Bringing it back home

Taste, health, quality and ecology are some of the reasons for eating 'local'

The push to eat "local" has come to a boil in the Lowcountry.

Growing consumer awareness has spawned advocacy groups such as Slow Food Charleston and, most recently, Lowcountry Local First, which this week is urging people to open their wallets wider to local purchases.

In August, Home Grown Grocery held a grand opening of its West Ashley store, showing off locally made pastas, free-range eggs from Wadmalaw Island and grass-fed, organic beef from a Walterboro farm.

And proving the movement is going more mainstream, the S.C. Department of Agriculture launched a branding campaign in May, "Certified South Carolina." Its slogan is "Buy South Carolina ... nothing's fresher, nothing's finer."

Consumers are finding a basket full of reasons for eating what's closer to home: perceived advantages in taste and health, environmental concerns, fears of E. coli outbreaks and quality problems with imported goods. Nearly everyone says it's important to support the area's economy.

"Organic was sort of the bulwark for the alternative in our food system that clicked along for 10 to 20 years," says Emile DeFelice, the owner of Caw Caw Creek Pastured Pork farm in Calhoun County and a passionate supporter of South Carolina-grown products. "We began to codify that with 'Certified Organic' by the federal government, but it didn't account for food miles (traveled). That local dimension began to jell and manifest itself in different ways."

While demand appears to be growing, eating local is easier said than done. Small farmers must deal with the vagaries of Mother Nature and distribution that sometimes functions like an underground network. Supply can be spotty for retailers and restaurants. Shoppers may not know what's in season and truly local, or where they can find it.

Shopping with a purpose

Fred and Vicki Danziger, who moved to Charleston from New York just six weeks ago, navigated the Charleston Farmers Market on a recent Saturday with loaded bags.

Both say buying local produce is a high priority in their lives. "I went to great lengths in New York to eat local and will do the same thing here," she says.

"We are willing to pay more and definitely notice a difference," he adds.

The environmental impact of transporting food over possibly thousands of miles concerns Jack Vanderpol of West Ashley, who was at Home Grown Grocery's opening with his wife, Stacy. Also, "I have more trust in the local farmers than those from who knows where."

Karen Ross of downtown Charleston is a regular at the Charleston Farmers Market. "I wouldn't miss it for the world," she says, turning over a large red tomato in her hands. "I support local businesses and local restaurants."

Lowcountry Local First also is trumpeting that message. The group, part of a national organization called Business Alliance for Local Living Economy, began forming in Charleston about a year ago. It has about 25 members to date.

The mission is to build support of all locally owned businesses, including farmers, says Executive Director Jamee Haley. "The big picture goal for us — five years out — is to see a big difference in the buying patterns of people in this region. In supporting those farmers, we're watching the local food network grow."

Tamlyn Willard had run Sublime Pies & Cakes Bakery exclusively in the Savannah Highway building housing Home Grown Grocery until June. When she moved the bulk of the bakery operations to North Charleston, she needed to do something with the extra space.

"I always wanted to have a market," she said. "So many of my friends are food artisans and farmers. Everybody struggles to put their product in a large grocery. It gets lost. So this store spotlights local."

While the store's stock and produce are a fraction of that found in chain groceries, everything is South Carolina-produced, she said.

"I work with a lot of small farmers who have a 5-acre patch. They know when they have something in season they can call me. I'll buy a bushel."

Likewise, when local fruits and vegetables appear at area farmers markets, they are seasonal. Many Lowcountry crops reach their peak between May and July. Market rules vary, but at certain times, vendors are allowed to buy and sell produce they didn't grow. That can make the bounty and variety deceiving.

Most of the produce offered by Joseph Fields Farm at the Charleston Farmers Market earlier this month was labeled if it was "local."

"The public has a right to know," said Helen Fields, whose husband has been farming for 34 years. "If it's not local, I'll tell you, and tell you where it's from."

Ross has learned how to be a savvy shopper. "I know the farmers and vendors, and I know what they grow and what's from Florida."

Supply sometimes iffy

Meanwhile, the state Agriculture Department jumped on the "local" bandwagon after a poll showed 95 percent of people wanted to buy South Carolina products, but close to 80 percent of them could not identify those products. The department developed its promotional and media campaign with a $600,000 appropriation from the General Assembly. The funding was expanded to $2.5 million this fiscal year.

The program has attracted more than 200 members so far, a cross section of growers, processors, specialty food manufacturers and people from the seafood, beef and pork industries, according to Martin Eubanks, senior marketing specialist at the Department of Agriculture. "When you look nationally, the demand for local is growing astronomically," he says.

But South Carolina actually lost more than 1,000 farms between 1997 and 2002, from 25,807 to 24,541. Moreover, the definition of a "farm" is broad: any establishment from which $1,000 or more in agricultural products was sold or normally would be sold during a year.

"What we have seen across the state is smaller-type farms and greenhouse operations" springing up, says Steve Pavlesek of the South Carolina field office for the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Data from a new survey should be out next year.

However, farms seeking federal "Certified Organic" status are on the rise in the state. Although local and organic are not the same, the two often are parallel in terms of consumer demand.

Brad Stancil at Clemson University, who coordinates the certification process for the National Organic Program, says the interest has grown exponentially in South Carolina. No farm was certified until about 2005, and now there are 10, he says. He has seven applications out for inspection.

DeFelice, who ran against and lost to state Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers in 2006, says the department is still not doing enough to foster the state's farmers. He is critical of the state-run farmers market in Columbia, saying too much of the produce is from out of state.

