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News North Carolina Mountains Becoming Organic Green Grocer North Carolina could become the organic produce capital of the nation one day, and mountain farmers are helping lead the way. "The terrain is ideally suited for it up here," said Aubrey Raper, President of Carolina Organic Growers (COG), a statewide cooperative that has its offices in Asheville. "We have small fields, usually in fertile lowlands, that lend themselves to the kind of intense planting, tending and harvesting that organic farmers must do. And we have farmers who are used to tending small plots." The organic farming industry in the region is composed in large part of burley tobacco farmers who are suffering financially from the decline of the state's tobacco economy and are transitioning to organically grown vegetables and other farmers who are finding that income from growing organic produce can help them remain on the farm and keep land in production. COG also has members in Piedmont and Eastern North Carolina, where raising flue-cured tobacco - the principal money crop - is on the decline. Ward Brothers Farm in Whiteville, Hannah Creek Farm in Four Oaks, Black River Organic Farm in Ivanhoe, Pine Knot Farms in Hurdle Mills, Parker Farms in Elizabeth City, Deer Spring Farm in Lawndale, and Timberwood Organics in Efland are COG members. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture (NCDA) has stationed Smithson Mills in Asheville as Agribusiness Development Representative for Western North Carolina. Mills, a high-energy go between for the various farm and agribusiness interests, drives from farm to farm in a dusty, old-model pickup truck, providing instant access to resources at NCDA, North Carolina State University and elsewhere. "Cooperation between farmers and farm organizations in western North Carolina is remarkable," said Smithson. "Most organic farmers till small plots, and they see pooling their resources and efforts as the one chance they have to survive and flourish. Sharing experiences and best practices is also important in this evolving industry." COG, organized 10 years ago, has beefed up its marketing staff and is playing a major role in getting western North Carolina's organic produce to consumers. Each week, it sends a 24-foot, white refrigerated Ryder truck - nothing fancy - down out of the Asheville Farmer's Market and across the state loaded with several varieties of kale, lettuce, ginger, Daikon radishes, leaks, Swiss chard, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, shitake mushrooms, snow peas, collards, melons and other farm-fresh, organic products grown by its members. "Just getting stores and restaurants to buy their produce locally - conventional or organic - is a big step," said Raper, "and a major marketing effort. It requires a little more on their part, but they find that customers appreciate it, even get excited about having locally grown vegetables available." Restaurants and markets from west of Asheville to the Triangle are among COG's customers. Some of the nation's celebrated chefs, including Ben and Karen Barker at Durham's fabled Magnolia Grill and Bill Smith at Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill, plan menu items around COG produce that is available each week. Second Empire and Bloomsbury Bistro in Raleigh rely on COG for organic vegetables. Whole Foods markets in Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, and Durham buy from COG as do Weaver Street Market in Chapel Hill and Fowlers at Fearington in Chatham County. Less than two percent of all produce in this nation is grown organically, but each year the amount increases significantly. "More and more people believe that organic produce is better for them and the environment than produce grown with traditional fertilizers and pesticides. In addition, they are willing to pay a premium for organic produce that is delivered fresh to their doorsteps or is on their plates in restaurants they patronize," said Raper. "The Golden LEAF Foundation earlier made several key grants up here to help get the organic farming movement going," said Raper, "but if you grow the best produce in the world and can't sell it, you're no better off. Actually you're worse off because farmers have lost their investment and their motivation. The COG marketing initiative was the next logical move for the Foundation." John Rowland, owner of R Farms in Weaverville, is an organic pioneer who now is cultivating 14 acres on his own farm and land scattered about the community. He identified suitable, fallow land and sent cards to the owners offering to rent it. He has a small tractor but cultivates some vegetables with a hand plow to increase efficiency and production. One of the first farmers to join COG, Rowland makes the point that raising organic produce is a continuing learning experience. He has discovered, for example, that growing nasturtiums and Daikon radishes deters insects that would attack his zucchini, and that certain vegetables are more resistant to disease and insects at particular times of the growing season. Before COG got up and running, Rowland was having to raise produce and figure out how to market it and then deliver it. COG now handles the marketing, allowing him to concentrate on what he does best - growing organic vegetables. Raper is a former burley grower himself who switched to growing organic produce six years ago. He also works part time as a transition coordinator with ASAP, helping farmers move from burley production to other crops. It is difficult to compare what a farmer can make from growing organic produce with income from growing burley, Raper said, because some farmers add value to the vegetables by branding, sorting, cleaning and packaging them attractively. Some do not. Also, a small plot can produce greater returns if farmed intensely. For example, some farmers replace each head of lettuce or leek with a new plant each time they harvest one, maximizing their resources and creating a continuing stream of harvestable produce. Under optimum conditions, however, a farmer growing the popular Yukon Gold potato can gross $8,000 an acre and net between $4,500 and $5,500, said Raper. One grower has reported gross income of $10 per plant growing trellised tomatoes. The organic label easily can double the selling price of conventionally grown produce. But, again, product translates into income only if it gets to market. Stacy Rice, COG manager, works the phones constantly placing orders and looking for new buyers. Growers report to her on Friday by phone or email and tell her what vegetables they will have available the next week. Then she contacts buyers with that information Friday evening by fax, so they can place their weekly orders during the weekend or on Monday. Tuesday farmers deliver produce to the Asheville Farmer's Market and that evening the COG truck, laden with fresh, high-quality, organically grown vegetables heads for the Whole Foods warehouse in Morrisville near Raleigh. Product going to Whole Foods stores is loaded on Whole Foods trucks, and produce is transferred to a smaller COG truck to be delivered to restaurants, markets and buying clubs. Cooperative members from the east have their produce there to make the trip back to western North Carolina markets on the cooperative truck. COG trucks run to Boone, Brevard, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Hendersonville, High Point, Raleigh, Statesville, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem. However, there still are markets in those cities and elsewhere in the state selling organic produce with signs saying, "California Produced" - the same varieties being harvested each day by North Carolina's organic farmers. "The biggest challenge," said Rice, "is to keep our markets and our demand slightly ahead of supply. New staff positions are allowing us for the first time to do the kind of marketing that is crucial to our operation and to our future." The cooperative now has the ability to tell stores weeks in advance what produce will be available when and to lock in sales and prices. Tailgate markets are flourishing in Asheville and throughout western North Carolina. They bustle particularly on Saturday mornings, providing another market for organic produce. "COG allows higher volume growers to access a statewide wholesale marketing network, and tailgate markets are a great way for them to supplement their income with smaller volume retail sales," said Rice. "We believe strongly that the cooperative way is a good way for commercial organic farmers to go." # # # For additional information, please contact # # # For additional information, please contact Email: info@goldenleaf.org
Golden LEAF Foundation |