FROM THE LANDBY PATTIE BAKER PHOTOS BY CAROLE TOPALIAN

RIVERVIEW FARMS

Charlotte Swancy ambles down the dusry path in fip-foppedfeet, past the fields to the Coosawatee River, her infanr son bob-bing gently in the baby carrier. S7es, her husband, trots ahead

with Reynard, their endlessly energetic Hungarian bird dog.Along the way he picks fistfuls of muscadines, hanging low onthe vine-wrapped trees,

Rain starts to fall softly, and then a bit more heavily, enough romake most anyone head back to the house for good-or at leasr

for an umbrella. Not Charlotte. "The rain feels good," she says,

as she gently covers her baby's head with a simple cloth. 'After allthose runs tW'es made to the river so he could irrigate the crops

this summer, the rain is welcome."

\fes and Charlotte Swancy, rwo 34-year-old former chemistrymajors forwhom positions in research labs or pharmaceutical sales

never seemed quite right, are far away from a future that almost

pulled them from this land. fuverview Farms, owned by SZes' fa-ther, was losing the fight with consolidated agribusiness. CarterSwancy, 58, was being forced to choose between growing moreat a greater cost with less pro6t, or bailing out. Bailing out whenyou've invested your life in something as Carter had, and whenyou have prime, fertile, riverbank farmland in what the agrarianCherokee tribe called The Great Valley, is hardly a good decision.

And so, \[es and Charlotte came home to Granger, Georgiato work on the family farm. That first season, they planted tenacres of organic tomatoes, amidst Cartert seemingly endless

fields of conventional commodiry crops of soybeans and corn.The organic tomatoes sold quickly to an increasingly sawy At-lanta food clientele. The ten acres expanded until all tgO acres ofthe farm became certified organic, and, even more important toCarter, sustainable. fuverview Farms is now the largest certifiedorganic farm in the state of Georgia. Yet, it's more than organic.The Swancys practice sustainability in every corner of the farm.

"Sustainability takes organic one step farther," explains Carteras he turns offthe engine of one of the farm machines which allrun on biodiesel fuel. "'W'e use the resources we have to give backto our farm and to keep it healthy in an ongoing cycle."

GRASS-FED BEEF AND BERKSHIRE PORKFor a farm this size, sustainability required one important ad-

dition-livestock. Riverview needed manure for fertllizer, andgrazing animals to trim the brush and fields. \7ith so manyacres of farmland, they realized that they could get greater valuegrowing their own organic feed than they could by growing com-modity crops. They started with cattle, a small herd that wanders

Wes, Char/otte, and Grahan Swancl

freely from one pasture to another, dependingon the time ofyearand whatt plante d where. There's rye, Sudan grass, orchard grass,

winter wheat, legumes, clover, fetch, and of course, Bermuda

grass rolled up into those picture-perfe ct bales. Call these grasses

the salad bar for cows.

Grass-fed beef has soared in popularity as the public is more

aware of its gre ater health benefits. Cows that eat nutrient-richgrasses have significantlyhigherlevels ofomega-3s, vitamins A and

E, and conjugated linoleic acid, while containing le ss total fat, sat-

urated fat and calories than grain-fed beef.'S7'hatt more, cows are

ruminantswhoseverynatureis to grazeon grasses. TheSwancyssell

their grass-fed beef at Morningside Farmers' market year-roundon Saturday mornings, to restaurants and through their website.

Down the hill from the one story farm house where \7es and

Charlotte live, lies the home of the farm's Berkshire hogs, a breed

traceable direcdy to the herd discovered by Oliver Cromwellin England more than 300 years ago. Berkshires are the oldesr

pure breed of hog in the United States. Berkshire hogs have been

prizedby theJapanese ever since the British gov€rnment broughtthem to Japan as a diplomatic gift in the 19n century. They call

them kurabuto-supreme black hogs.

And supreme they are. According to a taste test conductedby the U.S. National Pork Producers Council, the heritage Berk-

shire breed ranks 6rst in 19 our of 25 quality rraits. But River-

view Farms' kurabuto-raised on organic corn and soy grown

WINTER2006 EDIBLEATLANTA

right there on the farm-go one step further. According to Anne

Qatrano, chef and owner of Bacchanalia, Floataway Caft, Qi-nones and Star Provisions, "Charlottet piggies are the very best,

and we've tried lots of others. Organic kurabuto, in particular, is

very hard to find. And you can tell these pigs are well-cared for.

The meat has more flavor and the fat is well-distributed"'

Chef David Larkworthy of 5 Seasons Brewing Company in

Sandy Springs, who uses an entire pig a week, adds "so manY cus-

tomers say that itt the best pork they've ever had." The plump

and juicy meat results from shorter muscle fibers and a greater

percentage of marbling than other breeds have.

