On Monday, February 3rd, the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture stopped by to talk to Dry Branch Farm Market owners (Zach and Leah Gibbs) about new approaches to getting healthy, locally grown food to Kentucky citizens.
The conversation ranged from decentralizing the food supply to approaches to offer healthy, local food to schools and hospitals and the “Food as Medicine” approach to improving the health of residents across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Although a few school systems are using some local providers, Shell would like to expand the market for local farmers and meat producers.
The process is not without hurdles, however. “There are federal, state and district barriers to getting local food in schools,” said Shell, but he is willing to tackle those challenges.
One of the challenges is that schools make out their budgets and make their decisions for food menus in April/May, but local farmers have already planted by then. Farmers make their plans for the growing season in January, February and March.
The Gibbs also talked with Shell about potential ways to improve the quality of the food offered to local hospital patients and hospital visitors.
“We have gone to great lengths to build the infrastructure to handle the volume necessary to implement a dependable local food source that hospital food directors can count on,” said Zach, “and we can come to the table with those solutions.”
Shell noted that there have been some challenges for local producers that the Department of Agriculture wants to help them overcome, “If you are a single farmer, it’s almost impossible to partner without a team of attorneys and we need to decentralize and make it easier for them.”
“There are a lot of people impacted when food is all done – raised, processed and consumed – locally,” said Leah “and Dry Branch Farm Market sources from over a dozen local farms (not including their own Dry Branch Stock Farm) to help get local food to local residents.
Shell said the Department of Ag wants to help Kentucky farmers and producers with any barriers to entry to serve the needs of local schools, hospitals, restaurants and residents.
Shell noted that “Food transported less than 100 miles is more nutritious” and he wants to make it easier for citizens of the Commonwealth to access higher quality, local food.
Zach and Leah have a unique skill set and background to bring to the push for food decentralization. The Dry Branch owners come from agriculture families, “I’ve been in agriculture my whole life,” said Zach. He and Leah also both have extensive retail experience and Zach has a background in food service and meat processing.
“It’s exciting to be here building in Kentucky with folks like you!” Shell told Zach and Leah during his visit, “Dry Branch is one of the most innovative things I’ve seen in the state. You are not waiting on the government programs to be put in place, you are going out and getting it done!”
NOTE:
(After the visit, the Gibbs joined the Commissioner at The Still at Blue Rook Distillery to sign a proclamation for February to be Lamb Month in Kentucky. Dry Branch will be supplying all the lamb for The Still’s extensive lamb menu throughout the month of February.)