Drought conditions in Georgia are affecting produce availability and pricing for mobile market operators in metro Atlanta. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has declared a Drought Response Level 1 across the state, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture has expanded drought disaster aid, with 20 additional counties designated as primary natural disaster areas.
Eat Right Atlanta, a mobile farmers market serving communities across the region, reports supply constraints linked to the drought. Co-owner Nicole Folkes-Johnson said the impact has been visible since late March. "We are Atlanta's number one farmers' market delivery service," she said. "We host farmers' markets all over Atlanta."
The business sources produce from South Georgia farmers and distributes them across areas including Cartersville, Dallas, and Augusta. Folkes-Johnson said drought conditions are affecting production and supply. "Since the drought, we have some farmers who are not farming anymore. They can't do it. It's too expensive. They're not coming to town as often as they were coming. We're finding many days when we just have gaps with stuff."
Driver Navarro Lazarus said the availability of key vegetables has declined. "It has been harder to get items like carrots, corn, tomatoes, and certain key items that a lot of people want," he said.
Eat Right Atlanta supplies produce through pop-up markets and partnerships with hospital systems, reaching around 5,000 families per week. However, maintaining pricing has become more difficult. Folkes-Johnson said tomato prices have increased from under US$20 per case to around US$70.
"Normally, we can comfortably say we're running at 25% [profit]," she said. "The last month it went to zero. It went to zero [profit]."
The business is limiting price increases for customers. "I really hope that this ends soon because it has been terrible, and it means we can't do the job we need to do," Folkes-Johnson said. "We don't want to harm them anymore."
Co-owner Donsha Johnson said the business will continue supplying produce despite higher costs. "Even if the cost is high, sometimes we'll bear that cost and take the hit just to get it to the customer because that's what they're looking for," she said.
Source: CBS News
