Fresh From The Farm

Local Food Hub Puts Premium Produce on Mississippians’ Plates.

- Susan Marquez

A major initiative to change the economic reality of Mississippi, one tomato or cucumber at a time, is happening in the Capital City while removing barriers in order to create access to locally-grown food. That initiative began with Soul City Hospitality, formed in 2014 by a small group of entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, and chefs with a social mission to support farmers statewide, while creating jobs in both rural areas and in Jackson.

The first business to emerge from the Soul City partnership is the Up in Farms Food Hub. One of the owners of Soul City is David Watkins, Jr., who is also the point person for Up in Farms. He has been working on the concept of providing farmers with the support and training necessary to deliver high quality product on time and at a sustainable price. In addition, the hub gathers produce from farmers within a 40-county area of central Mississippi at its warehouse in Jackson. “Two years ago we got a USDA grant, a local food programming promotional grant, and that gave us a little seed money to figure out what we were doing as a food hub. As we’ve gone along, we’ve slowly been figuring this business out.”