Carter Swancy adds, "I was a pig farmer back in the 70s and

80s when all anyone wanted was lean meat. No fat. 'Well, farmers

ended up breeding the taste right out of the pigs. This pork is the

way pork is supposed to taste." For those too young to remember,

itt pork like you've never tasted before .

In addition to servingvarious cuts offuverview Farms'kurabu-

to on the menus of her various restaurants, Qacrano uses ir tomake charcuterie-pancetta, pork terrines, salami and sausages.

Carter considers esmblishing an organic kitchen on fuverview

Farms for aging and curingporkproducts. "My grandmother was

Cherokee, and she made sausage the traditional Cherokee way. Istood beside her and learned, and I intend to pass on this knowl-

edge, this connection to my heritagei' Carter says, nodding to-

ward Charlotte and baby Graham.

THE BOUNTY OF THE BOXES

Graham, another generation of Swancy, was born this summer,

sometime between the harvests of the famous Swancy corn, so

delicate and sweet you can eat it fresh-picked without cooking,

and the heirloom tomatoes, fat and full of so much juice you can

pour it offthe cutting board and drink it from a cup.

Graham joins his parents in the reefer, the refrigerated truck,

loaded up with a total ofabout 150 boxes ofassorted crops each

week. Together, they make numerous drop-ofrs at Atlanta farm-

ers' markets and neighborhoods for members of their CSA,

which stands for Community Supported Agriculture and means

members pay for a share of the crops each week-sight unseen.

Members of their CSA do this willingly.CSA members get boxes filled with an ever-changing selection

from the more than 30 different crops grown on fuverview Farms

each year. More mixed greens than you know what to do with,

and onions, garlic and potatoes in the spring. Summeryields field

peas, squashes, okra, watermelons, lemon cucumbers, beans and

tomaloes. This time of year, the bounty still astounds with cab-

bages, kale and blood red beets-sweet enough to eat like candy.

"The only way to save a family farm is to farm it," says Wes'

"But you need a market, and we are lucky to have such a vibrant,

diverse market as Atlanta nearby."

Suzanne'$7-elander, a resident of Adanta's Grant Park neigh-

borhood and a fuverview Farms CSA member for three vears,

EDIBLE MLANTA WINTER 2006

savs rhat she u..as mereiy searching for a r.va,v ro gain access to fresh,

local, organic food rvhen she joined Rivervieu' Farms' CSA. Yet,

the biggest benefit of being a part of the CSA has been che com-

munity it has fostered. Her fellou' Grant Park-based fuven'iervFarms CSA members have become friends and dinner compan-

ions. Thel'kick offeach spring rvith a poduck meal on the farmthat coincides '"r'ith strar.vberrv picking, and they participate inother events throughout the vear. "Once vou start sharing foodl'explains Suzanne, "it creates a whole ner'v level of connection."

THE MILLClose to the house, Graham sleeps peacefully as the brighr red,

rerooled 1916 N{eadows srone grist mill grinds slori4r,', deliber-

ateil', 1s1*ining the vibrant energv of the flint corn as it turns itinco grits, polenta and cornmeal. Milled fresh to order, these

fuvervierv Farms grains are its first value-added farm products."My father had a mill, and his father did before him," explains

\fles, as if that's all that need be said.

At fuvervier.v Farms, everything old is nerv again. And nor.v,

as ll'inter arrives, it is time to rest. The hoop house u'ill soon be

emptv. The last CSA delivery is usuallv around the last rveek

of December, depending. Seed ordering, a rvinter obsession

for manv farmers, can rvait. it'{id-Januarv usuallv finds V/es and

Charlotte camping under the stars in Hau'aii, or mavbe this vear,

Costa fuca. Or, maybe not. There's a nerv babv no\\r, a guitar thatneeds plaving, and a place thev are happv to call home. Fr

To buy fuverview Farms meat or produccs,

or to join Riverview Farms' CSA:Visi r www.grassfedcow.com

Email singin gfrog@ earthlink.com

Look for rhem at the Morningside Farmers MarketSaturday mornings vear-round

Shop at Star Provisions for kurabuto charcuterie

To sample fuverview Farms'meat at Arlanta-area restaurants*:

Bacchanalia(4a4) 365-04rc

QL_inones at Bacchanalia(404) 365-041a

Farm 255(706) 549-+660

5 Seasons Brewing Co.(4a4) z5t-59t|

Floataway Cafe

{4a4) sez-1414

Food 101

Sandy Springs location(404) 4e7-e7ao

Morningside Locadon(404) 347-e747

Muss and Turnert(770) 434-1114

RescaurantJoel(404) 233-35a0

*Check for availability

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