eastern carolina organics

On Monday I start work at Eastern Carolina Organics.  Yes, I’m really finally moving to the farm.  Yes, I’m really going to start driving again after all these years.  Yes, I hope my current internal-combustion mule has what it takes to commute a couple dozen miles a day.  No radio, no AC or heat, bad wiring and the previous owner’s silver bullet lock pins – what could go wrong?

Anyway, as produce manager for Tidal Creek I purchased small amounts from Eastern Carolina Organics over the years through various means of transport.  When I was in Pittsboro (home of ECO) I would try to haul home a carload of veggies or try to convince a friend or two to do the same.

The ECO model is pretty straightforward, but not simple – farmers get together with a manager who focuses on the marketing and sales.  This leaves the farmer to do what they do best – grow food – instead of trying to sell their goods all over the place.  The manager focuses on what they do best, which is getting the produce into the hands of chefs and retailers.  This model simplifies the process on both ends of the sale.  The farmer gets a distributor and the buyer gets a place that offers produce from a couple dozen of those farmers.

I was at the CFSA Sustainable Agriculture Conference in 2004 when the creation of ECO was announced.  ECO was born out of a modest grant from the Tobacco Trust Fund awarded in late 2003.  ECO became its own farmer-owned LLC in 2005 and hasn’t looked back.

I’m excited to become a larger part of the local food system, excited to get to know more North Carolina farmers personally and continue being part of something I believe in.  I’m also excited to be working at The Plant, an eco-industrial park of sorts with a farm, a biodiesel plant, a hydroponic greenhouse, a vermicomposting greenhouse and a billion energetic and dedicated people all over the place.  Count me in…