Local Loan Recipients: South

Whole Foods Market's South Region includes Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Eastern Carolina Organics

Pittsboro, North Carolina

Eastern Carolina Organics (ECO) is a farmer-owned marketing and distribution service for 40+ certified organic farmers in North Carolina that was founded in 2004. They help family farmers thrive by improving farmers' access to urban markets and enable consumers to support local family farmers by purchasing high-quality, local organic products.

ECO will using their Local Producer Loan funds to pay for an already-purchased produce cooler which was recently installed. This will help them to improve the quality, quantity, and overall success of the products. 

3L Farms

Durham, North Carolina

Don Lunsford of 3L Farms has been selling Whole Foods Market his greenhouse lettuce since 2002. He is a great example of a local producer - his local lettuce goes to the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill stores. Whole Foods Market purchases about a third of his product, with the rest being sold at farmers markets and to other customers.

In order to expand his business, Don will be using his loan funds to build a greenhouse for tomatoes. He expects to produce about 1,400 pounds of tomatoes each week from March to December. In addition to significantly increasing Don's revenue, the production will allow Whole Foods Market to have a greater supply of locally-grown tomatoes. So thanks in advance from our North Carolina customers, Don!

White Oak Pastures

Bluffton, Georgia

Will Harris is the fourth generation of his family to raise cattle on his family's South Georgia land. His great-grandfather started the farm in 1886, and the family has been full of cattlemen ever since — although the next generation, Will's three daughters, are cattlewomen! While his father had moved the farm into the industrial livestock model, raising calves to be shipped to the Midwest and finished on grain, Will made the choice in the mid-nineties to transition his herd to grassfed beef production. He considers it a return to the animal husbandry of his forefathers.

Will and his family used the loan funds for an on-farm processing plant which allows his 650 head of cattle to be born, raised, and processed on the same land. Designed with Dr. Temple Grandin, a n expert on humane treatment of animals, the plant also means that nearby beef producers now have a more humane alternative to industrial slaughterhouses. Besides being humane and grassfed, White Oak Pasture's beef won the Grand Prize at the 2008 Flavor of Georgia food contest, beating more than 160 new food products!

Check out White Oak Pastures in our Farm-to-Market blog!

Sweetwater Growers

Canton, Georgia

Brothers James, Scott, and Dennis Dault have been producing fresh culinary herbs and specialty greens since 2003. As owners of a construction business, Scott and Dennis had the opportunity to work on a greenhouse. It turned out they liked not just the building but the business! They eventually both brought their brother James in and bought out the original owner, turning the greenhouse into a family business.

In addition to their herbs and greens, Sweetwater produces infused oils created with their fresh herbs. Their Infused Roasted Garlic Basil Oil won first place in its category at the 2008 Flavor of Georgia food contest. Whole Foods Market was one of Sweetwater's very first customers, and we continue to support them through purchases and through their loan, which will be used to build two additional greenhouses for live basil.

Check out Sweetwater Growers in our Farm-to-Market blog!

Via Elisa

Atlanta, Georgia

Via Elisa is an all-natural, high-quality, authentic Italian-style pasta made from organic flour, free range eggs, and imported cheeses. Elisa Gambino trained in Italy with a pasta maker and uses those methods for her production. Her pastas have been reviewed in a number of regional publications, and she has even been filmed for the Food Network's Road Tasted, in which she showed James and Bobby Deen about making fresh pasta.

Elisa has been producing Via Elisa Fresh Pasta since 2002. In that time she has expanded to a product line of ravioli, tortelloni, gnocchi, cannelloni, cut pasta, pasta sauces, and seasoned butters. She used the loan to purchase an oxygen analyzer and pasta cutting machine, which helped her expand her business even more.

Check out Via Elisa in our Farm-to-Market blog!

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