• Want to see a Georgia grass-fed beef farm in action? Visit Will Harris and White Oak Pastures!

• Part II: The land, sustainability, and Serengeti model of Georgia grass-fed beef farm, White Oak Pastures

Since writing those two parts, White Oak Pastures has undergone a small revolution. They have since built an abattoir specifically for chickens and turkeys (Will was just embarking on his chicken adventures when we visited). This is a huge leap for a family ranch that’s been focused on beef since the 1800′s.

When we visited last year, Will was just embarking on his sustainable chicken adventures with his first shipments of baby chicks. He let us into the coops to take a look at the cute little ones.

Will’s other projects involve his commitment to zero waste (sustainability is discussed in-depth in part II). His $283,000 solar voltaic shed produces 50,000 watts of power (the average household uses roughly 1500 a day). At the time of our last visit, he had plans to double that production.

Underground, he has a 36,000 gallon water purification system with which to run his abattoirs.

And what to do with all of those odd animal parts that we Americans tend to shy away from? Will sells them into ethnic markets, another way he ensures that every part of every one of his creatures is utilized.

Every year, Will plans to plant 500 white oaks around his property, lining fields, roads, and providing shade for his herds. I can imagine how stately the white oaks lining the driveway will look when they’re all grown up.

Will also keeps a big part of history in a bowl in his office – coins that his family used to mint. From 1866 through the 1940′s, the Harris family had their own monetary system on the farm, until the government kindly asked them to shut down production.

In the interest of historic preservation, Will’s daughter (and marketing guru) Jenni is renovating Will’s mother’s house on the property. Situated just off of the road, the house sits in close proximity to the fields and a grove of trees where the cows come to rest.

On a random side note, one of my favorite quotes from Will regarding working with his staff:

You get 27 ranchers and butchers together, you’ll only have four main problems: liquor, money, women, and the law.

When Zack and I got engaged last year, we knew it was the perfect reason to buy a whole (or at least half) cow from Will. We also realized a caterer might not be happy with having to prepare so many different types of beef. So we decided to go with ground beef and chicken from White Oak Pastures. We’re striving to keep our wedding as local and as zero waste as possible and are happy that the Harris family can be a part of that (I don’t plan on talking wedding too much, but there may be more to come on green Atlanta weddings in the future).

White Oak Pastures has a new facebook page, too, so be sure to check it out!

That completes part III of White Oak Pastures! As you’re out and about in Atlanta, ask where people get their meat from. We have a lot of wonderful farms in Georgia and, the more we ask our restaurants and our grocery stores about where they get their food, the more they will pay attention. We’re the ones who hold the money in our wallets and tell them what we want every time we make a purchase. We’ve watched Publix carry more and more White Oak beef as we keep buying it up.

Encourage your friends to make the switch to local, grass-fed beef, too. One of the best ways we’ve found is to simply cook it for people. Have friends over for dinner and throw burgers, sirloin steaks, or tenderloin on the grill and let them taste the difference. Hopefully that will help convince them! Happy eating!

Their next plant sale will be April 9th from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the church at 737 Woodland Avenue. You can also get updates on their Seedtime and Harvest facebook page.

Environmentalism has been whole heartedly adopted by our church. Last year, because of our efforts at Seedtime & Harvest, we won the first Trailblazer award from Georgia Interfaith Power and Light. It was an amazing moment when everyone gathered at the awards ceremony realize this new award was won by a group of mentally handicapped and financially “poor” individuals for their outstanding leadership in community environmentalism.

– Glynis Ward

Thank you to Glynis for sending along this information! She is one of the gardeners of Seedtime & Harvest, Greenhouse and Gardens at the church.

White Oak Pastures in south Georgia is building an on-site abattoir for organic poultry

We’ve talked about White Oak Pastures on Our Green Atlanta before and about how much we love their beef (here, too), but if you’re more of a white meat kind-of person, then read on for White Oak’s expanded poultry operations on-site!

WHITE OAK PASTURES BREAKS GROUND ON POULTRY ABATTOIR
Georgia Farmer Will Harris Increases Poultry Production and Adheres to
Global Animal Partnership’s Five-Step Animal Welfare Standards

ATLANTA (February 15, 2011) – White Oak Pastures Owner and Georgia Organics President Will Harris is pleased to announce that at the end of January, his Bluffton, Ga. farm broke ground on a new USDA inspected poultry abattoir and it will be the only poultry plant that processes free range poultry in Georgia, Florida or Alabama.

White Oak Pastures is increasing its poultry numbers in order to further develop its Serengeti Plains rotational grazing model, which means large ruminants (cows), followed by small ruminants (sheep), followed by birds (chickens and turkeys), so pastures are grazed and fertilized in three different ways.  This is the way of life that has existed for centuries in Africa.

“We have learned that this production model is undisputedly the best management system for our land and our livestock,” says Harris.

As a result of this new poultry plant, the Bluffton farm will be selling chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese after August 2011.

