Atlanta Harvest combats food deserts with Ellenwood farm

All right, Eli Jordan is joining us here out in Ellenwood with a very interesting story. They have a family farm that is combating a food desert that's out there, and they have so many different products that I think people are going to enjoy. Oh yeah, all sorts of different things. You can buy some, you know, already seeded plants. You can come out here. There's fresh food. You can also get some food from, you know, items from other farms around the state and all that. But this is, you know, this is Ample Block Road right here. You come around the corner and this is like an old school, you know, roadside farmer's market right here. They're working on a bigger building, but this is where they sell all the, you know, items out of their farm that they have here. And we're going to go check it out and speak to Eliyahu. Banasa, who is the owner, how you doing, Eliyahu? Welcome in. Hey, hey, so this is your farmer's market here, right? So things in here are from the farm or from other farms that you know. Yeah, exactly. So tell me, what all sorts of stuff do people find in here? Yeah, we work hand-in-hand with a bunch of Georgia producers. So these are Georgia farmers growing fruits and vegetables, raising livestock or producing value-added products. And we fill up this store to give people an idea of what is seasonally available Because that's so important in eating in this. the season or eating in every season to try to get the food that's locally grown, organically grown and available in your area. That's how we close the loop on not only nutrition, but, you know, supporting other local businesses. I noticed out there, I took a walk around the garden areas and all that. You guys still have like, you got butternut squash out there, you got eggplant still coming in, you got all sorts of other squashes and stuff coming in. I mean, when you know what you're doing, you can just, you know, extend the life of a garden for a while, can't you? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's an amazing opportunity. to really understand how the seasons work here and to have so much experience and we've been farming for over 16 years so being able to take all that experience of growing food, raising cattle. You know, and producing things like honey, making our own teas, making ciders, all these other value added products where we're showing off that expertise here at the store. And also, too, you guys are providing some of the things that, you know, you would have to go all the way in town for, you know, Atlanta, deal with the traffic, find a parking space, pay for parking. There's a lot of really cool, you know, just different items that you normally don't see at any grocery store when you go to the grocery store. Yeah, we're passionate about serving the entirety of the metro Atlanta area. And more. You know, there are not a lot of places like us that produce our own foods and sell it at our own location. Here, we're doing, yeah, and these eggs right here are from our farm in Griffin. This is where we raise our livestock. It's a photo of me and my dad here. The local lands was our original farm, and we expanded from there. We're very blessed to have the opportunity to be able to do this kind of thing. But, yeah, there are not a lot of places like this. It's not like you can just go anywhere and find a farm and meet a farmer and talk to him him and ask him questions about You know, what's in season and, you know, to get the real low-down information about what is actually going on in our food system. So when you go to parties, you have people always asking you, you know, what should I put here? Just like a doctor, you know, I got this ailment in my neck. Well, yeah, I mean, that's the reality. I mean, nowadays, everybody's thinking about how to be more sustainable, how to be more self-sustainable, how to eat better, how to care for themselves better. And so generally, I'm the only person in the room who has information that they can use And that they're looking for in terms of building something for their families. So when society grinds to a standstill, you're the person to come because you'll be able to grow the food for everyone. Well, listen, if society comes to a standstill, you might not be able to find me, but I'll be here as long as society is operational. And, you know, it's funny that you bring that up because community is what we're all about. And so you have to build community from the ground up. And being able to come out to a store like this and build community with your local farmer is something that everybody needs to do no matter where you live. And also, too, you know where the food is coming from. You're not having this, you know... Things being shipped in from other countries and, you know, without any... Exactly. And there are no fears like how we just went through the cyclospora outbreak and, you know, where are you getting your lettuce? It's like, I'm growing my lettuce here. I'm selling lettuce here as well. You know, we sell plants, seedlings, fruit trees so that you can grow food yourself. We teach you how to grow. We have classes and we have events where you can come and get involved with community and build something for you and your family from the ground up. And it's just something that is... It just helps the mind, too, when you know you're