Sustaining South Carolina Food Supplies

News - Food Bytes

Workshop focus on getting local foods to local people

By Becky Billingsley

Sunday, February 7, 2010, Columbia – A workshop designed to educate and open discussions about how best to get fresh South Carolina foods in the stomachs of South Carolinians was held Jan. 29 in Columbia, and several ideas came out of the day-long event.

Speakers at the SC Sustainable Foods Workshop held Jan. 29 in Columbia were SC Agriculture Dept. Commissional Hugh Weathers, Walter Douglas representing the National Resources Conservation Service and the US Dept. of Agriculture, Erika Kirby of the S.C. Dept. of Health and Environmental Control, Susan Barefoot of Clemson University, and Darcy Freedman from the University of South Carolina.

Held at the Downtown Hilton, the workshop was organized by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. In the morning a dozen speakers, including South Carolina Department of Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers, talked about why South Carolina needs a sustainable local food system and gave examples of some programs that are already in place.

Commissioner Weathers said his department is focusing on the Three Es of local sustainable food supplies: Economy, Ecology and Equity. The total impact of local sustainable farming was $34 billion in 2008 and 190,000 jobs. But Weathers doesn’t just want to sustain the system.

“In addition to sustaining we want it to grow from $34 billion to $50 billion in the next 10 years,” he said.

During those presentations, the approximately 100 attendees learned that South Carolina has the fifth-highest obesity rate in the nation, and here in Horry County 65 to 69 percent of adults are considered overweight or obese, with body mass indexes of 25 or greater.

Getting fresh South Carolina fruits and vegetables would make residents healthier, the speakers said. Some of them represented elementary school-age programs where the students planted gardens at school and then ate or distributed the produce. At the University of South Carolina, the contracted cafeteria food provider listened to students’ desires and started providing more locally grown fresh foods.

Todd Bedenbaugh of the S.C. Department of Education said his main challenge to providing fresh locally grown foods to school children is cost. He said the average price of a school lunch in South Carolina is $1.60. Out of that $1.60, 89 cents is allowed for food (the remainder goes for labor). Of that 89 cents, 24 cents goes for milk, 40 cents is spent on the entrée and 8 cents is allowed for bread. That leaves 13 cents to spend on a ¾ cup serving of a fruit or vegetable.

Data was presented that showed implementing more locally grown farmer-to-table programs benefits population weights, the local economy, the environment and increases food safety since a local food supply is more easily traceable and accountable.

After the morning session a lunch featuring South Carolina food products was prepared by Executive Chef Paul Cernansky of the Columbia Ruth’s Chris Steak House. The chef said he wishes it was easier to find South Carolina food products, because he would love to be able to make all of his banquets from local foods.