Curious where we get produce in the winter? Meet two of our favorite farmers
Oh, when the weather outside is frightful it's hard to grow produce! That's why we source fresh produce from farmers in warmer regions during the chilly winter months. The most important part of what we do is ensuring that no produce goes to waste, no matter where it's from! Curious to learn more about the farms we work with over the winter? Read on for a spotlight on two of our favorites!
Woods Farms
Farmer: Dae Woods
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Specialty: Sweet potatoes!
Why are they rejected? Let's talk about the crazy sweet potato industry! Sweet potatoes are sold to fresh markets as either jumbo or combo sizes - with no fluctuation in size. There are even more rules than just size! For example, they must be smooth with little to no scarring on their skin. The sweet potatoes you see in your Hungry Harvest are the ones that Dae carefully sorts out that would not make it into a wholesale market, restaurant, or grocery store. They are "ugly" and would otherwise be left in the dirt :(. However, Dae's sweet potatoes are some of the most delicious ones we've ever tried, and they aren't ugly in our book!!
Bland Farms
Farmer: Troy Brand
Location: Glennville, GA
Specialty: Sweet onions
Why are they rejected? Did you know that sweet onions often grow in different shapes and sizes? Grocery stores and wholesalers, however, buy them specifically by size. Medium and jumbo sweet onions are almost always in the high demand! When the farmer is sorting through all of his sweet onions, a lot of 'em don't meet size requirements or have exterior skin defects, resulting in the loss of sale and even more waste. We at Hungry Harvest provide an outlet for these sweet sort outs to ensure that they have somewhere to go. The sweet onions we get from Bland Farms are farm fresh and perfect for cooking with!
We hope you enjoyed learning about a couple of the amazing farmers we work with here at Hungry Harvest! Check out our new produce add ons and harvests here!