Southern SOIL
Editorial
market. I’ll also
I get excited about every issue of Southern Soil as
Jennifer Taylor,
it begins to come together, but this one has been especially fun for me. I hope you enjoy getting to know some of the women leading our local food
introduce you to an organic farmer and granddaughter of
movement as much as I have!
a sharecropper,
I stress the word “some” because this is only a
multiple boards
small representation of the many women here
that influence
in Southeast Georgia who are working hard to
policy and
improve our local food system. Whether it is on
organic farming standards and practices.
the farm, in the kitchen or the boardroom; women play an important role in the sustainable food movement.
who serves on
You can also get to know Janisse Ray, local author nationally recognized for her writing on the environment and rural communities here in
The demographics of farmers in America are changing and women are making up a growing percentage of new farmers. Though the food industry is one in which women are still largely 4
underrepresented, female chefs and restaurateurs are making their mark as well. In this issue, you’ll meet Relinda Walker, one of the area’s pioneers in organic vegetable farming and the current manager for Statesboro’s farmers
the Southeast, who attempts to live a sustainable lifestyle with her husband on their small farm near Reidsville. And Jovan Sage and I talk about her transition into farming as she embraces her call to the land and her calling as a healer.
