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Exploring the movement in Auburn, AL.

Farm to Fork

Rachel Sprouse
JRNL 3510

Discovering its roots

Grow an Acre

One restaurant in Auburn utilizes the farmers in the surrounding area. Partnering with local growers from Auburn, Lee County and beyond, Acre is one of the first restaurants in town that uses farm to fork in Auburn. Since the restaurant first opened its doors in 2013, Acre has received recognition for their commitment to providing locally grown meals in an upscale fashion, being featured by Southern Living, HGTV and Best Chefs of America.

“[We’re] in a downtown location that’s surrounded by a lot of pavement—you know, streets and sidewalks and parking lots,” Pierce said. “Any green space we have on our one acre of land, we are utilizing [it] for edible foods.”

Acre’s namesake comes from the one acre of land the property stands on. Stephen Pierce, the general manager of Acre, said one of the reasons the restaurant has been so successful is that they have utilized urban farming. This type of farming refers to the ability to grow edible food in an urban or suburban environment, according to Pierce.​

Acre's Mission - Stephen Pierce
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Pierce said about “50 percent” of the ingredients in Acre’s menu comes from their own property and the rest is delivered from local farmers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview of local produce Acre uses

List of products and farms Acre partners with

Stephen Pierce

General Manager of Acre

Located just over the border of Lee and Macon county sits Hornsby Farms, a small farm run by Joshua and Beth Hornsby and their two sons, Sully and Levi.

 

Hornsby Farms has partnered with Acre for nearly three years, according to Beth Hornsby, co-owner of Hornsby Farms. The partnership began not long after Hornsby and her husband decided to be full-time farmers, according to Hornsby.

 

 

“My husband just took [Acre] a basket at like 7:30 at night on a Friday night, and we had gotten finished pulling out of the fields,” Hornsby said. “[He] was filthy head to toe, carrying his basket of vegetables into the restaurant, [and] walked through the dining room.”

 

Hornsby said her husband was immediately told to take the basket to the kitchen.

 

“Somebody actually said, ‘Now that’s farm to table right there!’” Hornsby said. “He took the basket back there and one of the chefs from the kitchen almost chased him into the parking lot because he had already walked out the door.”

 

After they exchanged information, the partnership between Acre and Hornsby Farms grew into something more. This February, Hornsby and her husband will be celebrating three years as full-time farmers and their partnership with the restaurant, according to Hornsby.

 

“We’re up there three/four/five times a week depending upon what they need,” Hornsby said. “They’re like family to us.”

 

Acre also supports the Hornsbys in their home delivery service. Caleb Fisher, a chef at Acre, recently made loaves of rye bread for Beth Hornsby to add to the baskets.

 

 

The Hornsbys talk about their part in the farm to fork movement.

Beth Hornsby describes the canning side of their business.

A typical day on the farm starts at 6 a.m. to get Levi and Sully off to school, and then Josh and Beth Hornsby start picking for the day, according to Beth Hornsby. She said they pick for their home deliveries, baskets for the Terrell Market and for the seven different restaurants they work with. After catering to the ducks and chickens on the property, collecting the chicken eggs and watering the plants, they do a spot check of the crops to see if there are any issues to be addressed, like an insect problem or a fungus.

 

“We just have to make sure that we stay on top of it,” Hornsby said. “[That way] it doesn’t get to the point where it’s affected our production and then our yield.”

 

After tending to the fields, Hornsby works on canning her jams, jellies and pickled vegetables. Taking fruit she froze during the spring and summer, she thaws them throughout the year to continue her jam sales during the colder months. While she works, Josh Hornsby goes to pick up the kids from school and then the whole family goes back out to work.

 

“It’s just a lot of checking on stuff, making sure we’ve got plenty of stuff in the ground for what we’re expecting as far as our restaurants,” Hornsby said. “[It’s about knowing] what their needs are and our local delivery customers.”

 

Because Hornsby is expecting her third child in February, they have reached out to university to have a student help with tasks on the farm once a week.

 

“We have this great student who comes [on] Mondays and he helps us prepare the deliveries,” Hornsby said. “It’s really hard to get everything done that needs to be done and so we’re trying to delegate tasks where we can afford to, since labor’s expensive.”

Tending the Market

In 2009, The Market at Blooming Colors opened its doors to the public, selling the products and produce of local farmers and entrepreneurs. Since its opening, the amount of business and awareness for the market has “increased tremendously,” according Ginger Purvis, manager of The Market.

