Tag Archives: okra

The Making Of Gretchen on WALB at Okra Paradise Farms 2014-04-02

Ever wonder what goes into the few seconds of video you see on TV news? As I promised reporter Colter Anstaetts when he interviewed Gretchen for WALB TV Friday May 2nd about Valdosta Farm Days (coming up again this Saturday 9AM to 1PM at the historic Lowndes County Courthouse in Valdosta), here’s The Making Of…, including birds singing, dogs rolling in the grass, Brown Dog frolicking and bouncing across, Yellow Dog prancing, red potatoes, and red, white, and blue corn at Okra Paradise Farms.

300x225 WALB report and camera, Gretchen and LAKE camera, in Valdosta Farm Days â??Gretchen on WALB, by John S. Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), 2 May 2014 You can see both the WALB TV camera and the LAKE video camera in this picture.

After some initial discussion Continue reading →

Okra and Workforce Development @ VLCIA 19 July 2011

People keep mentioning the okra gift, and George Rhynes was kind enough to video it for his blog, K.V.C.I., so here it is.
  1. I suggested to VLCIA as I earlier did to the Lowndes County Commission that they hang up a clock so people can see how much more time they have to speak. You can see Crawford Powell lurking in the doorway. Joyce Evans was also in the hallway at this VLCIA meeting. That’s 2 out of 3 voting Lowndes County Commissioners. Maybe VLCIA will get organized enough to find chairs for them next time.
  2. I pointed out Project Excel is the private prison CCA wants to build in Lowndes County, and I still owe VLCIA a letter about why I think that’s a bad idea.
  3. Finally, I gave new executive director Andrew Schruijer a present. Crawford Powell suggested it was potatoes. Nope, this time it’s okra! Picked it myself that morning.
Here’s the video: Continue reading →

Local Food for Economic Benefit in Georgia

The UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development has quantified the economic effects of eating local food in Georgia, in this report: The Local Food Impact: What if Georgians Ate Georgia Produce? Prepared by: Sharon P. Kane, Kent Wolfe, Marcia Jones, and John McKissick Center Report: CR-10-03 May 2010
If Georgians produced all of the fruits and vegetables that they consumed, it could provide a way to close this utilization gap (the difference between state-wide production and consumption) of over $780 million per year. Even if this level can’t be achieved, simply closing the gap in one commodity­lettuce, for example­could mean an additional $83.6 million of direct revenue to local producers.

What is the lettuce gap? The Cordele Dispatch explains it: Continue reading →