SAAFON is highlighting in 2010 four farmers from our Network. These farmers have done an outstanding job not only in successfully growing and marketing their organic crops, but also in the role they have played in educating their communities about sustainable agriculture. We are proud to have these model farmers as members of SAAFON.
 Sandra Simone of Huckleberry Hill Farm in Talladega, Alabama and her daughter Tynesha have made it a business of getting it right when it comes to farming organic vegetables and raising goats. The mother and daughter team run a successful CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that distributes out of the Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta. Along with the CSA one of the passions of Sandra is to educate her local community, especially the children, about the importance of “what they are putting into their bodies”. Huckleberry Hill Farm’s community event “The Pumpkin Festival” draws children and their parents from all over Alabama. The event provides food, games and education about nutrition, farming and the impact farming has on the environment.
USDA Certified Organic Farmer  Sara Reynolds, Marshview Community Organic Farm – Young Farmers of the Lowcountry on St. Helena Island, South Carolina has taken a unique approach to educating her community on the benefits of sustainable agriculture. The children in the community not only help in the planting and harvesting of the organic crop, but they are the shareholders that run the farm. All decision making in the running of the farm are decide by a committee of children from ages 8-14. The group participates in a CSA and all income from sales from both the CSA and the farmer’s market are equally distributed among the “youth farmers”. Their financial returns are placed in their individual saving accounts to purchase supplies for the following school year. Marshview Community Organic Farm received a grant from the Self Development of People Foundation to build a storage shed, green house and to install an irrigation system to expand their production levels.
USDA Certified Organic Farmer  Mary & Nelson James, Dogwood Nursery Farms LLC, Maple Hill, NC are making changes in North Carolina and are working to bring other small and limited resource farmers along with them. The James not only grow organic vegetables and herbs, but are certified organic Shiitake Mushroom growers. They produce turkeys, Cornish Hens, chickens, and eggs. They also are currently a pork supplier for Whole Foods. But it doesn’t stop there. They feel it is important to share their information and resources. Mary is the president of the North Carolina Willing Workers Cooperative. She is also the president of the North Carolina Willing Workers Foundation and the vice-president of the North Carolina’s Mushroom Growers Association. The foundation provides educational resources and support to local farmers, as does the Mushroom Growers Association.
USDA Certified Organic Farmer  Fathiyyah & Mustafa Azeez, SCF Organic Farms (a cooperative of farms) in Sumter, SC have been mentoring start up organic farmers for a while. Mustafa was the first certified organic farmer in the state of South Carolina. The Azeez’s Asya Organic Farm is known for its heirloom produce and as a regional source for seeds and seedling for a number of heirloom plants. Fathiyyah has become known as a true specialist in medicinal herbs and their health properties. The Azeez farm and the SCF Cooperative conduct regular educational seminars, workshops, and family gatherings to educate the farmers and their families in the community about the importance of sustainable agriculture and the life changing benefits of eating organically. Fathiyyah and Mustafa’s approach to life not only exemplifies the basic meaning of sustainable as it relates to organic food production, but how it relates to our communities and our environment.
USDA Certified Organic Farmer |