"We should be creating an incentive program to bring young farmers to South Carolina, to create food entrepreneurs. We also have to build our next generation of farmers. We're not reproducing farmers in this state," says DeFelice.

He also finds flaws with the state's Certified Roadside Market program, claiming it doesn't account for where the products come from.

Those markets, which number 65-70 statewide, are required to sell South Carolina products during the year, but the law only specifies a "portion," according to Eubanks.

"The produce side has always been a fight," says Mike Lata, chef and co-owner of FIG restaurant in Charleston, well-known for its farm-to-table menu. When FIG opened in 2003, Lata says, "The mission was to create a menu out of as many local products as we could. At the best times of the year, we would be 60 to 65 percent local."

Supply improved as the word spread, Lata says. "Over the years, someone would show up and say they are growing this year. That made a big impact at the restaurant. It's still hard, but we serve as much (local) if not more than before. We have a woman at Folly Beach who sells us wax beans and brings them to us in a little wicker basket."

He adds, "Our growing family has gotten to where it's big enough to acclimate a little better. Our system in the restaurant has always been to allow things to come and go quickly."

Small farmers struggle

Celeste Albers was one of the earliest and largest suppliers of produce to FIG. She also grew and sold a wide assortment of organically grown produce at the Charleston Farmers Market and shrimp caught by her husband, George.

Thirteen years after first getting into farming, the Alberses still have a booth at the market. But the lettuces, cabbage, squash, tomatoes, radishes, turnips and other veggies have been replaced by organic, free-range eggs and raw milk. Some weeks they also will have a catch of shrimp to sell.

"I'd love to grow a bunch more stuff — we just don't have the help," she says while working on a Sunday morning at their Wadmalaw Island farm. "I should've had 10 kids."

Instead, the Alberses have turned to dairy cows and chickens for their livelihood and are building up a small beef herd. They sell at least 700 dozen eggs a week to area restaurants. Production is steady and more reliable, she explains, and the cows will produce for years.

The Lowcountry has a tough growing season, with pests, weeds and disease putting a lot of pressure on crops, Albers says. Bad weather can wipe out a crop almost overnight. "Droughts are bad but a flood will starve you," she says. "At least in a drought, you can eke something out."

Albers makes her own deliveries to the restaurants. She also meets individual customers at various times and locations, including parking lots. "I feel sometimes like we're having a drug deal," she says with a laugh.

Marc and Annie Filion began farming organically four years ago at their 50-acre farm in Walterboro. They grew only fruits and vegetables at first, but Keegan-Filion farm has expanded into free-range poultry and grass-fed beef. Pastured pork is on the way.

The poultry side took off rapidly. Regular customers for the chickens include six high-end restaurants in Charleston, two in the Beaufort-Hilton Head area, and a smattering of small stores. They are raising white and heritage-breed turkeys, with more than 200 sold so far for Thanksgiving.

Eighteen months ago, the farm had just 40 chickens. The number has leaped to 1,500, now including hens, broilers and turkeys.

"We could probably go to more if we wanted to," she says. "We just want to catch our breath. It's almost too much, too fast."

Still, the business is not yet profitable, she admits. "Everything we make is going back into the farm."

Her husband continues to work a full-time day job.

"Everything is labor-intensive in organic," she adds. "It takes us more time to do things. You can't spray a bunch of Roundup to kill weeds, you have to use a hoe."

Making connections

Shop around, and the map of what's local is drawn differently. At one store, it might include foodstuffs from well into North Carolina. At another, it might be limited to the Lowcountry. But the cachet of local is undeniable, and increasing.

Whole Foods Market in Mount Pleasant defines "local" as anything that comes from South Carolina and the coast of Georgia. The next boundary is regional.

Obtaining local produce is not a problem, says marketing manager Pam Fischette, especially from May through August. But the store is working to get even more growers.

"Our supplies are increasing but we need more, because our customers are so connected to food trends and local is the trend now. We could have double the amount of local produce and we would still sell it."

The company has established a $10 million loan program to provide long-term, low-interest loans to local growers and producers, Fischette said.

"We're making farmers the rock stars," she added. "Farmers have never been put in that light before. We're putting that before our customers because they want to know where their food comes from."

Piggly Wiggly Carolina, with 113 stores in South Carolina and coastal Georgia, always has purchased local produce and products, said spokeswoman Rita Postell.

The company buys from 65 farmers across the state, she said. Some of its stores have the liberty to buy directly from the grower or producer.

Still, "we have an awful lot of farmers who may not be large enough to supply a grocery store for a given length of time. ... Not every farmer is set up to meet the quality demands we want to have in our store."

Attorney and restaurateur Richard Stoney, whose company includes Carolina's and the Boathouse restaurants, recently revived farming at Kensington, his family plantation in Berkeley County. About 1 1/2 acres is under cultivation with vegetables and herbs for Carolina's, and an additional 6 acres was planted with Carolina Gold rice. Stoney is planning a greenhouse and to farm more of the land next year.

But army worms already have chewed much of the rice crop. "We're learning every day," he says. "I respect farmers more and more every day the more I get into it."

Stoney recalls that when he was a child, eating local was ordinary, such as crab and shrimp from the Lowcountry's waterways. Ironically, he says, the marketplace is now re-educating itself.

"I do feel it's almost come full circle. This whole Slow Food movement is what life used to be 75 to 100 years ago when every thing was local. ... We're reverting back to a simpler time."

Teresa Taylor is the Food editor. Reach her at 937-4886 or food@postandcourier.com.