Harris is also now participating in the Global Animal Partnership’s Five-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards program. Global Animal Partnership is a nonprofit organization that brings together farmers, scientists, ranchers, retailers, and animal advocates in order to improve the welfare of animals in agriculture.  Each set of tiered standards has its own requirements that must be met before certification to that particular Step level is assigned, if appropriate.  Producers have the freedom to aim for any Step level they choose. Each Step rating has its own distinct label that identifies the particular Step level achieved.  In essence, Step One prohibits cages and crates.  Step Two requires environmental enrichment for indoor production systems; Step Three, outdoor access; Step Four, pasture-based production; Step Five, an animal-centered approach with all physical alterations prohibited; and, finally, Step Five+, the entire life of the animal spent on an integrated farm.

White Oak Pastures is one of only two farms in the country to receive the Step Five certification on its chickens, and one of only a handful of farms to receive the Step Four certification on its cattle. More information about the standards can be found on the White Oak Pastures’ website here.

About White Oak Pastures
White Oak Pastures is a family-owned and operated grass-fed beef producer that is committed to the principles of sustainability and stewardship. The five-generation farm has operated continuously on the same land in Early County, Georgia, for more than 140 years. White Oak Pastures beef can be purchased at more than 1000 Publix supermarkets throughout the Southeast and at Whole Foods Market locations from Miami, Florida to Princeton, New Jersey.  The beef is distributed by Halperns’ Purveyors of Steak and Seafood, Destiny Organics, Tree of Life and Buckhead Beef gourmet beef distributors (a division of Sysco Foods).  White Oak Pastures is located at 22775 Highway 27 in Bluffton, Georgia.  For more information, call
(229) 641-2081 or visit www.whiteoakpastures.com.

Part II: White Oak Pastures’ land and sustainability

White Oak Pastures is a zero waste farm that operates under the Serengeti model. If you’ve ever read Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, you were introduced to the Serengeti model via farmer Joel Salatin and Polyface Farms in Virginia (and Will Harris has read every book Pollan has written). The Serengeti method is inspired by the simplicity, yet depth and richness, of African grasslands and the way animals interact with the land. Larger ruminants (mammals that partially digest vegetation, regurgitate cud, and rechew it for maximum nutrition) graze the land first. When they move on, they’re followed by smaller ruminants who may graze upon different types of grasses in the same field. Next come the birds, that feed on the bugs and insects in the grass.

Will cycles the cattle, sheep, turkeys, and chickens through different fields and spreads out mixtures of compost and organically-produced fertilizer to enrich the soil, native grasses, and hay. Which brings me back to the tour we started in part I of this series. After our tour of the abattoir, we knew what happened to the edible parts of the cow, but what about everything else?

The Afterlife

Will loaded us up in his truck (Zack, me, and two more guests who were in the right place at the right time) to show us around the farm. In a large pavilion adjacent to the abattoir, we stopped for a moment to talk to a man operating a large machine. Will explained that this aerobic / anaerobic digester turned the blood and viscera of the cattle into a liquid, organic fertilizer for use on the fields. Once the cattle are rotated to the next field, gallons of the blood fertilizer are spread over the ground, adding richness to the south Georgia soil. I asked Will how long would he wait before letting the animals back on those fields? He said he believes everything is absorbed within a week, but he waits 45 days just to be safe.

We pulled up to a series of whitish mounds, to which Will said, “Here’s a part of the process that’s a little unpleasant to look at.” Curiosity piqued, I looked out the window and saw scattered shapes in the grass leading up to the pile. As I realized what we were looking at, Will explained that these were bone piles, where the bones from his abattoir scraps were brought out to the farm to dry. As part of the zero waste model, everything is disposed of in an environmentally sound way and, in this case, the bones are ground and then applied to the pastures’ soil to provide calcium and phosphorous.

In keeping with zero waste, the cattle's bones are piled up to dry, later to be ground into bone meal. Blood and viscera are digested to become liquid, organic fertilizer.

We passed compost piles, hay bales from Will’s fields that help feed the cattle (no corn or soy here like you would find in industrial farms – the ruminants’ stomach isn’t biologically designed to handle anything but grasses and vegetation), and the barn where the hides are stored. Every cow’s hide is stacked with wet side facing up and salted for preservation. Every 600 hides, they’re shipped out to Louisville, Kentucky, where they are transformed into leather.

