Farm Fresh Food Fills a Need (Fox News Charlotte)

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC - Chefs and restaurants in Charlotte are getting farm fresh food thanks to one retired guy's initiative. Tim Will took unused resources and the power of technology to fill a need and create jobs. Will, a retired telecom worker couldn't find a teaching job in his new home of Rutherford County, he agreed to take on the task of growing small business and technology for the rural area.

"My job is to create all these jobs and there isn't anything going on out there but there's so much farmland that nobody's using," said Tim Will, Executive Director of the Foothills Connect Business & Technology Center and the Farmers Fresh Market.

While talking with his cousin, a Charlotte chef, he found the perfect solution.

"He said you know what's amazing we have a difficulty here getting fresh food," said Will.

Will connected local farmers, some of them in their eighties to the restaurants and chefs in Charlotte, through the Farmers Fresh Market, an online ordering system.

High school agriculture teacher Brandon Higgins has experienced the "Fresh Market Effect," seeing his class sizes increase as more teens become interested in farming.

"Even if a student doesn't do this for a living, they don't focus 100% of their time on it, this is adding an extra ten to fifteen thousand dollars into their pocket."

The fresh market concept is not only allowing rural farmers in Rutherford County to grow but also restauranteurs who are serving those products.

"I opened this restaurant, Cafe To Go in December of last year when the economy was taking a downturn and it's been very successful," said Liz Rose owner of Cafe at the Mall and Cafe to Go.

Will's work developing the fresh market program has earned him a Purpose Prize Award, one hundred thousand dollars and more importantly tremendous exposure as he looks to expand the program.