Georgia Magazine - July 2024 - 8

GEORGIA News
Compiled by Katie Cowart
D
Mercy! Look at those veggies
riving down Second Avenue in
Columbus, you'll notice empty
storefronts and overgrown lots,
but when you reach 38th Street, the
landscape transforms. The next 1-acre
block is lush with neatly planted rows of
various vegetables.
Welcome to MercyMed Farm.
The MercyMed clinic, which
provides health care to all who come
through its doors, started a small garden
next to its parking lot in 2018. This
initiative grew into a sustainable urban
micro-farm that now yields 20,000
pounds of produce annually.
Farm Manager Keith Sims is
dedicated to the mission of providing
area residents with affordable and
accessible seasonal fruits and
vegetables. Sims says that
making something bloom in the
middle of the city can positively
affect the community.
" I think food connects
people, " he says. " It's not something
divisive. "
Many who frequent the
clinic's farm market also
volunteer at the farm. Schools,
churches, businesses and
neighbors help to plant and
harvest. Sims remembers a high school football
team helping to pull 1,400 pounds of sweet potatoes
while medical school students planted lettuce.
Ten-year-old Willow Link weeded plants in a
greenhouse and planted corn and okra with her
homeschool group.
" It's very rewarding to grow your own vegetables, "
she says.
Margie Bordner, a frequent shopper who
lives near the farm, believes there is a noticeable
difference in the taste of the carrots.
" I took a carrot from the [grocery] store in one
hand and [one] from the farm in the other and tried
them both. The farm one is sweeter, " she says.
Other local growers also join the farm's market
days. Shannon Jefferson, the mobile farm director
for the Food Mill Café in Columbus, partners with
MercyMed. The Food Mill is an organization
dedicated to addressing nutrition insecurity in
8 Georgia Magazine July 2024
Above: Willow Link, right, and her siblings help
out at the farm. Left: Shoppers from all walks of
life visit MercyMed Farm on Farmstand Fridays.
Columbus through initiatives such as cooking
classes, farm-to-school programs, a
shared kitchen and tailored meal programs.
Jefferson sources produce from many
area farms, sells it at the market and
distributes it in underserved neighborhoods.
She says they are spreading love throughout Columbus in keeping
with the café's motto, " Food is medicine. "
Despite significant discounts from suppliers, MercyMed Farm is only
about 40 percent to 50 percent self-sustaining, Sims says. The farm matches
neighborhood Walmart prices, then offers 50 percent off for recipients of
the Georgia Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and
25 percent off for MercyMed patients and people living within a 1-mile
radius of the farm.
The produce is available for purchase at the Food Mill Café next door
to the farm or on-site during Farmstand Fridays, when the farm's market
is open.
Local support is crucial for the farm's sustainability. With the help of
grants and contributions, the farm is adding another greenhouse to start
more plants.
To help residents eat healthier, MercyMed partners with the Food Mill
Café to offer medically tailored meals and a fruit and vegetable program
that teaches participants about nutrition and cooking.
For more information about MercyMed Farm, visit bit.ly/mercymed.
-Borden Black
BORDEN BLACK
BORDEN BLACK
http://bit.ly/mercymed
Georgia Magazine - July 2024

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