 

“The mission [of the market] is to have as many locally grown products or locally grown produce and products in our store so that we can support the local economy,” Purvis said. “It helps [farmers] and adds more staff [for them], and keeps the money here instead of it going to a chain.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the farmers that sell their produce and products in the market approach the market first, according to Purvis.

 

“We look for people who are using sustainable agriculture, not too many pesticides, that have got a good product,” Purvis said. “[We make sure] that’s certified either through the USDA or through the county so that they have certified kitchens if they’re bringing us things.”

 

Purvis said it’s “a win for everybody” that restaurants in Auburn are “serving local food” instead of food obtained through chain stores.

 

“[By] buying locally, you’re not getting the pesticide residue that you would get from something that’s come a long way or been in refrigeration,” Purvis said. “We can be healthier, our pocketbooks can benefit from it, [and] we’re keeping our tax dollars at home if we buy from local people."

One of the many stands in The Market. 

With the push for more locally sourced food products being sold in the Auburn area, we may see the farm to table movement become the norm and have other cities follow.

The farm to fork movement has made its way to Auburn, AL. Beginning on the west coast, the movement started in the early 2000s in California and Washington. Also known as the locavore movement, it calls for food service providers and restaurant owners to serve locally sourced products to their customers. It also encourages the reduction of selling and serving processed and genetically modified foods to the public.

 

Farm to Fork first gained popularity in the 20th century because of restaurants like Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California and Herbfarm in Woodinville, Washington. Although Auburn has been surrounded by different farms for several years, and has always had a strong agricultural background, it hasn’t been until recently that local businesses and the university have partnered with local growers.

In the last ten years, businesses in Auburn have started to partner with local growers and serve local produce in their restaurants. Many have centered their businesses around supporting local growers, like Acre and The Market at Blooming Colors. This year alone, on-campus dining has made a shift to provide more locally sourced meal options to students by partnering with Hornsby Farms and the Lambert Powell Meat Laboratory. 

 

We'll examine how this trend has affected Auburn and Auburn University by looking through the eyes of an avid fan.

An Avid Consumer

Erica Jones, a graduate student at Harvard, saw the changes in Auburn during her time as an undergraduate student. From August 2011 until she graduated in May 2015, Jones was a loyal customer to several restaurants that provided organic or locally sourced produce as part of their menu.

 

Despite living on campus all four years, Jones did not use dining dollars or the meal plan on Auburn University's campus. Jones said she preferred to put her money to off-campus options because she found the quality of food available on campus was lacking.

 

"It's overpriced, doesn't taste good and it's fattening," Jones said. "Of course [I ate elsewhere,] it felt like it was healthier."

 

Jones said she was drawn to restaurants like Acre and The Hound because of the atmosphere they provided. She said she loved the sweet tea, bread and other options these off-campus locations offered to their customers.

 

"[Acre] has a homey atmosphere," Jones said. "It's like the perfect break from studying and working hard all week in class."

 

The quality of the meals also kept Jones going back for more. She said she loved off-campus meals because it tasted like they were made "with love" compared to on-campus meals. Jones said she felt like on campus food was mass produced, which gave it a different level of quality.

 

Jones said she thinks students like places with locally grown produce because it's "probably better for you" in the long run.

 

"We’re too busy to really look into what goes into our food," Jones said. "The best you can do is know that it’s all natural and it’s probably better for you."

The farm to fork movement has made its way onto Auburn University’s campus as well. Students now have access to local produce and products in their dining halls and on-campus convenience stores. Options like Plains to Plate, Terrell Market and Newman Ranch Cart allow students to eat produce from local growers and support the Auburn community.

 

The Terrell Market, which opened in August 2015, allowed Tiger Dining to partner with local farmers and bring their products onto campus. Glenn Loughridge, director of campus dining, said the Market gives students the opportunity to use their dining plan to purchase local produce.

 

“All of the bags of produce come with a microwaveable [bag and] a microwaveable recipe so that you can cook everything in the microwave with all the vegetables they provide you and they give you a recipe card,” Loughridge said. “We’ve been really excited to try that with students and to give students access that we haven’t done before.”

 

Products available in the Market include jams and jellies from Hornsby Farms, coffee from Mama Mocha’s, grits from McEwen & Sons (Birmingham, AL), and pickles from Wickles Pickles (Dadeville, AL).  Loughridge said he wants to expand the Market by bringing in more products from “local folks” in Auburn.

Loughridge said he loves the partnership with the local growers because it helps grow their businesses and puts their products in front of college students. One of the partnerships Loughridge said was his favorite story has to do with McEwen & Sons.

