Name: Charlotte Swancy
Age: 44
Home Town: Americus, GA
Currently Lives: Ranger, GA
Farm/Business Name & Location: Riverview Farms, Ranger, GA
FAVORITES:
Music: I listen to almost anything!
Food: I LOVE food and will eat mostly everything.
Drinks: Mostly water, and sweet tea with NO ice.
What do you wear the most when you work? Jeans
Favorite things to do AFTER work: I love sitting down and eating dinner with my family.
Mantra: Things will change. Tomorrow is another day.
Lifestyle questions:
What's your relationship status? Married
Do you have children? Yes. A son named graham, he is 10. Do they work with you? Yes, when he is not in school.
Where is the farthest you have traveled to? Italy, Hawaii
Where would you like to go visit and why? Japan, Africa, India
Career questions – and personal perspective
How did you get into growing / farming /ranching? Trying to save the family farm
How many acres are on the farm? We farm 1100 acres, we own 250 of those.
What was the hardest part getting started in this career? Money and weather
What surprised you about this career choice? Choosing this instead of a corporate job
Tell us about a typical day for you. What time you start, what goes on typically, what time the day ends for you, etc. There are no typical days. Today I went to the slaughterhouse at 7:00 and put orders together. Loaded the pork onto the truck. Sat in ridiculous Atlanta traffic and went to 10 different restaurants. I had to make sure the other driver made it to his 15 different stops. Back at the farm my husband was working with the pigs and the cows. Some days we are picking and packing vegetables to go to our 200 member csa and restaurants. Saturdays we get up at 3:00 am to go to the farmers markets in atlanta.
What makes you happy in a day working? No traffic, timely rains, watching the pigs.
What makes you frustrated? Traffic, droughts, floods, freezing temps, bugs, federal regulations.
What do you think a big misconception about growing? The romantic notion that farming is fun and you skip through fields carrying baskets of flowers.
Any advice to other growers or “want-to-be” growers? I really want to be positive and entice more growers. It is a great way of life. It is extremely challenging.
Any lessons learned through working as a grower? I have learned as a grower that no matter how hard you work, mother nature is an extremely difficult boss. She is unforgiving. But she does give us rainbows.
Anything to say to consumers, i.e. People who aren’t into farming or growing? Pay attention to where your food comes from. It is important that you support your local farmers. It is vital for your community. Without farmers in your region life is covered in concrete.
What concerns you the most about the future of your industry? Federal regulations are extremely hard on small slaughtering facilities. It is a bottleneck for animal producers.
Where do you think you'll be in five or 10 years? Still doing what I am doing.
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