Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Cool Loans From Whole Foods Market


Whole Foods Market aims to keep good things growing in Georgia at Harris Family Heritage Beef, Sweetwater Growers and Via Elisa Fresh Pasta. The company has a Local Producer Loan Program and, in Georgia, these three local producers will receive more than $500,000 in low-interest loans to achieve their goals. These loans pack a lot of bang in each buck, and each brings a bounty of sought-after foods back to Whole Foods Market shelves -- and ultimately to our plates.

Harris Family Heritage Beef at White Oak Pastures, Georgia’s leading grass-fed beef producer, was able to use the loan to complete a long-awaited on-farm facility designed to process beef according to rigorous humane animal treatment standards and to minimize environmental impact. Besides enabling White Oak Pastures to expand beef production and distribution of its 2008 Flavors of Georgia Grand Prize-winning products, the on-farm plant will nix farm-to-processing cattle stress and do away with the need for fuel-guzzling 18-wheelers to transport cattle. Sweetwater Growers, Inc. is using its loan to add two new greenhouses, thus increasing the farm’s harvest of high quality, fresh micro greens, basil and other herbs. Via Elisa Fresh Pasta, a genuine fresh pasta shop in Atlanta, has purchased a pasta cutter with its loan. The new cutter will enable more efficient pasta cutting, which translates to more plentiful pasta for you and me. The ingredients for the authentic, homemade pasta remain the same: 100% organic flours, 100% organic semolina, eggs from free-range hens and luxurious cheeses imported directly from Italy. Find products from these conscientious producers and others at area Whole Foods Markets and Harry’s Farmers Markets.

For more inspiring stories about the people and places behind our food sources, visit Whole Foods Market’s Farm to Market Blog.

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