The Beginnings

So how many heads of cattle does it take to enable White Oak Pastures to slaughter 25 cows a day (equaling ~9,500 pounds of boned out beef)? How does the birth to death cycle progress? Here are a few numbers:

• 34 – the number of bulls on the farm for procreation purposes
• 678 – the number of cows on the farm to birth the calves
• ~1,400 – the number of cattle being raised at any given time for slaughter
• 283 – the number of days in the gestation cycle of a cow
• 18 – the very high end number of calves a cow could give birth to in her life (gotta have good birthing hips)
• 8 – the number of months after a calf is born that he is weaned from his mother (the calves born around the same time move together away from their mothers and stay together as a herd until slaughter)
• 30 – the number of months that the USDA regulates cattle must be slaughtered within (the young age helps drastically lessen the chance of mad cow disease)
• 26 – the number of months that Whole Foods requires their suppliers to slaughter cattle within
• 24 – the number of months at which White Oak Pastures slaughters their cattle
• 1 – the number of Great Pyrenees dogs that grow up with, guard, and protect each herd of cattle

#1: These cattle are about four days away from slaughter and have spent their whole lives freely roaming and grazing on sweet native grasses; #2: Will's goat and sheep herd gathered in the shade (the house he grew up in is just to the right of this photo)

Throughout their lives, the cows remain completely free range and grassfed. Will grows hay on the farm, too, to harvest and feed the animals. Open air, sunshine, and food that is rooted in the ground shouldn’t be such unattainable goals, yet they seem incredibly inconvenient for much of the nation’s beef producers. White Oak Pastures used to feed the industrial meat industry, a natural transgression from its beginnings feeding local residents from the farm in 1866 into the age of mass consumption, but in 1995, Will began to reverse the process. While he says it’s still a work in progress, I’d say it’s a pretty amazing accomplishment.

“All of our cattle are born, raised, and harvested to meet our USDA Approved Grassfed Protocol. [This protocol prevents the use of artificial hormones, confinement feeding, animal by-products, antibiotics, etc.]“
- White Oak Pastures brochure

Will acknowledges that grass-fed beef will never dominate the market, that people will still buy the super-cheap meat on sale in a big box store, but they might never be his audience either (although I wish they were). However, demand is increasing and White Oak Pastures is certainly garnering attention (in fact, the morning I put up part I, the AJC ran an article about White Oak Pastures). They own the only on-farm, USDA-inspected, grassfed beef processing plant in the nation and have won taste-testing contests, so it’s no surprise why. Zack is slowly getting our friends and family hooked on White Oak Pastures’ beef, whether for moral, ecological, economical, or flavor reasons – and it’s working. His friend Jason tackled a two-pound steak a few weeks ago:

Jason put down this two pound White Oak Pastures steak in the face of obvious skepticism (as evidenced by Vince's face in the background)

At the end of the day, Zack and I pulled our cooler out of the car and started picking out meat that Will had ready to go in a cooler at the front of his store. The other couple who joined us made their selections as well to take up to their 40 family members up the road. As she got out her card to pay, Will said:

“Why don’t you mail me a check? I don’t know how to work the credit card machine.” That’s good ol’ Southern faith in people.

Zack and I brought our cooler to buy beef directly from White Oak Pastures' grass-fed beef farm in southern Georgia

Next up in part III: Will’s other projects. That’s right, it doesn’t end with beef. So stay tuned for chickens, solar voltaic sheds, white oaks, and veggie patches. You’ll also get to meet the farm dogs and who doesn’t like farm dogs?

• Hazon Community Supported Agriculture with Congregation Shearith Israel. Sign up by the season and receive a half-share ($125) or full-share ($250) box every Wednesday from September 20th through the week before Thanksgiving. That’s 10 weeks of fresh veggies and fruit! And at $25 a week for a full box, you’ll meet or beat the price you’d pay at the grocery store – and you’d be supporting local Georgia farmers instead. You can’t lose! Deadline for registration is Wednesday, September 15th (and if you are a new member there is a $15.00 administrative fee). Sign up here!
• Nature’s Garden Delivered. With a mix of local, organic, natural, and transitional foods, Nature’s Garden Delivered lets you choose from four box sizes for weekly delivery. Membership is free (and required) and you can set your personal preferences for your custom box.
• Emory University’s CSA from Destiny Produce. Emory’s Organic Box Program provides boxes in three sizes. Orders are available for pick-up on Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. at The Depot on Asbury Circle.

For a complete list of local Atlanta CSAs as well as Georgia CSAs, check out Georgia Organics – just click “Local Food Guide” on their home page. And for more fresh, local Atlanta food options, check out my food page here.

Since we learned so much in the few hours we were on Will’s farm, I’ve divided this blog post up into three sections: the processing plant, the land, sustainability, and Serengeti model, and Will’s other projects.

Part I: White Oak Pastures’ Processing Plant

We arrived a little after 3 p.m. and Will was in his office in the processing plant, which you can see from the road (highway 27). The Harris family built the plant after deciding to opt out of the industrial meat industry and to raise cattle in certified organic, certified humane facility. Throughout the cattle’s lives, they roam 2,500 acres of open pasture and eat only native hay and sweet grasses grown right on the farm. One of the most impressive accomplishments of White Oak Pastures in that it is a completely zero waste facility (which I’ll explain more in part two) and that this true southern rancher could talk all day about sustainable, organic agriculture. After handshakes and introductions to the dogs, we commenced the tour.

