The Atlanta Foodcast: A Food Podcast

On this week’s episode of the Atlanta Foodcast, we’re talking to the managers and owner three Georgia cooperative and independent natural groceries: Ahzjah Simons of Atlanta’s Sevananda Natural Foods Co-Op, Kara Brown and Theo Horne of Athens’ Daily Groceries Co-op, and Kristin Russell of Savannah’s Brighter Day Natural Foods (and the Sentient Bean). Our conversation focuses on the background of these local food institutions and how they’ve met the challenges of doing business, protecting their staff, and serving customers during the pandemic as well as the engaging with the community in the Black Lives Matter and racial justice movement. 

We then spoke to Bilal Sarwari of the National Young Farmers Coalition, who will soon be joining the roster as an upcoming guest co-host of the Atlanta Foodcast. Our discussion centers around the racial equity movement and food justice and the roll of non-profit organizations in affecting systemic change. 

We hope you enjoy today’s show and that it reminds you to eat responsibly and Stay Local. You can learn more about Georgia Organics’ Stay Local campaign at georgiaorganics.org/staylocal. We’ll be back with another episode in two weeks, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review us in the meantime wherever you listen to podcasts! 

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To learn more about Sevananda, visit sevananda.coop/ and follow on social media at facebook.com/Sevananda.ATL/ and @sevananda_atl/. 

To learn more about Daily Groceries, visit dailygroceries.org/ and follow on social media at facebook.com/dailygroceries and @dailycoop. 

To learn more about Brighter Day, visit brighterdayfoods.com/ and follow on social media at facebook.com/BrighterDayFoodsSavannah/ and @brighterdaynaturalfoods. 

To learn more and join the National Young Farmers Coalition, visit youngfarmers.org/. You can also join their advocacy network by texting Farmers to 40649. To connect on social media, visit facebook.com/youngfarmerscoalition/ and @youngfarmers/. 

Welcome back to another year of conversations in food with farmers, chefs, community activists, and other leaders around Georgia! 

The year has been and continues to challenge, but our hope with the Atlanta Foodcast is that hearing from these incredible people will bring you inspiration. These are the leaders working hard to establish an equitable, regenerative food system for all Georgians.  

On today’s episode, we’re connecting with a farmer-chef duo who participated in our Farm to Restaurant program’s Food Fight GA initiative: Chef Deborah VanTrece of Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours (www.twistedsoulcookhouseandpours.com/) and Howard Berk of Ellijay Mushrooms (ellijaymushrooms.com/). 

In our second segment, we’re talking to Nicolas Donck & Jeni Jarrard of Crystal Organic Farm (crystalorganicfarm.com/), a 27-year running certified organic farm in Newborn. They discuss how longterm business choices on the farm and the COVID-19 pandemic have evolved and established Crystal Organic Farm.    

For Gardening with Farmers this week, Nicolas is sharing his expertise on winter gardening for these cold months.  

Thank you for joining us; we encourage you to Stay Local this year and support their work. You can learn more about the Georgia Organics Stay Local campaign at georgiaorganics.org/staylocal.   

We’re headed (safely) to Athens this week…with a quick detour in Rome!
 
First up, we’re at the Athens Farmers Market with Tamita Brown and Gabriel Jimenez, owners of Caribe United Farm in Oglethorpe. Tamita and Gabriel insist on raising animals - currently chicken, duck, guinea fowl, pigs, and more - in a way that's responsible, respectful to the animals and land, and a way which honors their Caribbean backgrounds and travels. You can support Caribe United Farm and help them grow their operations by donating to their GoFundMe campaign, which can be found on their website at caribeunitedfarm.com/, where you can also shop from them for pick up at the Athens Farmers Market and the Grant Park Farmers Market. Follow them atfacebook.com/CaribeUnitedFarm andinstagram.com/caribeunitedfarm/.
 
Next, we have transitional gardening tips for the season with Dr. Brian Campbell, Chair of Environmental Science & Studies and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Berry College and a leader in the Rome Food Oasis. Stay tuned for a future episode as we share a full conversation with our Rome Food Oasis partners.
 
