Table Talk with Kristin Russell of The Sentient Bean

EACH ISSUE OF SOUTHERN SOIL FEA- TURES A CONVERSATION WITH AN INDIVIDUAL REPRESENTING A PERSPECTIVE ALONG THE FOOD SUPPLY LINE.

FOR THIS ISSUE, I MET UP WITH KRISTIN RUSSELL, AT THE SENTIENT BEAN IN SAVANNAH. KRISTIN IS THE CO-OWNER OF THE BEAN, A VEGETARIAN CAFE AND COFFEE HOUSE THAT HAS BEEN DEDICATED TO SOURCING LOCALLY SINCE BEFORE THEY HAD MUCH OF A LOCAL FOOD SCENE TO SOURCE FROM.

Russell grew up on her family’s farm in the midwest and although her own family encouraged her to leave that life and find employment opportunities elsewhere, she has remained committed to doing her part to protect the family farm in America.

“I grew up on a small family farm, farming and ranching in Kansas. So that is my connection and always has been my connection to food. I’m mostly farmer-centric, my heart is driven by the desire to not see the death of the family farm in my lifetime,” Russell explained.

While attending a small liberal arts college in Minnesota, Russell learned that there were even more reasons to protect the family farm than she had realized. “I was introduced to the bigger picture of environmental reasons why small farms are better and some of the ethical and philosophical arguments about what are we eating and what are we doing.”

Realizing she wouldn’t be farming herself, Russell made the decision to support small farms the best way she knew how. “It all kind of coalesced into … ok, I can’t be a farmer because it’s too hard and my parents won’t let me,” she said with a laugh. “But I am interested in raising people’s awareness of this issue and to try to create opportunities for people to make responsible decisions.”

It’s that philosophy that guided Russell and her college roommate as they opened The Sentient Bean and it is still the foundation from which the restaurant operates.

“When we started the Bean, we tried to source local produce. We decided not to serve meat from the beginning. Not because I didn’t want to eat it, but because there wasn’t a good local source for it that I felt ok about,” Russell. explained.

“Fast forward ten years, people like Hunter Cattle and Savannah River Farms have grown enough to support a commercial market and if I were opening a restaurant today I would probably feel really differently about the menu. When I think about what was available when we started this place 18 years ago and what’s available today, it’s leaps and bounds better today. So, that makes me feel really good that we’re doing something right,” she continued.

The following is Russell’s perspective on a series of questions regarding the local food system in Southeast Georgia.

What does the current food system look like here in Southeast Georgia?

The current food system looks like decades of land consolidation and policy that benefits commodities over food and corporations over consumers.

What do you think a locally sourced, sustainable food system should look like here in Southeast Georgia?

The food system in Southeast Georgia should look like everyone participates in it in ways more meaningful than going to the grocery store. It should look full of small farms and a direct relationship between grower and consumer should be the norm.

What changes need to occur to make that transition?

The are so many things that need to happen it can be overwhelming but basically it’s all economics. We need more money from consumers, from government assistance, from institutions, all going directly to small farms. That will take education, policy change, and a lot of time.

How do we make a sustainable, local food system that is profitable for producers while keeping it accessible to consumers?

Again - it’s a multi-faceted answer but the main things are for more consumers to spend more on food and for policy to favor small growers. America is notorious for how little money we spend on food and how much money we spend on health-care. Those numbers need to be reversed.

There is the whole middle section of the population that really could spend 10% more of their household budget on food. Cut out that 10% from somewhere else and everyone would be the better for it ... the answer to making it accessible to everyone is that the rest of us have to drive the supply enough … if the supply becomes overwhelmingly local than there will be affordable local food if the rest of us are driving demand, so that’s really on consumers, I think.

Most households could couple paying more for high quality food with spending less on quantity

and knowing how to cook - you can stretch good food a lot further than empty calories - and you can grow your own very cheaply.

We also need a lot more commitment from the public sector to support infrastructure that helps small growers and also to create policy that charges more for the destruction of natural resources that often accompanies big ag. That’s the biggest change at a federal level that needs to happen. And there’s plenty of support for that, but it’s dwarfed by big ag and their lobbying.

How do we grow the sustainable food movement here in our communities?

We do what you’re doing - keep talking about it! We all need to do our best and encourage our friends and family. This is a long, long transition and we have to celebrate the small successes.

The vast majority of people don’t think about farmers … but if you think about it, you don’t really want corporations to be in charge of your food supply because they’re unaccountable. You see that in the e-coli outbreaks that you see from large corporations but you don’t see that in smaller farms.

Every dollar you spend is supporting somekind of system and what do you want thatsystem to be? It’s really that simple.