We took a quick photo with Will Harris in front of his processing plant at White Oak Pastures with grass-fed, free range cattle

The first stop was the office of Brian Sapp, the manager who oversees the farm’s day to day operations and compliance. After much searching for the perfect candidate, Will recruited him from the University of Florida after Brian received his master’s in Meat Science. Brian is an artisan meat cutter and, as Will said, “he’s been a true godsend” as a borderline obsessive-compulsive about crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s, which in turn frees up Will to handle the ranching side of the business. He also showed us the office of the federal USDA agent who is required to be on-site every single day the plant is in operation (which is Monday through Friday), who maintains his own locked office, and who, by law, has a separate bathroom and shower.

Next, we entered the room where the cows are humanely slaughtered. I know that may seem like a contradiction, but consider this: most industrial processing plants kill up to 400 cattle an hour where as White Oak Pastures kills 25 cattle a day – one at a time, so the animals stay calm and unaware of their fate (which, I found out, can have a profound effect on the taste of the meat). Each cow follows the following steps:

White Oak Pastures slaughters 25 cows a day compared to industrial farms who slaughter up to 400 an hour

1. The cows are brought to a large, covered area just outside this door.
2. One at a time, they are led through this door and into the chute by the cowboys who have handled them their whole lives, so that they don’t get panicked or flustered.
3. This wall raises and lowers and would be down, flush with the floor, when the cow walks in. The worker stands on the platform and, using a pneumatic captive bolt, stuns the cow so it is rendered senseless (called “Dr. Temple Grandin’s humane animal handling process”). While the heart is still beating, the animal can feel no pain.
4. The worker raises the wall and the stunned cow tumbles down the small ramp to the floor.

Next, the cow is hoisted up by its back legs to hang from an overhead conveyor chain while a worker cuts its carotid artery over a funnel that catches the blood. The cow then moves on to have its head, hooves, hide, and viscera removed (all of which goes on to serve a purpose, whether on or off the farm, which we’ll get into).

The slaughter room for the cattle was smaller than I expected, but then again, I'm not really sure I knew what to expect!

After that, the cow moves into a refrigerated section (to the left of Will in the above picture) which connects to the butchering room next door. As we walked over to the butchering room, I mentioned to Will that it was over a year-and-a-half ago that I decided to start down the path of eating less meat by giving up sandwich meat. That’s as far as I got. Instantly, Will said,

“You don’t want to eat that sh*t. Ever. I know what goes into it and it’s the worst of the worst. Lips and anuses. Hotdogs? Awful. All they do is take a bunch of parts and liquefy them completely. Stay away from all of it.”

Zack told him about a friend of his who feeds hotdogs to her cat because the cat loves it and it’s cheaper than actual cat food. Not that it’s okay to feed anuses and lips to our family pets, but shouldn’t we set the bar a little higher for ourselves than cat and dog food? Anyway, onto the butcher room…

Whole cows hang in the refrigerated area between the slaughter room and the butcher room (in the front are livers and other edible organs)

The slaughter room and the butcher room are kept completely separate from each other. The workers keep to their sections and every part of the processing plant is thoroughly cleaned before anyone goes home for the day in order to prevent any sort of contamination (it was completely spotless – you would have no idea that 25 cows were killed a day in this plant). The only part that connects the two rooms is the refrigerated “closet” where the carcasses move from one side to the other to get divided up.

The butcher room at White Oak Pastures

The whole cows emerge from the door seen here and move along the conveyor to a butcher standing at the head of the table. With his masterful skills, he cuts away pieces of beef and places them on the table for the other butchers to refine. The animal automatically lowers as he cuts pieces off so it stays level with where he’s working. Will pointed out that this is one of the toughest jobs because it requires pushing around almost 600 pounds of hanging beef.

So, from the grassy field to the ready-to-ship box, here are the numbers:

• 1,000 pounds – the weight of one, live cow
• 580 pounds – the weight of one cow after it leaves the slaughter room (minus the head, hooves, hide, and viscera)
• 380 pounds – the weight of one cow after it’s butchered
• 7 – the number of boxes one cow is sorted into for delivery to stores (like Whole Foods); each box is labeled with the date the cow was slaughtered, the date it was butchered, and the tag number from its ear. This is the ultimate in source verification and traceability.
• ~200 pounds – the amount of meat you would get boxed up, ready to cook or freeze, should you decide to order an entire side of cattle (which you can do on their website)
• 1 week – the time that passes between each store’s delivery (so I need to check and see on what day of the week Whole Food on Briarcliff gets their shipment in…)

After the tour of the facilities, we headed back out to the office where another young couple was parking and getting out of their vehicle. They had also driven down the road and were headed to her family’s farm when they decided to stop in and check the place out. Both had heard of White Oak Pastures previously and wanted to see if they could pick up any meat to take on to their family (which they did). Will said he was just showing us around and about to take us out and show us the farm. He asked if they would like to join us, to which they agreed, so Will loaded us up in his truck and we headed out.

Keep reading with part II: White Oak Pastures’ land, sustainability, and Serengeti model of this Georgia grass-fed beef farm.

