Slowfood Tallahassee - Slow Food Tallahassee is an organization trying to raise awareness of local agriculture and importance of buying foods locally to allow consumers to make well-informed decisions about their food purchases.

Local Harvest - An electronic directory of farms and farmer’s markets selling locally produced farm products directly to consumers.  Consumers can search the directory by state, city, zip code, farm type, or farm product to learn where to buy farm products grown near them.  Farms and farmer’s markets get free listings.

New North Florida Cooperative - A group of innovative African-American farmers formed the New North Florida Cooperative Association Inc. in 1995. The goal of the cooperative was to provide marketing services to the participating farmers, collectively sell produce to markets such as local school districts, and ultimately to increase the amount of product being sold, thereby increasing the farmers’ income.

Local Farmers, Markets, and Food Purveyors

Downtown Tallahassee Farmers' and Produce Market - Farmers Market every Saturday for most of the year.  Also features local artists and musicians.  Oh yeah, and kettle corn!

Turkey Hill Farm - Turkey Hill Farm is a 90-acre farm located in eastern Leon featuring Certified Naturally Grown vegetables including shiitake mushrooms, garlic, greens, and tomatoes.  

Ali’s Strawberry Shakes - A family-run fresh fruit and vegetable market on the east side of Tallahassee featuring locally-grown produce, local goods, and fresh fruit shakes and smoothies.

New Leaf Market - New Leaf is a cooperatively-owned local business providing natural foods to Tallahassee including organic and local produce, natural groceries, organic wine and beer, supplements, vitamins and body care products.

Ladybird Organics and Monticello Vineyards & Winery - Ladybird Organics grows organic grapes, persimmons, pecans, pears, wheatgrass and microgreens and also features eggs, worms, and worm castings. Monticello Vineyards & Winery is a small Florida farm winery housed at Ladybird Organics.

O’Toole’s - O'Toole's Herb Farm is a certified organic herb nursery and garden selling wholesale and retail herbal plants, fresh-cut herbs and greens, and shiitake mushrooms. They also have a gift shop, public gardens & greenhouses and hold workshops and festivals.

White Oak Pastures - White Oak Pastures is a regional producer of grass-fed beef that is touted to be more healthy & sustainable than commercially-available beef.

Sweet Grass Dairy - Sweet Grass Dairy is a 140-acre family-owned and operated farm in southern Georgia featuring award-winning cheeses, made from the milk of their own goats and Jersey Cows.

Florida Bamboo - Florida farm growing and selling little-known varieties of bamboo to homeowners and landscapers in the area and educating consumers on the growth, care, propagation, and landscape effect of bamboo.  

Magnolia Farms to Local Farmers, Markets, and Food Purveyors – is a north Florida working farm participating in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) where local consumers can purchase a share of their seasonal crops.  They also have workshops and festivals held at the farm.  

Advantages of Local Foods

Locavores - A group of concerned culinary adventurers who are making an effort to eat only foods grown or harvested within a 100 mile radius of San Francisco for an entire month because they recognize that the choices we make about what foods we choose to eat are important politically, environmentally, economically, and healthfully.

Slowfood International - Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

Slow Food USA - Slow Food USA envisions a future food system that is based on the principles of high quality and taste, environmental sustainability, and social justice – in essence, a food system that is good, clean and fair.

FoodRoutes - A group dedicated to promoting sustainable family farmers. Maintain a wealth of information to help support the purchasing of locally grown foods.

Local Agricultural Resources

Leon County Extension Office - The Cooperative Extension Service is nationwide and was established by the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 as a partnership between state land grant universities, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the county governments throughout the nation.  In Florida, the Extension is administered by the University of Florida. Leon County Commissioners provide support for local faculty, staff and facilities.  Leon County Extension conducts research-based educational programs in agriculture, horticulture, natural resources, family and consumer sciences, and 4-H youth development. Locally-based advisory committees assure that programs are designed to meet community needs.

University of Florida’s Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) - The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information accessible. While extending into every community of the state, UF/IFAS has developed an international reputation for its accomplishments in teaching, research and extension.  Because of this mission and the diversity of Florida ’s climate and agricultural commodities, IFAS has facilities located throughout Florida. 

Damayan Garden Project - Damayan is a small non-profit made up of gardeners, educators, and entrepreneurs in Tallahassee, Florida who want to enhance the quality of life in our community by teaching people how to grow their own food.

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group - The Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, commonly known as "Southern SAWG”, is a regional non-profit focused on creating a sustainable food and farming system.

Florida Grape Growers - The FGGA was established in 1923 to serve farmers and hobbyists interested in growing grapes in Florida. Organized as a nonprofit corporation, the FGGA was instrumental in sponsoring research to develop grapes adapted to conditions in Florida. The association works collectively with agricultural organizations, state, local, national and other interests to develop an awareness about the unique qualities and health benefits of Florida Grapes. It provides a community access network with a wide range of information services available to members and others who are interested in Florida grapes and grape products.

Florida Organic Growers - Florida Certified Organic Growers & Consumers is a non-profit which provides information and certification for organic growing processes and who supports and promotes organic and sustainable agriculture.

Florida Agriculture - Florida-Agriculture.com, the official web site of the Division of Marketing and Development, is part of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. 

Sustainable Agriculture

Organic Farming – Wikipedia’s definition

Biodynamic Farming - Biodynamics is a method of agriculture which seeks to actively work with the health-giving forces of nature and is one of the oldest non-chemical agricultural practices, predating even the organic movement.  The Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association (BDA), a non-profit organization, strives to provide information on the biodynamic method to the public.  

Alternative Farming Systems Information Center - The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC) specializes in identifying resources about sustainable food systems and practices in support of USDA's effort to ensure a sustainable future for agriculture and farmers worldwide.

Sustainable Practices for Vegetable Production in the South -Resources for sustainable crop production and pest management for the Southern U.S. from North Carolina State University’s Department of Horticulture Science.

Sustainable Agriculture - A guide to Florida plants and landscape design that features information on sustainable agriculture.

USDA National Organic Program - Facts on food labeled “organic” from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has put in place a set of national standards for production and handling of food grown in the United States or imported from other countries. 

Heart of the Earth - The Heart of the Earth movement has been established in the Red Hills and Gulf Coastal Lowlands Bioregions of North Florida/South Georgia to advance the essential work of living sustainably and harmoniously within the web of life at this place on our planet.

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