Florida Organic Group Dedicated To Serving Growers, Community

By Jenni Williams|August 27, 2014

When Florida Organic Growers (FOG) Executive Director Marty Mesh and a small group of farmers founded the statewide organization in 1987, its mission was to educate farmers and the public about organics.
Today, FOG serves the state through programs that educate farmers and consumers about organic agriculture as well as through FOG’s organic certification program, Quality Certification Services. This program is a USDA ISO Guide 65, American Standards National Institute, and USDA National Organic Program accredited certifier that offers options for farming, wildcrafting, livestock, processing, packing, and handling operations as well as food safety auditing for both conventional and organic farms.

Porters Community Farm is Gainesville’s first urban organized farming project. Photo courtesy of Florida Organic Growers

FOG’s Education & Outreach Program conducts teaching, research, and services that engage the organization with external constituencies. The Education & Outreach projects generate knowledge, share resources, and apply the expertise of FOG in ways that advance organic agriculture and healthy and just food systems. Staff educate producers, consumers, media, institutions, and governments about the benefits of organic and sustainable agriculture through presentations at conferences, workshops, classes, and other educational opportunities on a variety of related topics. Projects include:

The Gainesville Initiative for Tasty Gardens (aka, GIFT Gardens) is a model program that builds raised bed vegetable gardens and edible landscaping for low-income families and institutions that serve them. Currently, there are GIFT Gardens at more than 300 locations across Alachua County, including 18 schools, 17 community centers, and seven churches.
FOG offers Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients (formerly food stamps) the opportunity to use their EBT cards at farmers’ markets to purchase healthy items. In Alachua County, participating farmers’ markets include the Union Street Farmers Market and the Alachua County Farmers Market.
Fresh Access Bucks is designed to increase access to and consumption of healthy, locally produced fruits and vegetables for low-income Florida residents who utilize federal nutrition assistance benefits including SNAP, while increasing direct market sales of Florida-grown fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets. For example, an individual spending $10 on fruits and vegetables at a participating market can buy $20 worth of fruits and vegetables. There will be 20 farmers’ markets participating by the end of the year.
As Gainesville’s first urban community farm, Porters Community Farm teaches organic farming methods while donating tons of fresh produce to St. Francis House for the homeless and soup kitchens for those most in need.
FOG offers in-depth farmer workshops for novice and experienced farmers. The goal of these workshops is to promote sustainable and organic farming methods such as farm planning, sustainable soil management, sustainable pest management, food safety, and marketing.
FOG ensures the voices of small farmers are heard in Washington, DC, and works to ensure that farmers are granted the rights, respect, and protection they deserve as citizens and business owners. FOG believes in a just food system and strives to incorporate social justice in all its programming, including this past May, where along with the Agricultural Justice Project and Little Bean Productions, launched the online premiere of “Hungry for Justice: Spotlight on the South,” a social justice short educational video about a market-based solution.

These community programs and services wouldn’t be possible without the financial support of members. Visit FogInfo.org for the latest information on membership as well as organic gardening, farmers’ markets in your area, gardening resources, policy work, and much more.