General Mills gives Georgia Organics $50,000 as seed money to help farmers

Nov. 16--ATLANTA -- Georgia Organics used money raised through the Farmer Fund to provide financial assistance to three Georgia farms impacted by Hurricane Michael -- including White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, officials from the organization announced Wednesday.

The Farmer Fund, created in 2015, exists to support farmers in the face of natural disaster and help keep farmers farming. It serves the farmers that feed the state of Georgia primarily through farmers markets, community supported agriculture and restaurant sales.

In addition to White Oak, some farms hit hard in Georgia Organics network include Lola's Organic Farm, Atlanta Harvest, Farmers Organic, Clark's Farm and Produce, Heritage Organic Farm, among others.

"We know of at least $5 million in damages to roofs, sheds, hoop houses, chicken tractors, and barns, as well as loss of crops and livestock," Georgia Organics Director of Farmer Services Michael Wall said.

Georgia Organics, a statewide nonprofit, took over management of the fund earlier this year to expand assistance to sustainable and organic farmers across the state impacted by natural disasters like hurricanes, floods and tornadoes. Georgia Organics is in the midst of a campaign to raise $100,000 for The Farmer Fund to provide Hurricane Michael disaster relief.

A national seed gift of $50,000 was made last week by the General Mills Foundation and several of their organic business brands including Cascadian Farm, Annie's, Muir Glen and Epic, officials said.

Officials at Georgia Organic said donors and businesses have also been chipping in to the campaign in creative ways. Farm Burger gave a percentage of proceeds from sales at recent Atlanta United and Falcons games and secured a match from Levy Restaurants, who manages the food at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Creature Comforts Brewing Company is teaming up with Lincoln Filling Station in Snellville to raise funds through food and beer sales.

Officials said Georgia's agriculture industry suffered over $3 billion in damages from Hurricane Michael in October, but not included in these totals are losses sustained by many smaller sustainable and organic farms. Federal crop insurance policies are built for large commodity farms but are not designed to offer relief for small diversified sustainable and organic growers.

Many of these farmers have no insurance for loss of crops and limited coverage for infrastructure.

For more information or to make a contribution to The Farmer Fund, visit thefarmerfund.org or contact Jeff Romig, director of development at Georgia Organics, at [email protected] or by calling (404) 481-5012.

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