growing your own food, you see your family eating the food that you've grown, and, you know, sharing it with your neighbor. I mean, it just goes all around. It's a very fulfilling experience from physical to mental to just, you know, social, I guess. Absolutely, yeah. The effects, the positive effects of being in nature, being involved in nature, putting your hands in the soil, building community around nature and agriculture. It benefits you more than just eating well, you know, like you said, that mental aspect, that spiritual aspect. These are all the other benefits to creating community and doing what we do here. And that's why I really love it. We're getting to the place where the kids will love these, the Brussels sprouts here. You know, I tried to grow some Brussels sprouts once. They grew up tall. I didn't get any sprouts, but the leaves. are great to eat. Delicious, yeah. And people forget that there are different parts of the plant that you don't generally see at the grocery store. And we sell them here. So what do you do with the cauliflower leaves after you harvest the cauliflower? You can cook them just like collards. Same with broccoli, broccoli greens, small broccoli florets. We also grow a broccolini here. And so there are tons of other things that you can do. And you should definitely come to one of our classes to learn about how you can use some of these ingredients better, how you can Um, create more from the food that you buy instead of just using what's more known, um, in society and then tossing the rest, you know? So if people want to find more about classes, where should they go? So go to our website, atlantaharvest.com, or if you're following us on social media, Atlanta Harvest on Facebook or Instagram, um, you can find us there and you can also sign up for like our emails and our. Our text message updates, which you can get more information of on our website, or come here and shop, and we'll tell you all about it. We're always having signs and flyers all over the place. And you get more information about CSA and all that good stuff. Absolutely, absolutely. CSA year-round. Yes. We run a food box program for those of you who are interested in getting a clean source and a recurring source, weekly or biweekly, of locally grown, organically grown fruits and vegetables. You can also, through the CSA, buy things like our eggs, our meats, our beef, our lamb, All right. by us on our farm down south, honey, things that people are using every single day. You can get on our website at atlantaharvest.com and sign up for our CSA Food Box program. Where's your southern farm? Where's that generally located? Yeah, so we've got a farm south of Griffin and a farm to the east of Dublin. So we run a chain. Me and my family, we work together proudly. We're a family owned and operated at Atlanta Harvest and Local Lands, and growing food is our passion. You've got not only a vegetable farm, but you also have a cattle farm. Yes, yes. We raise our own beef, lamb, goat, sometimes chicken, and chicken eggs. And we produce a whole lot of food. And so almost everything that we grow is for sale here at our market stand. We also do supply some restaurants and wholesale food hubs with items that are distributed through different channels across the Metro Atlanta area. Oh, this is really cool. I mean, I think more and more people are going to be looking at this. Absolutely. I mean, you don't have to worry about something. So not completely, but supply chain issues don't hit you as hard. No, not at all. Not at all. So like, you know, obviously we run tractors and so diesel is more expensive. But things that people were really worried about, like the price of fertilizer, don't affect us because we produce our own fertilizer. We also produce our own soil, produce our own compost. And this is the self-sustainability aspect of having the farm and things that we, you know, try to teach to the community for people who want to grow their own food, have a little little garden or even do something like what we're doing with having a A farm as a business. Well, Eliyahu, this is really cool. I mean, I'm very impressed with the outfit you guys have here, with the shop, all these beautiful seedlings here, the Brussels sprouts and everything else. We'll Tell me, we're located at 3529 Anvil Block Road in Ellenwood. That's a little bit southeast of town, just outside the perimeter. be But tell the website one more time. Yes. So you can find us at www.atlantaharvest.com. right Also look us up on Instagram at Atlanta Harvest or on Facebook at Atlanta Harvest. Or come and shop. We're open Sunday through Friday. Sundays we're open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. back. And Monday through Friday we're open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. We'd love to have you. Awesome. Come on out here. We're 35, 20. 3529 Anvil Block Road, Ellenwood, Georgia. Eric, I will kick it back to you. I mean, I'm just so in awe with all the fresh produce. I know those Brussels sprouts with the little balsamic glaze would be absolutely delicious. Shit. Eli Jordan out there. Here we go. With a great story earlier, he had some cool sunflowers, so there's all type of things that you can get out and enjoy. Eli, thanks so much. This really comes in handy because the cost of living, wages, all of that, a lot of people are feeling the pinch there.