4
I
Today in Mississippi
I
April 2016
Seeds of Change Jackson-based partnership creates innovative food hub to connect Mississippi farmers with consumers
By Debbie Stringer Agriculture is Mississippi’s top industry, generating some $7.5 billion in annual revenue. Yet Mississippi has the worst food-related problems in the country due to high rates of hunger, obesity and diabetes. And although Mississippi has a climate and natural resources suitable for growing more than 50 food crops, an estimated 90 percent of our food comes from other states. Only $120 million of Mississippi’s annual ag production consists of fruits and vegetables—mostly sweet potatoes. “We have a successful agricultural community that does terrific work producing commodities and exports. There’s just not a lot of food in the process. We create a very limited amount of fruits and vegetables,” said David Watkins Jr., a Jackson native and food entrepreneur. “We have obesity and hunger existing at the same time, so there’s a lot of malnourishment, and people who are getting food are not really getting nutritious food,” Watkins said. Mississippi farmers know how to produce nutritious food, but there has been no system in place for building viable businesses centered on food crop production—until now. Watkins is a partner in Jackson-based Soul City Hospitality, the group of restaurant professionals behind the new Up in Farms Food Hub, a processing and distribution system for Mississippi-grown food crops. The food hub is the first business to emerge from the group’s planned Food Innovation Center. “Our goal is to help farmers make a good, sustainable living by growing food in a way that is accessible and affordable for Mississippians,” Watkins said. The Up in Farms Food Hub’s locally grown foods, carrying the Mississippi Farmed label, will be distributed to grocery stores, restaurants, schools, hotels, hospitals and other markets throughout Mississippi, and eventually the region. Benefitting from a $100,000 grant from USDA and a $315,000 construction grant from the Delta Regional Authority, the food hub recently began its pilot phase at the Old Farmers Market building on West Street in Jackson. Abandoned for years, the historic building is being renovated and equipped to house the food hub.