 

“Both of the sons go to Auburn, so our delivery method is when they go home to Birmingham, they bring back grits with them,” Loughridge said. “They’re the shipping so to speak.”

 

Loughridge said Tiger Dining is working toward incorporating more locally sourced products into its menu. Besides Plains to Plate, which uses only local sourced produce, and Terrell Market, only the AU Smokehouse and Wellness Kitchen on campus have local produce in their menus. Loughridge said they’d like to get the tilapia they serve on campus from the fisheries on campus. All the pork that the Smokehouse uses comes from the Lambert Powell Meat Lab.

Delivering about 350 pounds of pork each week to the AU Smokehouse in Lupton Hall, the Lambert Powell Meat Lab partnered with campus dining this semester to provide locally raised meat.

 

Barney Willborn, associate director of Agricultural Research and the Extension Center, said about 500 pigs are processed at the lab each year. Many of these pigs go to the Smokehouse or are sold in their store which is open to the public from 2-5 p.m. each weekday.

 

 

"The partnership we have with the AU Smokehouse is something that is brand new," Wilborn said. "It's a really specialized thing."

 

Wilborn said the meat lab and the Smokehouse have a good relationship with one another because they both understand what each other needs and does within the university system.

 

"It's just one of those things that just really makes sense," Wilborn said.

Almost 100 percent of the business the meat lab generates comes from retail, not wholesale, according to Wilborn. Most of the lab's customers "walk in through the front door, buy meat, and carry it home with them," according to Wilborn.

 

Barney Wilborn's reaction to the World Health Organization's announcement about processed meat.

Wilborn said he does not believe the meat lab could replace big chain stores like Kroger and Publix because they do not carry fruits, vegetables or Cheerios. He said he "would hope that more people would know about what we do" and stop by on their way to the grocery store or local market.

Reaping the Rewards

Though the farm to fork movement is still a trend in Auburn, many of its supporters like Stephen Pierce and Ginger Purvis hope it will become the norm in the city within the next five to ten years.

 

Auburn University's Tiger Dining has started to change their ingredients on campus to incorporate local produce, but most locations do not use local produce when preparing meals. This is also true for many restaurants off campus, especially big chains like McDonald's and Mellow Mushroom.

 

Auburn's community has shown support for the farm to fork movement by supporting these businesses that utilize local produce, showing promise that the trend may stick.

 

Pierce said as long as people are passionate about supporting local businesses, there will be a demand for farm to fork.

 

"People are so passionate about supporting local businesses, whether it be boutiques or car sales," Pierce said. "The food industry is just the same way."

 

Blackened Atlantic Salmon with Oakview Farms grits and salad from Hornsby Farms

“Anything else we’re using from local farmers in the Auburn and Lee County areas,” Pierce said. “We source from different farms that stretch out to Georgia and different cities.”

 

Since he first started working in the restaurant industry in Auburn nine years ago, Pierce said he’s seen a “big transition” toward the farm to fork movement in restaurants around town. Supporting local farmers allows customers to support their community, according to Pierce.

 

Although it would be more convenient for the restaurant to receive its produce from a big retailer like Kroger or from a wholesale food provider that delivers directly to the restaurant, Pierce said the restaurant is passionate about using locally grown produce, even if it “isn’t always the easiest and the cheapest way.”

 

“Farmers have a business just like we have a business,” Pierce said. “The community supports us by coming in and eating their dinner here [and] we support the farmers by using their products.”

 

 

Pierce said he thinks more restaurants that use to farm to fork practices will come to Auburn because it’s still a trend in the restaurant industry.

 

“People are finding out that’s something that excites customers when they know where their food is coming from,” Pierce said. “When a customer is reading the menu and they see that it’s a local farm they’ve seen right down the road [and] they know the food is coming from there, that’s what attracts them to it.”

 

One of the many farms Acre works with is Hornsby Farms. Pierce said their partnership with the Hornsbys began in 2013 when Josh Hornsby delivered some of his produce to the restaurant and left his card.

 

“We immediately fell in love with them and their story,” Pierce said. “A young farmer family with a couple of kids, and that’s just like the owner, he’s a young business owner, he’s got two kids himself.”

 

Pierce said customers like hearing the stories behind the food when they come in to eat because it makes the customers “feel a sense of community” with those farmers.

 

“We’re able to tell that story and let them know that these people live right down the road, they’re growing their produce right down the road,” Pierce said. “They didn’t even have to meet them but they kind of know their story and everything and it makes them feel like they know them.”

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