Written by: Dr. Frannie Koe, MD
One of my primary drives for building the AgroshareMD website was to create the Food Finder Map. Our team wants Alabamians to find and have access to pastured raised meats and sustainably grown food, no matter where you are. Our state is rich in agricultural products, but many times people ask me how to find these resources. I feel an easily searchable map and directory of statewide healthy food is especially important in our state as we are recovering from the ramifications of the pandemic. I want to be able to help farmers and consumers find each other.
Many farmers have a difficult time with marketing, so often the customers have a hard time finding them. Family farmers often spend the bulk of their time managing and growing their food, and many have to go long distances to sell their products in farmers’ markets. We want to build a way to keep foods as local as possible and have produce and other farm products available to the communities in which they are grown.
Unfortunately, these healthy food products and small farms are not subsidized by the government as they should be so that food can stay local. Huge farms and their products are subsidized and these farms produce things that are made into foods that are much less healthy for us (such as highly processed soybeans and grains). Our local farmers in DeKalb County would likely produce healthier food products if they could afford it.
One of our goals is to make Alabama the healthiest state in the country instead of being near the bottom in so many measures of health. We can do this by supporting local growers. When we improve our diet, we improve our health. I understand many people cannot always afford the healthiest food. The economy in Alabama is not as good as in other parts of the country and many people live in food deserts or struggle with access.
Our main reason for creating the Food Finder Map and corresponding directory is to make local and sustainable food easily accessible to everyone in our state. The Covid-19 pandemic threw the need for fresh food access into even more striking relief. With schools closed and grocery stores facing shortages, many people couldn’t get food they needed. Both during and after the height of the pandemic, farmers, food producers and community leaders worked together to come up with creative ways to provide healthy, locally grown, fresh foods to populations in need. As a health practitioner, I always emphasize the importance of nutritious food, because it helps strengthen our immune system and good nutrition is beneficial in protecting us against viruses like Covid-19, the flu, and many other illnesses.
We put our Food Finder map online so that anyone with a cell phone or online access can find farms, farmers’ markets, CSAs, U-pick farms and restaurants that sell the healthiest options available. Knowledge is power, and we believe that making local food easier to find will help people make healthier choices. Our hope for the future is to get grants so that we can build a user-friendly app in order to make the Food Map available to you no matter where you are in the state. So please pass the word and contact us through agrosharemd.com, Facebook, or my clinic and we will help you use the webpage or contribute to our map! If you know anyone in Alabama who grows or raises sustainable food products, please contact us so that we can put them on the map!