On Saturday August 28th starting at 9 a.m. we will be hosting the second annual Chicks for Charity fundraiser by the Atlanta Backyard Poultry Meetup group and nationally known chicken expert and radio personality Andy the Chicken Whisperer.

They will be giving away 1000 baby chicks and collecting donations for the East Atlanta Kids Club. There will be 2 avian vets present to answer your chicken rearing questions. Also there will be a rolling store to supply you with everything you need to start raising your own.

Andy the Chicken Whisperer will be doing a live broadcast from the market that morning.

The market is located at the corner of N. McDonough St. and E. Trinity Place 1 block south of the square next to Decatur High School. Plenty of free parking in the Calloway Building lot at the corner of Trinity Place and Commerce Dr. The entrance is off Commerce Dr.

Be sure to check your local zoning laws before coming to get some chicks!

Anna Millman  |  404-402-9409  |  anna@annamillman.com  |  www.annamillman.com

John Wolfinger in Virginia Highland heeded Anna’s advice and looked up the Atlanta chicken rules:

I just checked our ordinances relating to chickens – we are allowed a maximum of 25 chickens, allowing 2 square feet of land per birds over 4 months of age.

Wondering about Decatur chickens? Your answer lies with the Oakhurst Community Garden! They offer a class on Chicks in the City – and even have an annual tour of chicken coops in Decatur by the same name. You can find a full list of classes on raising chickens and general animal husbandry on the NEW Oakhurst Community Garden website.

In addition to being Jenny’s cousin (and therefore privy to all sorts of funny stories about her), I am the Area Volunteer Coordinator for a really amazing organization called Heifer Project International Jenny is letting me guest-blog because I believe that the followers of Our Green Atlanta would be interested in and passionate about the type of work that Heifer does.  If, after reading the scintillating summary below, you would like to learn more about Heifer or volunteering, please respond to this post, friend the Atlanta volunteer organization on Facebook (Heifer in Atlanta), or check out their website at www.heifer.org. This is the first of a series of blog entries focusing on the different aspects of Heifer’s work. Today’s blog will give a brief overview…

Heifer Project International (HPI) is a non-governmental, non-profit aid organization that was begun in 1944 with the goal of sustainable, long-term community development. Heifer is not a relief organization like the Red Cross; instead, HPI partners with community organizations and leadership to achieve long range goals of ecologically respectful economic growth. Heifer’s mission focuses on ending hunger, combating poverty and caring for the Earth via seven initiatives: agroecology, animal well-being, gender equity, HIV/AIDS awareness/assistance, microenterprise, urban agriculture, and youth programs. Heifer’s approach towards development equips individuals and communities with the training and resources necessary to obtain a sustainable source of food and income and manage that source in an ecologically appropriate manner. HPI offers 30 different kinds of livestock, trees, or seeds to project partners as they work towards long term, sustainable development.

Instead of a top-down approach, HPI is entirely a grass-roots organization.  All country staff are from the areas they serve, and to meet their goals of community development, Heifer partners with other, existing humanitarian groups – preferably indigenous to an area, but they will also partner with larger NGOs such as Save the Children – to achieve their goals. Heifer’s policy is to never tell communities what they need, but instead, to ask how they can be helpers as individuals reach their own goals.

Find out how you can get involved with the Heifer project in Atlanta!

Before the first gifts of livestock or seeds are given, Heifer will have already been in a community anywhere from 6 months to one year giving training and supporting the community as they develop the skills necessary to care for themselves and the gift they will be given. HPI considers this training process integral to long term project success/sustainability as well as goals of gender equity. Field staff offer training on everything from how to manage a business for individuals receiving microloans to what medications are needed to keep a hive of bees healthy. Once individuals receive a gift of life stock, seeds, microloan or training, they become responsible for passing on the gift (where an individual or community has to present to another individual or community something of the same value as they were already given – a flock of chicks, a pregnant cow, the same amount of money given in a microloan, etc.) This concept of passing on the gift is the most significant of Heifer’s twelve cornerstones.

These cornerstones are the framework guiding HPI’s practice and are the reasons that HPI is so protean, sustainable and successful. They are: passing on the gift, accountability (individuals and communities must reach self-established goals), sharing and caring, sustainability and self-reliance, improved animal management, nutrition and income, gender and family focus, genuine need and justice, improving the environment, full participation (of all family/community members, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, educational background, etc.), training and education, and spirituality (as appropriate to whichever group). HPI believes that these guiding structures provide the scaffolding to achieve socially just and economically appropriate development. Throughout the process, the goal is to leverage existing community knowledge and strengths while equipping individuals for advocacy by using the cornerstones above.

Heifer’s goal is to end their initial involvement with a community within 5 to 6 years. By that point, HPI hopes that their cornerstones have become community values so that community members will continue to pass on the gift long after they are gone. Heifer believes at this time that groups should be well versed in advocacy and that bonds committing communities to each other and to development should be well established. However, communities can re-apply for a different type of project help at the end of the first term. For example, in northern Honduras, a community that originally received gifts of livestock ten years ago has reapplied and is now working with microloans to establish a small, marketable milk and cheese business.

