Georgia Sustainable Ag Group Launches Effort to Create Food Hubs

ATHENS, Georgia – If you look at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s map of food hub locations across the nation, you’ll notice Georgia is devoid of the innovative business models. But a newly created sustainable ag group is hoping to change that.

The Georgia Sustainable Agriculture Consortium has its sights on establishing at least two food hubs in Georgia in an effort to increase farm profits, strengthen economic development and satisfy the growing demand for local foods. Food hubs, in a nutshell, are infrastructures that serve as distribution centers for farmers looking to sell their products to the area businesses that are interested in local foods.

The group held its kick-off event Oct. 27 at the Georgia Continuing Education Center on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Key partners include University of Georgia, Fort Valley State University, Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia Farm Bureau, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Georgia Organics, and Community Health Works.

“We’ve got a strong agricultural industry and we’ve got all of these great resources,” said Julia Gaskin, who coordinates extension programming in sustainable agriculture at the University of Georgia. “The purpose of this group is to have a coordinating body that can help leverage and focus those resources in areas where there is sufficient public and private interest.”

Georgia Sustainable Ag Consortium panel

During the event, guest speakers and a panel of ag professionals discussed the feasibility of establishing food hubs in Georgia, using the success of other food hubs across the South as examples and pointing out current food trends that strategically position Georgia for food hub creation.

“The demand for local foods is rising in Georgia, and with 80 percent of our purchased food coming from out-of-state, conditions are right for us to take advantage of local food opportunities,” said Harald Scherm, a professor in plant pathology at the University of Georgia. “With so many people interested in where their food comes from, we have an opportunity to reconnect with agriculture. And with 40 percent of consumers indicating not knowing much about sustainability of food production, we have an educational opportunity, specifically in food hubs.”

USDA's Jim Barham

Jim Barham, with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, agreed that the local food movement is not a trend.

“It’s here to say,” said Barham.” But the challenge for farmers in bringing those local foods to area businesses is the lack of distribution.” He said that food hubs are intended to provide that distribution, among other services, such as educational programming and food safety training.

The panel discussion, which opened initial dialogue of food hub development in Georgia, featured Gary Black, Georgia Department of Agriculture; Govind Kannan, Fort Valley State University; Steve Brown, University of Georgia; Alice Rolls, Georgia Organics; and Don McGough from the Georgia Farm Bureau.

“Georgia is the 4th largest fruit and vegetable state in the nation, and is well positioned to take advantages of the opportunities afforded to us,” said Alice Rolls.

The Georgia Sustainable Agriculture Consortium has published a white paper, titled Sustainable Food Systems for Georgia's Agrarian Future. This paper details the research behind the creation as well as specific goals for this Consortium. If you like to learn more about food hubs as development progresses or if you’d like to participate in the consortium’s efforts, contact Julia Gaskin at jgaskin@engr.uga.edu For more information the Georgia Sustainable Ag Consortium, log on to http://www.sustainagga.org/

For more information on food hubs, visit the USDA’s food hub website at http://www.ams.usda.gov/foodhubs

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Published by the Southern Region of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Southern SARE operates under cooperative agreements with the University of Georgia, Fort Valley State University, and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture to offer competitive grants to advance sustainable agriculture in America's Southern region.