Laurel Fork farmer James Light says Food City has done wonders for Light Farms over the past few years. Apparently, the 105-store retail food outlet feels the same way about Light.

On January 19th, Food City honored the local broccoli farmer as the Wayne Scott Memorial Grower of the Year Award at its Farmer Appreciation ceremony in Tennessee. Light became the second annual recipient of the honor, joining Scott County farmer David Mann, who like Light, also utilizes the Southwest Virginia Farmers’ Market in Hillsville to package and ship his produce to Food City. Virginia Produce owner Moir Beamer said he couldn’t think of a more deserving candidate than Light.

“I’m very proud of him. He was deserving of the award as much work as he put into it,” Beamer said. “James is an excellent farmer and I am tickled to see the recognition that he got. It is a real good thing for the county to be proud of. He puts the effort into it you have to have for a quality product and that is another reason it is great to see him get this award.”

Food City is well-known for providing their customers with the freshest products available at the lowest possible prices, due in large part to their locally grown produce initiative, which has benefited Carroll County and surrounding farmers tremendously in recent years. What began with a small number of items supplied by a handful of area farmers 10 years ago has grown into a multi-million dollar operation.

“We pride ourselves in selecting the best products possible for our customers,” says Steven C. Smith, Food City president and CEO. “Our local farms are known for producing some of the finest products in the country. Buying locally is the logical choice. It provides our customers with the freshest produce possible, while lending additional support to our local economies. In many instances, our locally-grown produce arrives at the store the same day it was picked. It simply doesn’t get any fresher than that.”

That partnership helps Light and about 15 to 20 other farmers in the area that have become involved with the Food City program. When he began farming about 23 years ago, Light’s farming focused mainly on cabbage. About eight years ago, he started growing pumpkins for Food City. From there, the partnership evolved into Light producing broccoli, something that has benefited both the chain and the local farmer.

“I still grow cabbage and sell it commercially, but I switched a lot of my acreage over from cabbage to broccoli because I really like dealing with Food City. I really like selling something that somebody wants, and they want that for their local-grown program,” Light said. “I just enjoy growing something that you know before you plant it somebody wants it. In today’s market that is a big plus, and they have been really good to work with. I think whether it be the broccoli or David Mann’s tomatoes, the local-grown program has really helped their produce during the summer. It has helped us, too.”

By working with local farmers, Light said Food City can depend on farms such as his that are just two hours away instead of waiting on the same product from California that might take four days to arrive, and not be as fresh. Light said the partnership wouldn’t work without Beamer — who helped coordinate the partnership — and the Southwest Virginia Farmers’ Market.

“It wouldn’t work without that farmers’ market. We take it to the market and package it all,” Light said. “All the money the state has put into that thing with the hydrocoolers and cooling facility has really helped open up this broccoli market, plus the other produce like corn. It is the best thing to happen for the farmer. (Manager) Kevin Semones and his staff have been a big help. He deserves twice his salary in the summer time as much produce as they run through there.”

Semones said last year Food City pumped approximately $5 million into Tennessee and Southwest Virginia farms last year. Aside from Light’s broccoli, the local market also packages and ships locally-grown pumpkins, cauliflower, beans, corn, fall squash and apples to Food City. The fact that both of Food City’s Growers of the Year work out of the market speaks volumes about both the facility and the farmers it serves.

“I think it is great. When we work with the buyers, they always tell us they are happy with the product and they are glad to get it here. It helps them in a lot of ways — they can keep it fresher number one,” Semones said. “Food City has been great to work with, and I think it is a very deserving honor for James. He has worked extremely hard. I hope we see more growers out of this area get it in future years. We have a lot of boys doing crops for them and doing a good job for them.”

Beamer said Carroll County should consider itself extremely fortunate to have such a good working relationship with a company as strong as Food City, which operates in Southeast Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.

“We are thankful to have Food City backing us and working with us with broccoli in this area. One of the major reasons the broccoli has been the success it has is because of Food City backing us and being patient with us as we worked through it,” Beamer said. “I think we need to thank Food City for having the time and putting the effort into our area and supporting our area, not just James but the other farmers they support also. They have been a great asset in the past few years, not just on broccoli, but other products as well. Hopefully it will grow even more. That is our goal anyhow.”