HPI began nearly seventy years ago with one man organizing the original donation of 16 cows to families in Puerto Rico. Today, 10.4 million families can trace improvements in their life to Heifer’s work as direct beneficiaries or recipients of a gift pass on. HPI runs nearly 900 projects in 28 U.S. states and 53 different countries.

Come and join us as we change our world!

Picking blueberries at Washington Farms on a bright July day (maybe sunscreen would have been a good idea)

Washington Farms is extremely easy to find and they give clear directions on their website from just about any direction you could be coming from. They have two farms (one in Watkinsville and one in Loganville) and you should call ahead of time to make sure they still have blueberries left (the season will be winding down). They also have strawberry picking in the spring and pumpkins and fun activities for kids in the fall.

After we left Washington Farms in Watkinsville, we went back to my cousin’s farm house to cook up some of the blueberries as well as feed the chickens…

They didn't get blueberries, but they seemed alright with their diet of bugs and feed

And pick tomatoes (only if they exceeded 5 pounds in weight)…

Caprese salad anyone?

Overall, this summer’s berry picking was a success and I’m looking forward to more blueberries and strawberries next year!

Within minutes of Farm Burger opening in Decatur, Zack turned to me and simultaneously declared his hunger and desire to try this new place that served hamburgers made with local beef (sourced in part from one of our frequent farms, White Oak Pastures). It took a few weeks, but we finally dined in recently, later on a Sunday evening after the crowds had died down.

My second time around at Farm Burger in Decatur, I just got the kid's meal for a pint-sized afternoon snack. That and my apple juice box hit the spot.

About a year and a half ago, I decided to cut down on (and then cut out) eating meat of unknown origins, and to stick to meat that came from sustainable farms in Georgia. I thought that it would essentially leave me a vegetarian, without claiming myself as such. However, places like Farm Burger make it easy to be a principled meat-eater – and with delicious burgers, too.

Burgers are made to order and you can choose a variety of your own toppings or pick from one of the house burgers with a savory combination of flavors. The decor is that of a southern home / barn with a picnic-table feel. I’m no food critic, but definitely wanted to share with you that these tasty burgers are worth a visit to Farm Burger – especially if you’re going for the more eco-friendly lifestyle. And for those that are true vegetarians, there is a veggie burger option, too!

For all the times I try to explain to people why grassfed beef is better, here is a great, quick synopsis from the Farm Burger website – “Why grassfed beef?”

Farm Burger also supports these other local and sustainable Georgia farms, including the following:

White Oak Pastures
Moore Family Farms (my CSA you’ve probably seen me write about)
Red Mule Grits
Riverview Farm
Sequatchie Cove
Woodland Gardens
Crystal Organics
Love is Love Farm
Enchanted Mountain Trout
Sparkman’s Dairy
Roots Farm
Backyard Harvest
Gum Creek Farm
Featherwise Farms

And check out these other sustainable burger joints around town (for the sustainable eater):

• Yeah! Burger (now open in White Provision on Atlanta’s west side)
• Farmstead 303 (now open in Decatur, too)

I just wanted to share this quick video from Moore Farms and Friends, a CSA (community supported agriculture) that delivers local Georgia produce and food to dozens of drop-off points around Atlanta each week. I’m going on my second year with them and am excited to get my box this week from Sawicki’s in Decatur. In addition to fresh food (and they have a wide range of dairy, meat, eggs, herbs, preserves, and more), the owners Will and Laurie will include recipes in their weekly newsletter with tips on how to cook items in that week’s box.

Moore Farms and Friends from Moore Farms on Vimeo.

On Sunday, June 27th, Moore Farm and Friends members are invited to tour three farms as part of the Summer Farm Tour and Big Pig Roast. The tour is $25 per adult (kids 12 and under are free) and follows this schedule:

• 10 a.m. (EST) Udderly Cool Dairy Tour – Roopville, GA
• 11:45 a.m. (EST) Mt Gilead Farm Tour – Newell, AL
• 1 p.m. (EST) Moore Farms Tour and Big Pig Roast – Woodland, AL

Each ticket includes a meal (with vegetarian or omnivore options). The Big Pig Roast will feature chefs Steven Herman of Haven and Matt Swickerath of Valenza. (My stomach is already rumbling thinking of the last time Will Moore served as master of ceremonies for a pig roast from some of Atlanta’s top chefs… you’ll want to be there!)

You can find out more about Moore Farm and Friends, buy tickets, and sign up for their CSA service (you pay each week, so no long-term commitments, and you can join any time) on their website, www.MooreFarmsandFriends.com.

Read on for the press release here and let me know what you think once you’ve had a chance to try it!

Oh yeah, BONUS! You know the car wash at the corner of Virginia and North Highland in the heart of Virginia Highland? That’s already slated for the next YEAH! Burger, opening this fall (thanks to my inside connection at work, who’s brother is one of the investors making this happen).

