FFA: In Fort Mill, Fresh food is just around the corner

Fresh oranges, peaches and meat products are available right around the corner.

That’s what Nation Ford High School’s Future Farmers of America chapter is working to teach the community.

The school’s adult education program, Tastefully Local, teaches community members about a variety of agricultural issues, including where to find local food, said Lee Petitgout, the school’s agriculture instructor and FFA advisor.

“We’re educating the public on the fresh, local options that are in our own county,” she said. “It gives them another option besides the grocery store.”

FFA member and Nation Ford senior McKenna Debus said not enough residents know where to find fresh, local food.

“We live in a state where one of the most important aspects is agriculture,” she said. “We felt it was our responsibility to teach the community how they can find foods close to home.”

Agriculture teachers, Petitgout said, also must incorporate adult education. Nation Ford’s adult education piece focuses on food.

“What everybody loves,” she said.

In August, the school started hosting speakers once a month during the school year to talk to issues such as where to find local products year-round and how hard ciders are made locally, she said. The programs have included Full Spectrum Brewery, Tega Hills Farm and Thames Farm, among others.

“Every month is different,” Petitgout said.

Sometimes the program takes a field trip, such as their visits to the brewery. Full Spectrum prides itself on using locally sourced ingrediants, including butternut squash from Springs Farm and most recently, coffee roasted by a Fort Mill company and the Carolina Reaper pepper from Fort Mill-based Puckerbutt Pepper Co.

On April 26, Tega Cay resident and city council member Jennifer Stalford hosted a talk on her family’s farm, the J & J Family Farm in Clover, and their shiitake mushroom crop. She said her family purchased the un-managed land four years ago. They keep bees and, since the timber farm gets mostly shade, grow mushrooms.

Stalford said they grow the fungus using logs inoculated with mushroom spawn and have nearly 600 logs on their farm. She said its important for outdoor mushroom farmers to choose healthy, live trees.

“This is your battery for the rest of its life,” she said. “You’re only going to get as good a mushroom as the log will bear.”

Stalford said there aren’t many outdoor producers of mushrooms as it is such a labor-intensive crop. However, she said, the taste is worth it.

“It’s got that real hearty flavor to it,” she said.

Tastefully Local will wrap up this year with the Farm to Fork dinner on May 17, a three-year tradition bringing community members and local farmers together for a night of locally-produced meals, Petitgout said.

“The first and foremost mission is education,” she said.

This year’s dinner will be hosted at Chef Greg Collier’s Yolk Café in Rock Hill and includes items from 14 vendors, including Springs Farm, Breadsmith and Lowcountry Creamery. While the farmers sat with diners last year, this year they will enjoy their own meals before the main seating, Petitgout said.

“It gives them time to fellowship with other farmers,” she said.

The farmers will act as the hosts and wait staff during the dinner, giving them an opportunity to interact with the public.

“It matches the producer to the consumer,” Petitgout said. “It’s a win-win.”

Nation Ford’s FFA students also volunteer with the Catawba Fresh Market, an online farmer’s market allowing residents to order items from local farms and pick their order up at one of several drop points throughout the county, Petitgout said.

“It’s unique,” she said.

The market, Stalford said, helps smaller farms reach consumers.

“It’s very difficult for the farmer to connect with the consumer,” she said. “You just can’t compete.”

Fort Mill native Anita Eastwood said the Tastefully Local program helped open her eyes to what was in her backyard.

“We’re enjoying learning about local stuff we didn’t even know was available,” she said. “I never knew how close something was to get to.”

Tastefully Local will kick off again in August.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 6:39 PM with the headline "FFA: In Fort Mill, Fresh food is just around the corner."