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PAGE 16 FARMERS AND CONSUMERS MARKET BULLETIN – 404-656-3722 – agr.georgia.gov WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2020
A moveable feast

Farmers come to town to sell their crops in a new normal way

By Amy Carter bulk on behalf of their employees, while others bought mul-
amy.carter@agr.georgia.gov tiple boxes to give away to friends, relatives and neighbors.
DeKalb County dedicated $40,000 in funding from the
Ask any Georgia agriculture educator what their main Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act to pur-
mission is in life, and they’ll probably tell you it is to dis- chase Georgia-grown produce and chicken for 1,200 care
abuse folks of the notion that food comes solely from gro- baskets distributed free on a first-come, first-served basis
cery stores. The COVID-19 pandemic has made their mis- May 22.
sion infinitely easier. Buying local means neighbors helping neighbors, which
“People for the first time saw an empty shelf at the be- was the overarching theme of each To-Go event.
ginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. They were not sure how Personnel from the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office repre-
to respond to that,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner sented roughly half of all volunteers who fulfilled orders in
Gary Black. Marietta, which generated nearly $150,000 in presales ahead
“I think maybe they’ve grown to understand – I hope of the event on May 23. Sheriff Neil Warren worked with
we’ve been able to tell them – it’s not a supply problem. We Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin and Agriculture Commission-
have plenty of product.” er Black to organize the drive-thru market.
And to prove the point, the Georgia Department of Ag- “The sheriff just believes wholeheartedly in helping the
riculture teamed with several local and state partners this Cars line up along the main drive at Dalton State College May 20 to
purchase $20 boxes of mixed Georgia-grown produce. (Photos by Amy
Carter/GDA)
23 to deliver 175 pre-ordered dairy boxes to Cobb County
– the drive-thru market was a chock to slow a precipitous
decline in their business.
“When this thing hit, we lost about 80 percent of our busi-
ness,” Jimmy Franks said. “We’ve lost more money in the
last 90 days than I think I’ve lost in the last 10 years.”
His drive time to Cobb County – nearly three hours – was
about equal to the wait time some of the estimated 3,000
buyers logged in line at the Al Bishop Softball Complex
in Marietta to pick up prepacked boxes of produce, frozen
chicken and Franks’ dairy boxes containing a gallon of
whole milk, a half-gallon of chocolate milk, a pound of but-
Southern Swiss Dairy owners Jimmy and Ginny Franks delivered 175
dairy boxes to the Georgia Grown To-Go event in Marietta May 23.
Five-year-old Rocky Mitchell of Vidalia packs fresh produce boxes in
Marietta.
community and giving back wherever we can. I mean that’s
spring to host a series of “Georgia Grown To-Go” events that kind of our role, to protect and to serve,” said Chief Deputy
directly linked farmers from South Georgia with consumers Sonya Allen.
in North Georgia. Those who volunteered to staff the event did so without
“This helps to move product to start with, but one big being asked, she added.
take-away from this thing is we’re getting exposure for Geor- “People said, ‘I’ll be there.’ A lot of civilians here with the
gia Grown, for our local grown products,” said Ken Corbett, sheriff’s office who don’t typically get to work events like the
a produce grower from Lake Park who delivered two trac- deputies do said they wanted to help.”
tor-trailer trucks filled with mixed boxes of bell peppers, cu- If anything good comes of this whole coronavirus epi-
cumbers, yellow squash, zucchini squash and sweet corn to
Marietta.
Corbett said the COVID-19 pandemic has taught people
how to get by without a lot of things, “but one thing we’re not A variety of fresh seasonal produce -- including peaches, blueberries
going to get by without is food. We have to have food.” and Vidalia onions -- were sold in Marietta.
ter and half-pints of whole cream and half-and-half. All are
produced in the on-farm creamery from milk made by a herd
of 160 Brown Swiss cows.
Nearly 300,000 pounds of produce – roughly 20,000 box-
es – were sold at a May 20 event hosted by State Rep. Kasey
Carpenter, a restaurant owner, in Dalton. Volunteers from
various community organizations and businesses packed
and distributed the boxes. Several companies purchased in

People of all ages representing a variety of state and local
organizations volunteered to pack 20,000 produce boxes in Dalton.

sode, it is that consumers previously unfamiliar with the
breadth and depth of Georgia agriculture – the state’s largest
economic driver – will know the name Georgia Grown and
Growers Ken Corbett, left, and Austin Hamilton drove up to Marietta the names of some of the thousands of growers and produc-
from Southwest Georgia to deliver produce and help with distribution. ers united under that label.
“I believe that one of the positive things that’s going to
For Paulding County resident Mike Gray, a truck-driver come out of this is these Georgia Grown farmers will look
on his way home from a trip to Memphis, Tenn., the Georgia their Georgia Grown consumers dead in the eye and I think
Grown To-Go market in Marietta offered a convenient way these consumers are going to want that more,” said Agri-
to gather fresh produce until his own backyard garden comes culture Commissioner Black. “I think these consumers are
in. going to want that more whether they actually see the farmer
“It’s for a good cause, helping the farmers,” he said. or they see our brand with the farmer’s brand and then they
For dairy farmers Jimmy and Ginny Franks – who left Volunteers of all ages helped distribute fresh produce boxes in respond favorably with their retailers saying, ‘This is what
their Southern Swiss Dairy in Waynesboro at 3 a.m. on May Dalton. we want in your store.’”

Find Georgia Agriculture Online! www.agr.georgia.gov Notice
Ads for the July 1 issue are due
@GeorgiaGrown: https://twitter.com/ www.facebook.com/georgiagrown by noon, June 19. Ads scheduled
to print in the July 1 paper will
@Iamgeorgiagrown Georgia Grown: https://www.pinterest.com/GaDepAg/ begin posting online June 19.