Shaun Doty to Launch YEAH! BURGER at White Provision in June 2010
Established local chef will open a 2,400-square-foot eco-friendly, fast-casual burger eatery in Atlanta’s Westside community

ATLANTA (May 25, 2010) – Leading real estate investment firm Jamestown announced today that celebrated Chef Shaun Doty of Shaun’s in Inman Park and entrepreneur Erik Maier will open YEAH! BURGER at White Provision, a restored mixed-use project that delivers distinctive restaurant space, condo units, retail, showroom and office space in Westside Atlanta. Opening on Thursday, June 10, the restaurant will feature customizable burgers made with White Oak Pastures grass-fed beef from South Georgia, nitrate-free hot dogs, hand-cut French fries, organic salads and Straus Family Creamery organic ice cream, all served in a comfortable “California casual” setting. YEAH! BURGER re-imagines the classic American burger joint as a fast-casual eatery with a strong commitment to real, all-natural ingredients and sustainability.

“We are proud to welcome YEAH! BURGER to White Provision. Shaun Doty is an Atlanta industry veteran who will further establish our community as a premier dining and shopping destination on the Westside,” said Chris Faussemagne, principal of White Provision Development Company. “Doty has embraced the story of White Provision as he developed his restaurant, and we are confident it will be an excellent addition to our vibrant, sustainable mixed-use district.”

As the newest restaurant addition to White Provision, Doty’s burger venture will become part of a thriving culinary community that includes rustic and casual dining from acclaimed Chefs Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison at Abattoir, local favorite West Egg Café and the neighborhood tavern Ormsby’s from restaurateur Warren Bruno. Just steps away, Bacchanalia, Quinones at Bacchanalia, Star Provisions and JCT. Kitchen & Bar, as well as the casual eateries FIGO Pasta and Taqueria del Sol, add to the local flavor at Westside Provisions District, a joint community combining White Provision and Westside Urban Market.

Doty is a nationally acclaimed chef recognized for his ingredient-driven cuisine, simple preparations and responsible environmental practices. His namesake restaurant, Shaun’s, opened in Atlanta in 2006 to numerous local and national accolades, including a spot on Esquire’s Best New Restaurants list in 2007. Located at 1168 Howell Mill Road at 14th Street, YEAH! BURGER will serve organic burgers, salads, shakes and more Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, visit www.yeahburger.com.

White Provision
White Provision is a distinctive, modern destination forming Midtown Atlanta’s gateway to the Westside neighborhood at the corner of 14th Street and Howell Mill Road. Under the direction of developers Chris Faussemagne, Mike Millett, and Michael Phillips, and leading asset acquisition and management firm Jamestown, this sophisticated mixed-use project delivers an artistic, upscale synergy among office space, 94 innovative and elegant condominium units, and highly desirable boutique retail, showroom and restaurant space. In transforming the Westside Atlanta community, White Provision cultivates a complementary mix of commercial tenants and residential buyers to create a natural extension of the neighborhood identity. With a dedication to aesthetics and authenticity, the team’s vision for White Provision centers on lasting quality, long-term value and a sense of community.

The sales center at White Provision, located at 1100 Howell Mill Road, is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and can be reached at 404.815.0460. Visit White Provision at 1170 Howell Mill Road or online at www.whiteprovision.com.

###

MEDIA CONTACT:
White Provision and Jamestown:
Kelly Spikes / Taylor Trepte
v. 404.888.9348
f. 404.888.9349
kspikes@thereynoldsgroupinc.com
taylor@thereynoldsgroupinc.com

YEAH! Burger and Chef Shaun Doty:
Melissa Libby & Associates
McCall Mastroianni
v. 404.816.3068
mccall@melissalibbypr.com

Kirkwood Community Garden and Urban Forest in Atlanta is breathing new life to an old dumping ground

Beyond the community garden, paths ramble into the Kirkwood Urban Forest, where dogs and owners enjoy evening walks. While the garden is gaining ground, the Kirkwood volunteers could use helping taming the wildness of these five acres. If you’re interested in clearing, gardening, building, meeting your neighbors, spending some time in the sun, please stop by the garden and ask how you can lend a hand! You can also contact the garden at kirkwood-community-garden+owner@googlegroups.com.

The Kirkwood Community Garden is located at 1807 Dixie Street, Atlanta, 30317 (map it!).

Kirkwood Community Garden volunteers of all ages are transforming this space and would love your help!

