One peach was plucked from the branches while it was far from ripe and has spent the last week in a truck traveling across country to arrive in your local store. The other was enjoying the sunshine just a few miles up the road until a day ago, when it went from the peak of freshness to the grocery aisle. Given a choice, most people would select the local peach for its fragrance, flavor and nutrients. Choice is the reason behind Certified South Carolina, a five-year-old South Carolina Department of Agriculture program that brands and promotes South Carolina products so that the state’s consumers can easily find and purchase Palmetto State foods.
In 2006, the department conducted background research on consumer attitudes and found that 80 percent of the state’s residents will pick a South Carolina product if available, but the same percentage could not identify those products. The Certified South Carolina program was launched to keep food closer to home, and its logo began to appear in supermarkets, roadside stands, and farmers markets, identifying fruits, vegetables, and other farm products as homegrown and meeting high standards for quality.
About 100 farmers signed up as Certified South Carolina members at the start. Today, there are over 1,100. Fourteen grocery chains are on board including Wal Mart, BiLo, IGA, Piggly Wiggly, Publix, Ingles, Winn Dixie, and Whole Foods along with locally owned stores. This summer, well over 500 stores used Certified South Carolina signage.
The Department of Agriculture has found that farmers are embracing the program. In fact, for every dollar the department spends on branding materials, $7 is being spent by Certified South Carolina members on marketing that promotes the initiative. The combination is powerful, says Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers, a farmer himself. “Marketing is as key to a farmer’s success as the seed planted,” he says.
When the program began, Weathers knew it had potential to impact around the edges, but he thought it would be difficult to break into mainstream food distribution. Fortunately, time has proved him wrong. Steve Francis, a broker and distributor who runs Francis Produce, credits Weathers and his department with marketing that capitalized on demand. “The initiative was driven by consumer demand that was there, but the marketing tapped into it and generated more awareness and excitement,” Francis says. “As you go into all major chains in this part of the country, they all have local produce now. The SC Certified program has given us a marketing platform to get more products in the stores to the end user.”
Farmers also say the program works. Carol Fisher and her husband devote the majority of their 175 acres at Fishers Orchard to peaches and nectarines, and over the years, they’ve watched the focus move closer to home. “When we were first married, the entire peach crop was shipped from here in South Carolina to Pennsylvania, New York, Chicago or wherever the broker sold our peaches,” she says. “Now, probably 98 percent of everything we grow goes directly to a produce stand or a retail store. Selling locally is the future of farming.”
The program is important for securing selling power during the growing season, says Donna Tesner, who operates Beechwood Farms along with her parents, Billy and Elizabeth Ledford. “During our season, the local push helps people be more aware of where their food is coming from, it helps to save on fuel costs, it allows people to be environmentally conscious, and it gives them a chance to support the local economy,” she says. “They can choose to support local farmers, and that’s a beautiful thing.” The program has two components. To qualify as Certified SC Grown, fruits, vegetables and other items must meet the U.S. #1 Quality Grade Standard or higher U.S. Grade Standards, depending on which standard applies in the community. In order to qualify as Certified SC Products such as sauces, sausages and soaps, products must meet appropriate USDA or FDA industry standards and must be produced and packaged in an approved kitchen or facility.
Now that the Certified SC Program is well underway, the South Carolina Department of Agriculture is hard at work on adding to its success. Fresh on the Menu was launched as an additional phase in 2008. This initiative allows participating restaurants to let consumers know that 25 percent of the ingredients for their menu items come from South Carolina sources when in season. The program, which started small, is up to 325 participants, and Weathers wishes he had the manpower to grow it even further. “It’s very encouraging to see the number of restaurants that find value in using South Carolina produce,” he says.
Now the department is taking further steps to combat the state’s dubious rankings – high on obesity and low on income generated per farm acre. The department’s Farm to School effort, funded by a Center for Disease Control grant, is designed to impact the diet and nutrition of children from grammar school ages up by creating a nutrient dense menu that comes from local sources. The pilot project included 52 schools, and, Weathers says, the department is learning its way through and getting others to join in. To qualify for the initiative, farmers must meet liability insurance requirements and become certified for good agricultural practices.
Though rock hard peaches from the West Coast are sometimes available alongside local ones, the Certified South Carolina program is expanding the local food movement. “We pick for the best flavor and the best quality so that people can enjoy our peaches,” says Carol Fisher. “It has to taste 100 percent better than a fruit that was grown thousands of miles away, shipped over here, and is three or four days old before it ever reaches the store.”