09/05/2007

By LENA WARMACK  / Associated Press

Richard Davis grows shiitake mushrooms, red Russian kale and six varieties of heirloom tomatoes on his Rutherford County farm, but he's had trouble finding people to buy them.

Dave McLuckie, a sous chef at Charlotte's Mimosa Grill, uses shiitake mushrooms in his mushroom medley side dish.

Tim Will hopes his new Internet project will connect them. He is executive director of Foothills Connect, a business technology center established in Rutherford County in 2005 that promotes entrepreneurship through technology.

In June, he launched http://www.Farmersfreshmarket.org, where farmers in Polk County and Rutherford County, a rural area 60 miles west of Charlotte, can post their seasonal fruits and vegetables and chefs can buy them.

Will said he has seen many small-scale Rutherford County farmers quit because of intense competition at local farmers markets and roadside stands and from corporate farms.

With at least 1,400 restaurants in Charlotte, many see the potential as more people are choosing produce that's locally grown over fruits and vegetables shipped from an average of 1,500 miles away.

"The demand is incredibly high right now," said Tom Condron, corporate executive chef for Harper's Restaurants Inc., which includes Mimosa Grill, Arpa and Upstream. "Chefs want products that are raised locally and are harvested right from the farm and go right to the restaurant within a day, versus ordering something from California or across the world."

The new Web site is one of several efforts across the state that are aimed at connecting local farmers with customers. Organizations such as the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project in Asheville and Carolina Farm Stewardship Association in Pittsboro distribute printed food guides annually that list information such as farmers markets and sources for produce, dairy and meat products.

Gabriele Grigolon, executive chef of Luce Ristorante & Bar, Coco Osteria, Toscana, Il Posto and the upcoming Mezzanote, said he uses locally grown produce and likes the idea of connecting to Rutherford County farmers through the Internet.

"What (chefs) would like is to see more farmers come into town," Grigolon said. "He's going to help me to be more like a niche restaurant where the customers are going to come in and they're going to try something different."

He said he wants to buy 70 percent of his produce from Rutherford County and other local farms.

"The Internet is equivalent to having your farmers market," said Gary Bullen, an agribusiness development specialist at N.C. State University. "It really is just another storefront kind of approach."

Being on the Internet has worked for Baucom's Best cattle farm in Union County, where co-owner Harriet Baucom said restaurants make up about a third of their business, thanks partly to its Web site.

"It's pretty vital to our business," she said. "The more convenient that you make it, the more profitable you will be."

Davis, 37, of Rutherfordton, said he signed up for the new Foothills Connect program at no cost because he likes the idea of growing niche crops for chefs and making a profit by selling his produce to a larger market.

"All I have to concentrate on is growing, harvesting and getting it to where it needs to go, and from there it's handled."

Will said the Internet program is funded by Rutherford County and E-NC Authority, a state organization in Raleigh that encourages economic opportunities with the use of technology and the Internet. Other funding is coming in through various foundations and grants.

It cost about $3,000 to set up the Web site, and the buyers pay a 10 percent transaction fee to help maintain the site.

The Internet approach also could lure back former farmers such as Joel McDaniel of Rutherford County.

"I couldn't compete. I had to have a certain amount of money for my product," said McDaniel, 41, who left farming in the late 1990s for a construction job.

Prices became too competitive at farmers markets and with corporate food distributors who dominated grocery stores, said McDaniel. He believes the Web site can help create a new market for farmers. "I'd go back tomorrow if I could make a living out of it."

Rutherford County once thrived with manufacturing jobs, mostly in the textile industry, said Tom Johnson, county economic development director. It lost roughly 6,000 manufacturing jobs from 2000 to 2005, he said.

Many of those textile workers had grown up around farming and could go back to it, Will said. Rutherford County has nearly 68,000 acres of farmland, most of it underutilized. That's why he hopes his Web site program will help.

"What we're doing is mobilizing these farmers and making them businessmen," Will said. He wants to have 20 Rutherford County farmers by year's end and a refrigerated truck to make Charlotte deliveries. So far, Davis and seven others have signed up.

In the late 1970s, Will spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras and the Fiji Islands. He worked in rural economic development and helped village farmers convert from slash-and-burn agriculture to more intensive agriculture that included composting, terracing and raised-bed gardening.

"I just need to teach the people here that their competitive advantage is proximity to this new expediently growing market in Charlotte," Will said. "They'll be convinced when they see that (they are)making more money. The demand for fresh food far exceeds the supply."

Daniel and Gale Gilbert believe the Internet program could help them sell more produce from the 32-acre Rutherford County farm they bought in December.

"Now we have a new market opening up to us," Daniel Gilbert said. "And I think it's going to work out."

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Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotte.com