After Zack's and my trip to LCCL Strawberry Farm in Rome, GA, we had so many buckets of strawberries, we almost filled up and entire (big) cooler

Wow – based on the overwhelming popularity of my Georgia strawberry picking post last year, I decided to do a quick update for 2010. Turns out, a LOT of people love strawberries and are out looking for berry picking in Atlanta and the surrounding areas. I just got a postcard from LCCL Strawberry Farm where we went last year and they are open for business! Here are a few Georgia strawberry picking spots (and please let me know which others you know of!):

1. LCCL Strawberry Farm  | 3743 Old Dalton Road, Rome, GA, 30165  |  Mon-Sat 8:30 a.m – 6 p.m. & Sun 1 – 5 p.m.  |  You might want to call ahead to make sure they still have fresh berries that day: 706.295.2587  |  visit the website for prices, directions, tips, etc.: www.LCCLStrawberryFarm.com |  Did I mention they also have homemade strawberry ice cream and homemade strawberry jam? Mmmm…
2. Washington Farms |  With two locations, you can’t miss out!  |  Mon – Sat 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. (closed Sundays)  |  You might want to call ahead just in case to make sure there are ripe berries to pick  |  Check the website for more info: www.washingtonfarms.net |  Oh yeah, they have blackberries and blueberries, too! And fun family activities throughout the warmer seasons.

• 5691 Hog Mountain Road (Hwy.53), Watkinsville, GA 30677  |  Phone: (706) 769-0627
• 270 Willowwind Drive, Loganville, GA 30052  |  Phone: (770) 554-8119

3. Calhoun Produce |  Call ahead for availability and hours!  They also have two locations:

• 5075 Hawpond Road, Ashburn, GA  |  229-273-1887
• 3649 U.S. Hwy 82, West Sylvester, Georgia  (Turner County)  |  229-777-0824

These are just three out of many in Georgia – enough to get you started hopefully. Don’t forget that strawberry season is typically from April until mid-June, so don’t wait! You can also find more places to pick-your-own of all fruit varieties online at www.pickyourown.org/GA.htm.

Over 100 of you came to shop each week in 2009, helping us to redefine “Second & Hosea.” We plan to continue to bring positive activity and healthy things to this former high-crime corner.

And here are the details:

• What: East Lake Farmers Market
• When: Every Saturday from May through October from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Where: the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Hosea L Williams Dr, Atlanta, 30317 (map it!)

On May 15th, the market will kick off with a grand opening with live music, a kids’ area, and breakfast goodies during market hours.

The Decatur Organic Farmers’ Market isn’t the only food show in town on Saturday mornings and will join the ranks of existing markets such as the Morningside Farmers’ Market, the Peachtree Road Farmers’ Market, the East Lake Farmers’ Market (coming May 1st), the Piedmont Green Market, and many more, which means good news for all of us. And that is that you can be pretty much anywhere intown on Saturday morning and be close enough to support our local food and Georgia farmers!

If we all made a conscious decision with our food purchases and elected to go to a local farmers’ market once or twice a week (and that’s not hard to do – see my page here for info (and this is just the beginning!)) and cut back on the imported food, I’m confident we could bring down the $4.7 billion it costs our state each year to deal with food-borne illnesses.

Ironically, California, who is a huge source of produce, ranked highest with food-borne illness costs soaring to $18.6 billion, which indicates the necessity to take that step beyond industrial farms, no matter where they’re located.

Your wallet talks and you can make it resonate in the food industry by making smarter, healthier choices. Who wants E. coli anyway? I’m sure the people who got it went to the grocery store thinking, “oh, that won’t happen to me…”

• What: Organizational meeting for The Chamblee Organic/Locally Grown Market
• When: March 10th, 2010 at 7 p.m.
• Where: the Community Room of the Chamblee Library (map it!)
• Please RSVP to thechambleemarket@gmail.com
• Bring your ideas, experience, skills, relationships and resources with you!

Keep up with the market on facebook with the Chamblee Farmers’ Market fan page.

And get updates on the Chamblee Farmers’ Market organizational meeting on facebook.

If you like this map, you’ll love Georgia Organics’ Local Food Guide! If you’ve never seen it before, you should take a few minutes to download the PDF and check it out. It’s an in-depth guide to the pin points on their google map – and so much more about local Georgia farms, organic Atlanta restaurants, etc. And if you’re looking for a year-round CSA to join, I can highly recommend my CSA, Moore Farm and Friends. So check them out, too!

If you’re looking for reviews of local Atlanta restaurants that endeavor to embrace not only farm-to-table principles, but also sustainable business practices, then take a look at Kathy’s Georgia Green Dining Guide as she munches her way through the cities most eco-friendly restaurants. And happy eating!

Georgia Organics has assembled an impressive directory of local Georgia farms, farmers' markets, CSAs, Atlanta restaurants, and specialty grocery stores who all support the local food movement!

More updates to come on both of these topics, but for now, I wanted to get the word out about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s national push for farm to table programs in schools. The USDA is accepting applications from schools across the country who already have sustainable food programs underway in their local communities. The goal is to study the start-up, struggles, and success stories of current programs in order to develop a model for others to follow. The long-term goal is to then help school districts implement their own farm to school programs with assistance reaching out to local farms, communicating with stakeholders, and identifying and overcoming obstacles.

School districts have until January 31st, 2010 to apply! Just click here for more information and an application!

Please let me know if you’re involved in a local Atlanta or Decatur Farm to School program – I’d love to learn more firsthand!