Finally, we’re raising a glass and welcoming The Lark Winespace to Athens. We recently sat down, at a masked distance, with owner and sommelier Krista Lark Slater, who also co-owns The Expat, to talk about her background in wine, art, entrepreneurship, and her decidedly unpretentious approach to great wine, with a special emphasis on natural and biodynamic wines and women winemakers. We also got a few of her picks for great holiday wines. To learn more about The Lark Winespace, follow on social media atfacebook.com/thelarkwinespace andinstagram.com/thelarkwinespace/.

This week on the Atlanta Foodcast we’re continuing to explore the theme of Georgia Organics’ year-end campaign: Stay Local through conversations with farmers Monica Ponce, Russell Honderd, and Ronnie Mathis. To learn more about Georgia Organics’ work, become a member, or shop directly from farmers, visit georgiaorganics.org/staylocal.

First, we’re talking to farmers Monica Ponce & Russell Honderd on navigating land and labor arrangements, cooperative farming, and farming as a couple, as well as why local food—Staying Local—is critical to righting systemic wrongs in food. Monica and Russell are currently farming at Love is Love Farm at Gaia Gardens in Atlanta, find out more at www.loveislovefarm.com/ or follow them atinstagram.com/loveislovefarm.

For Gardening with Farmers, we hear from Ronnie Mathis of Mountain Earth Farm in Clarkesville. He is a fifth generation farmer sharing some winter tips for strong summer’s blueberries!

Finally, we hear more from Ronnie Mathis, exploring his lifetime career as a farmer in Northeast Georgia. Mathis has the kind of knowledge that comes from farming, primarily naturally and organically for decades. He shares his advice and mentoring of younger farmers, and why he just can’t seem to retire from farming.

Welcome to another episode of the Atlanta Foodcast, hosted by Georgia Organics!

As Georgia Organics launches our end-of-year fundraising campaign: Stay Local, we’re focusing on why it’s so important that Georgians continue to support Georgia farmers by shopping as directly as possible from them. In this episode, we’re discussing the environmental and economic significance of supporting small farmers and why it’s so vital to support Georgia farmers in and beyond this pandemic year. To learn more about Georgia Organics’ Stay Local campaign, visit georgiaorganics.org/staylocal.  

First up, we’re talking to Georgia Organics board member Rebecca Williams with Rodale Institute Southeast Organic Center at Many Fold Farm in Chattahoochee Hills. Rodale Institute’s Southeast Organic Center is opening soon, and we caught up about the work they’ll be doing to support research and policy-making in organic agriculture in Georgia and beyond. To learn more about the Rodale Institute Southeast Organic Center, visit RodaleInstitute.org and follow them on social media.

Rodale Institute Southeast Organic Center is hosting a virtual open house on Tuesday, November 17 at 7 p.m. to register, visit https://rodaleinstitute.org/events/soc-virtual-open-house/. 

For this week’s Gardening with Farmers, CheFarmer Matthew Raiford is sharing his tips for the fall vegetable and fruit garden. Matthew is the sixth generation owner and farmer of Gillard Farms in Brunswick, host of the podcast Jupiter’s Almanac, author of the forthcoming cookbook, Bress ‘n’ Nyam, and an Atlanta Foodcast co-host!

Finally, we caught up with Zac Harrison of Fresh Harvest about how their operations have weathered the pandemic year and why it’s more important than ever to be supporting Georgia farmers as directly as possible. We discuss how crucial it is that consumers who have shopped from farmers during the pandemic continue to do so to provide ongoing stability to Georgia’s small farmers who are planning their crops with these new customers in mind. To learn more about Fresh Harvest and become a member, visit freshharvestga.com/.

Curious about our Stay Local campaign? Through the end of the year, we're asking Georgians to STAY LOCAL, by doing two things:

First, consider keeping your charitable dollars in Georgia with a year-end contribution to Georgia Organics, which will go toward supporting local and organic farmers working to feed their individual communities across our state.

Second, please buy from those farmers directly where possible. Consistently shop at your local farmers market, and visit gfg.georgiaorganics.org to browse a selection of our farmer members who offer direct purchasing options through CSA subscriptions and online purchasing.

