Meet Our Sponsors and Curated Advertisers!

Our Local Food Community Builders are businesses that are committed to seeing growth and improvement in our local food systems. Through their sponsorship and annual commitment to advertising with Southern Soil, these businesses help ensure that we can continue the work we do to share, celebrate and promote local, sustainable food production and consumption here in Southeast Georgia.

Please take a moment to learn more about them and thank them with your business when possible!

Brighter Day and The Sentient Bean

Downtown Savannah / Kristin Russell, owner

Cornering the market on fresh food done well in historic downtown Savannah, these two establishments serve up more than great food!

The Sentient Bean has been brewing up coffee and community since 2001 under the leadership of Kristin Russell. The Bean’s own brand of activism and outreach goes hand in hand with a fresh, locally sourced, vegetarian menu and coffee shop!

Brighter Day Natural Foods Market has been a pillar of the community for decades, providing fresh organic produce along with supplements and a wide range of healthy foods. The juice bar and deli serve up fresh prepared options daily.

Kristin was raised in a farming family and the “family farm” continues to hold a special place in her heart. Her pragmatic activism is always at work in her two businesses. Two driving forces are: supporting local farms and reducing waste. 

You can listen to A Conversation with Kristin Russell: local food systems and practical ways to improve them. (Season 1: Episode 8 / 2022)

Articles: Table Talk with Kristin Russell (Issue #4 2018), Twenty Years at the Bean: practical activism with Kristin Russell (Issue #5 2021), and Shortening Supply Lines: buying from local farms (Issue #5 2020).

Halyard Restaurant Group

St Simons Island / Chef Dave Snyder, owner

Halyard Restaurant Group is comprised of Halyards Catering and Hook & Knife Charters along with three restaurants located on St Simons Island: Halyards, Tramici and La Plancha. 

Drawing on his relationships with local fishermen and farmers, owner Chef Dave Snyder demonstrates to eager guests that the best ingredients make a tremendous difference in food quality, in the sustainability of the environment, and in the financial strength of the local economy. 

He serves on the Advisory Panel for Snapper/Grouper Species for the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and has worked with the South Atlantic Fishermen’s Association to improve the sustainability and health of the South Atlantic, the availability of local fish, and the financial future and heritage of the fishing industry.

In 2020, when Covid affected restaurant sales for many local farmers, Dave helped organize and host a farmers market to help connect local residents with locally produced food. 

Dave is deeply committed to community service and serves on multiple boards including the recently formed Georgia Grown Trail 17 which is an agritourism initiative designed to encourage visitors to agricultural-related experiences along the coastal corridor. 

Articles: Table Talk with Dave Snyder (Issue #1 2018), Camp Happy Tummies: comfort through food and hospitality (Issue #1 2019), and Shortening Supply Lines: buying from local farms (Issue #5 2020).

Podcast: A Conversation with Chef, Restaurateur and Fishing Captain Dave Snyder: from Restaurant Staffing Crisis to Sustainable Fisheries and More (Season 2: Episode 3)

Georgia Grown Trail 17

& the Georgia Oyster Trail

“Conscious Consumerism”

What it is. Why it matters.

How we can help you connect.

Continue reading here.

Savannah Hydroponics & organics

Savannah /Andrew and Kelly Morris, owners

Savannah Hydroponics & Organics is your resource for specialty gardening supplies.  Having researched products from all over the world, they can offer the most diverse selection of high quality products available.  Andrew and his knowledgeable staff have solutions for any budget, and all methods of growing.  Whether you’re a commercial hydroponic grower, or a beginner looking to start an organic garden as a new hobby, you’ll find what you need at Savannah Hydro.

Tasty Farms is the test garden when many of the products that can be purchased at the store are put to work. These products along with the teams first-hand knowledge and experience using them provide a valuable resource to their customers.

Andrew and his team actively support and help promote other small businesses and the local food community in the greater Savannah area.

Article: Hydroponics: does it have a place in a sustainable food system?

Billy’s Botanicals

Richmond Hill / Billy Dugger, owner and farmer

This farm was founded on the premise that the earth's natural resources are dwindling as days pass.  With the ideal that our bodies are directly affected by what we put into them.  And with the understanding that when we consume pesticide-free & chemical-free foods, our bodies reward us with good health. 

Billy's Botanicals uses the power of the sun, the purity of water, and the perfection of a controlled environment to produce a local, organic, & sustainably raised/harvested source for fresh fish, fruits, herbs, & vegetables.

When the pandemic hit and many farms, including their own, were losing restaurant business and local residents were in need of groceries; Ana Dugger began coordinating with those other farms in order to provide farm-fresh goods delivered straight to the door of their farmbag customers. Follow them on Facebook for details.

Articles: Small Farm Spotlight: Billy’s Botanicals (Issue #5 2019) and Shortening Supply Lines: buying from local farms (Issue #5 2020).

Chelsea Green Publishing is recognized as a leading publisher of books on the politics and practice of sustainable living. They publish authors who bring in-depth, practical knowledge to life, and give readers hands-on information related to organic farming and gardening, ecology and the environment, healthy food, sustainable economics, progressive politics and most recently, integrative health and wellness.

They are an excellent source for books on permaculture, sustainable food systems, and all those points of interest we cover here at Southern Soil - sustainable food, from soil to table.

Listeners to the podcast can now get 35% off the entire Chelsea Green catalog. Enter POD35 at check-out  [Discount applies to US customers only and cannot be combined with other sales pricing or promotions.

For more visit chelseagreen.com

Down South House & Home

Clarkston / Stacy Reece, owner

Exclusive Engravings

Richmond Hill / Chris and LaShonda Hartley, owners

The Salt Table

Dave and Carol Legasse, owners

Morning Belle Farms

Woodbine / John and Jennifer Parham, owners and farmers

This family owned and operated you-pick blueberry farm is certified organic. John and Jennifer Parham had their first season with the farm in 2021, but the farm has been operating for about 12 years.

The farm was originally established by Dr. Gerard Krewer who is considered one of UGA’s blueberry pioneers (he even has a blueberry variety named in his honor). The farm changed hands prior to the Parham’s purchase and both previous owners have been instrumental in helping this new farming family learn the ropes. 

“Our backgrounds don’t have a lot to do with farming. John is a pilot and I am a nurse. We had been looking for property for our four boys to get out a little bit and be outside,” Jennifer explained. “And we wanted our boys to have an understanding of where their food comes from other than the grocery store.”

During its peak last season, there were often close to 100 cars along the road to the farm and many of the customers have been visiting for years.

“We stay busy…, “ Jennifer said of their 2021 season, “we have people who come from all over the place, they plan their vacations to get here for the season and they’ve been doing it longer than we have - coming through to visit this farm. I feel like you-pick is one of those things that can become a tradition that you do with your family.”

Article: Blueberries: Georgia’s Top Fruit (Spring 2022 Issue).