Linked Up! First farm-to-chef shipment made

By LARRY DALE Daily Courier Staff Writer

Organic farmer Rich Davis, left, hands Carl Pratt a basket of farm fresh strawberries that will be delivered to high-end restaurants in Charlotte. A total of five gallons of straw­berries were pur­chased by the restaurants from Davis's farm "Always Somthin' Farm" in Rutherfordton and will be transported by Pratt. (Image by Garrett Byers/Daily Courier)

RUTHERFORDTON - An effort to sell Rutherford County produce to the large Charlotte market is paying dividends. Five gallons of strawberries were sent to Charlotte chefs on Friday. And that is just the beginning. Tim Will, executive director of Foothills Connect, realized that there is a large market for fresh farm products at Charlotte restaurants. So a Web site has been set up to allow county farmers and ranchers to communicate with would-be buyers in downtown Charlotte. The Web site is FarmersFreshMarket.org. Richard and Deborah Davis, who have 2,000 strawberry plants at their Poors Ford Road home, used the Rutherford-Charlotte link to sell the berries. They are organic farmers, so the berries do not have pesticides on them and are edible right out of the box. Will noted the Davises received a premium price for the berries.
The Davis strawberry crop was saved from a recent freeze when the plants were covered with hay. Will says there is also a market for Rutherford County beef, as well as produce. At a recent meeting in Rutherfordton, area beef producers learned about the potential market. Beef is four or five steps away from the market at present. Now, he said, "they sell to a guy, and they sell to a guy, and they sell to a feed pen where the cattle are shot up with hormones and antibiotics and eat corn for two months, then to the slaughterhouse, and to the wholesaler," before reaching a market where consumers can buy from their local stores. Will plans to go to Charlotte next week to talk with chefs about how they buy meat. Will said as a result of the meeting, "the ranchers want to get started." He noted that since there is already a cattlemen's association in the county, the ranchers are much better organized than the produce farmers. That lack, Will said, may lead to an effort to organize a truck farmers association. Will noted earlier in April that transportation would be a key to selling Rutherford County produce and meat in Charlotte. On Friday, he cited one example of someone stepping up to meet that need.
Carl Pratt, he said, has 25 years of experience in trucking and he has access to a 14-foot refrigerated truck that will help overcome the transportation obstacle. Will noted that Pratt used to go to California, pull straight into the field, take on a load of tomatoes, then drive all the way back to sell them. And that long distance, he said, meant at least a two-week gap in getting the produce to market. Will said he needs to get more farmers because he is getting more requests for food.

For more information, contact Will at 288-1650 or twill@Foot­hillsConnect.com.
Contact Dale via e-mail at ldale@thedigitalcourier.com