and handmade products online, is launching several changes this month. The market has extended its ordering hours, implemented a discount lottery, and is seeking more customer feedback.
Starting today (Friday), June 3, customers can order at <sewanee.lo​callygrown.net> each Friday at 9 p.m. through Monday at 10 a.m. Previously, ordering began on Saturday. Customers can pick up orders between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Sewanee Community Center.
The farmer’s market operates under the umbrella of Rooted Here, an organization that also oversees the South Cumberland Food Hub, which links local growers and artisans directly with wholesalers. Jess Wilson, Rooted Here secretary, was part of the small group of farmers that formed the online market in March 2007. She said utilizing the Internet is great for local growers.
“I don’t think that people understand how difficult a regular farmer’s market can be for farmers,” Wilson said. “It is a lot of work to prepare for a regular farmer’s market and you never know what your customer base will be day to day. Though it is usually a nice social endeavor, I often end up wasting a lot of produce that wilts in the sun on my table, and valuable time that could be spent farming.”
Wilson, who owns two farms in Monteagle, encourages her customers to order online.
“I absolutely love selling through the online market because I know what I have sold before I pick it,” she added. “That means that I can pick it to order, it hasn’t sat in the sun on a table for an hour and I’m being as efficient as possible with my time.”
Another change to the online market is the option to have products bagged and ready before a customer arrives. There’s a 5 percent convenience fee for the service. Also new this month, is a weekly lottery, where a customer can win a 10 percent discount on their order. All orders are automatically included in the drawing.
Leslie Lytle, Rooted Here president, noted changes at the pickup site include a table for socializing and a comment box.
“A recent survey showed customers like to chat with the farmers and producers and to see (the products) before they buy,” she said. “Hearing from customers, both praise and gripes, is key to the market’s successful operation. The managers hope people will take the opportunity to leave a comment card—no need to sign your name.”
Lytle said in the summer, Rooted Here farmers and producers are encouraged to also sell outdoors at the Community Center during pickup hours.
Along with the recent changes, Rooted Here is facing a challenge in how to pay employees a sustainable wage and maintain a volunteer base, Lytle added. With only three low-paid employees, Rooted Here relies on 200 to 300 volunteer hours per month to operate, she said. The Internal Revenue Service denied the group’s application as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit and University of Tennessee law students recently reviewed Rooted Here’s structure and advised they form an LLC.
Lytle said the group’s board is exploring its options and Rooted Here will host a community workshop in the fall to help find a solution. For more information about the organization, visit <rootedhere.com> or contact Lytle at <sllytle@blomand.net>.

McClurg & Chef Rick Introduce Locally Sourced Sunday Lunch :: Area Farms Will Provide Chicken, Fruits & Vegetables Each Week

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Most people have never eaten locally raised fried chicken, a culinary delight about as readily available as mushrooms from the moon. But that is about to change.

Beginning on Sunday, Nov. 8, Sewanee Dining located in McClurg Hall will offer farm-fresh locally raised fried chicken at the noon meal on Sunday, the crown jewel in the all-local menu Executive Chef Rick Wright plans for one meal each week.

In keeping with a commitment to promote sustainability and support the local food shed, the University charged Wright with dedicating 30 percent of his $300,000 budget to purchasing locally raised products. That translates into $100,000 a year infused into the local economy.

Three years into the program, Wright has reached the 20 percent mark. He buys all his milk locally, as well as all his eggs, most coming from a Tracy City farmer. He also buys nearly 500 pounds of ground beef each week from local farmers, as well as fruit and vegetables, purchasing from the Sewanee-based South Cumberland Farmers’ Market Food Hub, other farmers’ markets and individual farms.

Wright needs 500 pieces of chicken for each Sunday dinner; that’s more than 60 birds. Two local farms have upped production and on-farm processing to fill the quota, Fountain Springs in Morrison, Tenn., and Nature’s Wealth in Skymont, Tenn.

Both farms raise antibiotic-free, grass-fed poultry, supplementing the birds’ diet with locally grown non-GMO corn and soy meal.

A relatively new product, pastured poultry from family farms is becoming available as a result of a USDA ruling allowing farms who raised fewer than 20,000 chickens to apply for an exemption to process birds on the farm without an inspector present.

“It took over a year to get licensed,” said Fountain Springs farmer Eric Earle. He and his family began on-farm processing of the chickens they raise just five years ago. Fountain Springs also sells farm-raised turkeys and hogs.

In addition to chicken, Nature’s Wealth farm sells eggs, popcorn, potatoes and tomatoes, along with extras from the family vegetable garden.

Both farms are family-run operations. Both the Earle (Fountain Springs) and Diller (Nature’s Wealth) families come from a farming background and found a niche that let them keep farming by tapping into the market for local food.

Chef Wright needs “more local product,” and he’s seeing farmers increase production and extending the season with hoop houses to meet the demand. Locally raised food “is not cheap,” Wright said, “but the payback is spiritual, in part.” Instead of supporting the corporate poultry industry and its negative impact on the community and contributing to a model based on wretched working conditions and low pay for farm workers, the University program is building local agriculture and helping boost the local economy.”

The University farm supplies Wright with lettuces and some eggs. He praised new farm manager Carolyn Hoagland, who has developed an innovative composting program and has plans for extending the season with greenhouses and hoop houses. In 1960, the University farm supplied all the school’s needs. Today the demand is much greater. Wright stressed the need for local farms to help the University reach the goal of “a community that can feed itself.”

Preparing fresh food “from scratch” has its challenges. Wright cited the example of the kitchen staff not knowing how to cut up a whole chicken. But the new skills employees learn increase their pay, Wright said, and they often transition from minimum wage to a living wage.

Among those benefitting the most from the program are students, according to Chef Wright. “We serve students the freshest, best tasting product, while helping them understand the importance of purchasing local, how it benefits them personally, benefits the environment and benefits the community.”

Join in the local fried chicken Sunday feast ($10.38 per person) and celebration on Nov. 8.