I don’t know about you, but more and more often as I’m out and about or just having conversations in general the topic of food is coming up more regularly. Not the typical, “what should we have for dinner?” type conversations, but expressed concerns over food shortages, higher prices and the desire to have more control.

These kind of conversations are a perfect gateway to further the discussion of local food systems and the importance of finding local food suppliers and learning to grow more of our own foods too!

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.

I choose a word to focus on for each new year. And this year, even though I tried to talk myself out of it, that word is “commitment”!

Not a fun or sexy word. And I really wasn’t very excited about it, but today it all sort of fell in place for me.

Five years ago, I started this journey with Southern Soil, but the past year has really taken a toll on me with family commitments (there’s that word again) and general disillusionment as I’ve struggled to make Southern Soil a financially viable business.

I gave some consideration to stepping away and ending the business altogether.

But I’m not really one to walk away from a challenge. I am re-committing myself to this cause that I care so much about. I am committed to moving Southern Soil forward and continuing the mission on which it was founded - to be a platform for “a growing food movement” here in Southeast Georgia.

“Community Builders” sponsor the work of Southern Soil, making it possible for us to have this platform for sharing the stories of our local food communities here in Southeast Georgia. Together we have helped connect chefs with local farmers, inform our audience of the importance of local food production and sustainability, shine a light on small farm operations here in the area, and continue to encourage and promote the growth of our local food systems.

These sponsors are a vital part of our commitment to keep our content available at no charge to our audience. We want as many people as possible to have access to information about their local food and the many reasons to choose to support local growers using sustainable and regenerative farming practices.

Halyards Restaurant Group was one of our first supporters and owner Dave Snyder has been a friend to Southern Soil literally since we first got started.

Your purchase of this issue not only gets you a beautiful publication that you’ll want to keep, but it also helps pay it forward by helping us continue to do our work of shining a light on the importance of a local food system that is based on sustainable and regenerative agriculture!