GrowFood Carolina Open House Visit

I attended an open house at the GrowFood Carolina warehouse two weeks ago, eager to learn more about the organization. I constantly hear good things around town about this organization, and their image is everywhere. In Whole Foods Market, you might have seen “Find the Fork” icons in the produce section, marking the local produce options that GrowFood has brought to the grocery store from the farmer. You also might have passed the mural on the side of its warehouse on Morrison Drive.

GrowFood Carolina is a food hub, and it connects the farmer with the restaurant and the grocery store. Although still in its beginning, the organization is highly successful in the sense that it already does business with around 60 South Carolinian farmers.

At this event, we toured the warehouse and listened to Sara Clow, the director, talk about the business as a whole. Many asked if she only seeks relationships with organic farmers. Clow explained that while GrowFood does encourage sustainable practices, not every farmer she does business with is necessarily organic. In addition, I learned that GrowFood returns 80% of the profit to the farmer, which means that this is an incredibly profitable business for farmers. On average, the “middle man” keeps a much higher percentage of the profit, because it is extremely costly to store, package, and transport mass produce to restaurants and grocery stores.

GrowFood is partnered with the Costal Conservation League, which is an incubating organization for the company. The mission of the Costal Conservation League is to protect our environment, and by encouraging the local agriculture, the League is being proactive in saving our costal lands from development.

I learned that GrowFood Carolina is one of the most profitable organizations in our area that local farmers have access to. I look forward to seeing GrowFood grow over the next couple of years, easing the transition of food from the farm to the table.