In its third year, a program with the Georgia Farm Bureau designed to connect people to those who grow their food is gaining steam.
The farm passport program offers rewards for taking visits to farms in the state.
“I think of farmers as heroes,” said Kelly Henry, the bureau’s certified farm market coordinator, who came up with the concept for the farm passport program.
MORE: Hephzibah Farmer Enjoys Teaching People About Food
Certified growers who are members of the farm bureau are eligible to participate. When people visit a farm in the passport, the farmer will stamp it. The stamps will earn prizes such as a limited-edition T-shirt for five stamps or a full access pass farm tour with a farm to table meal when 20 stamps are obtained. Each prize level includes all prizes at lower levels.
Currently, there are 83 farms across the state in the program, but Henry said there’s room for more.
“We are trying to figure out how to expand it,” she said.
In the midst of the pandemic, the program was a popular one, she said.
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Families got together and drove the state in search of participating farms. Sometimes, three generations bonded over the trips. Some of the farms offered activities along the way. Families had opportunities to pick their own food or play games at the farms, according to a news release from Henry.
The farms on the passport offer a variety of produce from strawberries in the spring to apples and Christmas trees in the winter.
Last year, there were 78 participating farms, and two farm visitors made trips to all but one of the farms. Jennifer Appleton and Sarah Ridgeway of Brunswick visited the most farms in 2020.
MORE: Local Growers Provide Plenty of Options for Farm to Fork Experiences
“We had so much fun traveling the state, meeting the local providers, learning new things and tasting all of the amazing locally grown products,” Appleton said in the news release.
The passport is available at the farm bureau website gfb.org, but Henry said they can also be picked up at the local farm bureau office. The professional printed brochure looks “much better,” she said.
The local farm bureau office is in Hephzibah.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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