Visit georgiaorganics.org/staylocal to learn more.

Welcome to the Atlanta Foodcast, returning with your new hosts with Georgia Organics!

We sat down recently with the Forsyth Farmers’ Market (forsythfarmersmarket.com/) team in Savannah to talk about their work in the community both through the market itself and the several other programs they offer to champion food equity in Savannah and beyond. We spoke with Executive Director Jeb Bush, Director of Community Programs Mark Bowen, and Outreach & Education Coordinator Tasha Wei about food as an agent of social change and tool for community health and healing. To donate to their COVID-19 relief fund, visitforsythfarmersmarket.com/give and leave the note “COVID Relief” in the Comments section. You can also follow Forsyth Farmers’ Market at www.facebook.com/ForsythFarmersMarketand www.instagram.com/forsythfarmersmarket/.

Next up, we got a few helpful tips for beginners setting up their fall garden from Haylene Green, aka the Garden Queen! The Garden Queen is legendary in the farming and health community of Atlanta, and we’re thrilled to hear from her as she shares a bit about herself and her notes for fall. To learn more and shop from The Garden Queen, visitwww.thegardenqueen.com/ and follow on social media atfacebook.com/haylenethegardenqueen/ andinstagram.com/atlgardenqueen/.

Finally, we’re celebrating the fifth anniversary of The Farmer Fund (www.thefarmerfund.org/) by talking about the creative (even scandalous!) start of this fund helping farmers to weather crises such as Hurricane Michael, health emergencies, and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018, Georgia Organics assumed operations of The Farmer Fund and aims to honor the intent and vision of the amazing crew who got The Farmer Fund off the ground. Since that time, more than $175,000 has been raised and more than $50,000 awarded to farms impacted by Hurricane Michael floods, healthcare emergencies, and the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia Organics has provided $1,000 grants to 71 small Georgia farms and counting. To learn more and donate or apply, visit www.thefarmerfund.org/.

Today, we brought together Ben along withGeorgia Organics Communications Manager Mary Elizabeth Kidd and Georgia Organics Board Member—and the one & only "CheFarmer"—Matthew Raiford to talk about what's next

Hey, friends! Just a quick update here and wanted to share what is happening here at the podcast.

In case you just can’t handle a good cliffhanger, I’ll cut to the good stuff: I’ll be moving on as your host! That’s right — there’s going to be a NEW host of The Atlanta Foodcast! I couldn’t be more excited about this and I’m very much looking forward to a new, creative individual taking the reins here. You’ll be hearing plenty more about who this person is in due time, so don’t worry.

Also, I’m very excited to stay on as the Producer of the show! I’ll be running things from behind the scenes — so I won’t be a total stranger.

So, all I can say is thank you. Thank you for an amazing three years of bringing this podcast to life and perpetuating the hard work of Atlanta chefs, restaurant owners, business people, and more. Thank you for listening. Thank you for supporting. Thank you for making these stories even more available to our wonderful city. It’s been my dream all along to keep this podcast going with new hosts in the mix. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Until next time, Atlanta. I love you forever.

-Ben

Meet Matt Hinton. He doesn’t come from a history of restaurateurs nor did he attend culinary school. Nay! The motivations behind this gentleman’s beloved-by-many business is quite the tale.

Bell Street Burritos is, as many know, a staple in the city. Trusty burritos, quesadillas, tamales, and plenty more. If you’re just now learning of Bell Street, you’re not completely out of luck. The locations continue to offer to-go orders and they are offering many of their items in a marketplace fashion (Who doesn’t need a few extra avocados anyways?).

Matt and I had a chance to chat over the phone last week. There’s a lot more to his story and the story of Bell Street that we’ve yet to cover, but here’s the first part or “Origin” story. Do enjoy.

Episode Music: Luxury - Parallel Love

I caught up with Michael Lennox of Electric Hospitality (Ladybird, Muchacho, and Golden Eagle) to chat about a recent initiative that he and other ATL business owners started just in the past few weeks — ATL Family Meal.