Florida’s agricultural sector was hit extremely hard following Hurricane Ian, resulting in crop losses up to 1.25 billion, according to a recent study by UF/IFAS. The brand, “SWFL Fresh: Choose Local, Choose Fresh” works to raise awareness about locally-produced products to help the regional food system become more resilient, especially in the face of a natural disaster.
Asmaa Odeh, Project Director for the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, joined an episode of Gulf Coast Life to discuss how SWFL Fresh is connecting local farmers to the public following Hurricane Ian.
[TRANSCRIPT]
Tara Calligan
Southwest Florida Fresh, it's a new brand that came about in the wake of Hurricane Irma in 2017. And the idea is to encourage residents to shop locally to try to help our regional food system become more resilient. I originally spoke with you in September, that was before Hurricane Ian. But what's happening with Southwest Florida fresh now?
Asmaa Odeh
Yes, so we did have a kickoff campaign start, it was a bit delayed because of the hurricane. I mean, the hurricane in was just such a devastation to our ag sector in southwest Florida, especially in the rural areas of Glades, Hendry, Immokalee, and East Lee County. So, a lot of our producers just needed a breather after a major catastrophe storm like Ian. We did have a kickoff at the Collier County Agricultural tour, and that was on March 15.
So we've been attending farm tours regionally, just to try to get the word out about Southwest Florida fresh. When we first spoke, really the brand came out following Hurricane Irma, and some of the funding that was awarded to the Regional Planning Council.
Now you know, to have a different hurricane come through and really impact the region just showed how much more important it is to support local produce, and to help make our local economy more resilient to future disasters. So, more now than ever, it's important to know your farmer to make these connections with our local producers to source locally produced items like meat, fish, a eggs, and so on.
Tara Calligan
Southwest Florida Fresh: Choose Local, Choose Fresh is a brand, and it has its own signature logo. The motivation behind that was to help make local products more identifiable and recognizable. Is that correct?
It's important to really meet your farmer, know your farmer, and create those relationships with them. If we want to be prepared for future disasters, having those relationships with producers is very vital for our region. — Asmaa Odeh
Asmaa Odeh
Yes, that is correct. We went through a whole process at the Regional Planning Council to get this trademark through the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In 2022,it was finalized. You know, there are benefits to purchasing local. Food is more nutritious, it's higher in vitamin and mineral content.
Local food just tastes different. It's picked at peak freshness. So, if you're able to source local produce, you can actually taste the difference. There also environmental benefits. You can reduce your carbon footprint when you do support local producers, and also an economic benefit. You know, you support local producers by keeping the local dollars in our region.
Tara Calligan
Food that is picked locally, that you can eat very quickly after it has grown, I mean, the taste is undeniable and the freshness is really obvious.
Asmaa Odeh
Yes, I agree. And not only are is it, you know, more beneficial for for us as consumers to purchase more local, but it also helps create a more resilient food economy and really help support these local producers that experienced a lot of loss from Hurricane Ian.
You know, our ag sector was hit really hard. Through a an assessment through UF/IFAS, there was a crop loss ranging from $690 million to, you know, $1.25 billion, and then just an infrastructure, so greenhouses, or sheds, things that help the production side of the agricultural system lost anywhere from $1.2 to $1.9 billion.
I think now more than ever, to make Southwest Florida more resilient, it's important to really meet your farmer, know your farmer, and create those relationships with them. If we want to be prepared for future disasters, having those relationships with producers is very vital for our region.
Tara Calligan
When we spoke in September, around 20 local producers were involved under the Southwest Florida fresh umbrella. But what's your roster looking like now?
Asmaa Odeh
Yes, so now we've increased we've gone from 20 to 31 producers, and we're hoping to get more producers involved. We have a few more producers that sell mushrooms, honey local honey. We're really excited to work with some of our producers and help them get on the website. We also have a few nurseries that sell tropical fruit. And we're just really excited to share the brand with producers.
We also have an upcoming meeting with the Small Farmers Network on July 19 at Fruit Escapes in Bokeelia. And we're really hoping to connect with existing and established farmers, and also new farmers and anyone that's interested in meeting and discussing with these farmers, learning more about their work, and how they feed our community.
Tara Calligan
I'm looking at your website. I see producers where, it's alligator meat, there are microgreens, there's honey, like you said. What are some of the other, maybe more unexpected items that people wouldn't really know are grown right here in Southwest Florida?
Asmaa Odeh
I think they're surprisingly a wide variety of mushrooms. For instance, you know, you wouldn't be able to find Lion's Mane mushroom in the grocery store, whereas you can if you go to a local producer, you know, most of the times you go to Aldi or local retail stores and they have baby bella mushroom whereas, you know, if you go to the straight to the producer, you're able to try oyster mushrooms, which I think is very exciting.
Or lion's mane and all these different varieties. There are also a lot more varieties that have fruit and vegetables that you wouldn't necessarily find in the stores that you could purchase from producers.
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