This blog runs a little on the long side of things, but please stay with me to the end!

You may be familiar with the Biblical story of Esther … I won’t take the time to go into it here, but it’s a story that I’ve known since my childhood. The main theme of this particular story is that Esther is in the right place at the right time with the right experience and the right attitude in order to take advantage of an opportunity to save her people, her world.

At one point when she is weighing her decision she is asked, is it possible that you are here for just such a time as this?

That’s a phrase that has come back to me throughout my lifetime, most notably when I was first starting Southern Soil. I had such a seemingly strange path in my life that had taken me in what seemed to be so many random directions and through some very difficult times that were hurtful and frustrating.

Yet many of those experiences are exactly what brought me to that place two years ago that culminated in bringing this magazine to life. Perhaps all those experiences had been just what I needed to be able to do the work that I do today. And perhaps the timing was just right as well.

As I have spent the last two years getting to know many of you through interviews and conversations, I have heard your struggles and gotten to know a bit about how you arrived in the places you are now, doing what it is you do within our food system. I have heard the frustrations and shared the vision and the hope for what our food systems could be.

And during this unprecedented time of uncertainty and upheaval, it seems that perhaps each of us is here for such a time as this.

I’ve had conversations with many of you over our shared concern for the direction of this country and our increasing dependence on industrialized farming systems - heavy chemical usage for produce and the inhumane practices for producing meats - and the high cost of that type of “food” production on our environment and collective health.

It was with a sense of urgency that I started Southern Soil, hoping to help provide a way of educating consumers and encouraging small, sustainable farming operations.

For such a time as this.

Over the last several weeks we have begun to see unprecedented demand from consumers for locally produced foods, we’ve seen Big Ag stumble, we’ve seen small farms step up. Not only here, but all across the country.

For such a time as this.

Seed companies are selling out of seeds as people are turning to their own yards as a source of food and are planting gardens in record numbers.

For such a time as this.

We have a golden opportunity right now while the world is paying attention to what is happening with our food supplies, so let’s not miss it.

Sometimes it feels like the local sustainable food movement here in rural Georgia is more of a dance than a march. Two steps forward, one step back, half a step to the side and do-si-do … everybody switch partners aaaaaaand go back to square one!

Let’s keep dancing, but let’s move it forward this time! 

Farmers, seize this opportunity to connect with your community. They are looking for you, make sure they can find you! It has been exciting to see the ways in which you have embraced ingenuity and found creative ways to pivot your businesses toward more direct sales to consumers. Keep up the great work!

Consumers, as always, support your local food system every chance you get!

For our dear friends in the restaurant business who are struggling, hold on and come back stronger than ever!

As our communities are beginning to see the importance of our local food system, we need to be ready and able to show them that local food can meet their needs, that bigger doesn’t always mean better and that local food produced with care and passion is attainable.

I hope that on the other side of this, our communities have smaller yards and bigger gardens. I hope to see fewer regulations standing in the way of local food production. I hope to see more farmers markets. I hope to continue to see consumers searching for local food. I hope there are more stores that carry locally produced items. I hope that our farmers continue to make sales to consumers a priority. I hope that our independent restaurants are back open and booming with business. 

These are strange times we find ourselves in, but they are also full of opportunity.

Are we here for such a time as this? Is this the moment that many of us have been waiting for when we can help tip the balance back toward more sustainable and healthy food systems?

Let’s embrace this opportunity as a chance to grow the local food movement and let’s continue to grow together!

LeeAnna Tatum, editor/publisher