John Matthews is a matchmaker of sorts.
Through his newly established business, Suncoast Food Alliance, Matthews unites the two key players in delivering an exquisite meal to the dinner table: the chef and the local farmer.
Matthews, who grew up on a farm in Mississippi, is all about supporting the local farmer. As forager of the Suncoast Food Alliance, a marketing and distribution company of locally grown products in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties, Matthews delivers produce from local farmers to some of the area's best restaurants.
"Farmers aren't braggers. They do their job and they work hard," he said. "Sometimes they need somebody to trumpet what they're doing."
Restaurants who receive Suncoast Food Alliance's service include Mattison's Riverside in Bradenton, Polo Grill and Bar in Lakewood Ranch, Michaels on East and Morton's Gourmet Market in Sarasota.
With rising fuel prices that make it more economical to buy local produce and with food safety a concern, it makes sense for consumers to know the source of their food.
"If a farmer knows the people they're feeding, they're going to be even more diligent in their food safety, and the customer is going to be more comfortable eating the product," he said.
Still, the uncertainty about the ongoing salmonella outbreak has caused people to stop consuming raw tomatoes, hurting local growers even though they have been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration.
The latest twist in the investigation shows that ingredients in fresh salsa, including jalapeno, cilantro and Serrano peppers, are the leading suspects in the case, which was initially blamed on raw tomatoes.
Ben King, who grows tomatoes in Myakka City, lost upward of $180,000 but was able to rely on his diversified crop as a cushion.
Eggplants, canteloupe, peaches, blueberries and "heirloom" tomatoes are some of the produce he sells to Suncoast Food Alliance.
"It's one of those things where it makes me proud of what I do to know that people enjoy eating good-tasting quality produce," King said.
They say "In farming, you don't make money by the box, you make it by the semi-load," he said.
Local supply requires that smaller crops be planted over a longer period of time to ensure that the produce is available, he said.
King certainly isn't knocking larger companies that ship out produce. He also sells tomatoes to be packed and shipped out. It's just that the opportunity to sell to local restaurants puts a face on his product, which he ensures is safe and healthy.
"I don't want to ship off my product to be a nameless faceless entity. If they have a problem with it, I want them to come straight back to me," he said.
Growers also receive higher prices for the produce than they might by going through a broker who buys the produce as cheap as he can and sells it as high as he can, Matthews said. Growers earn about 80 percent, and 20 percent goes to the Suncoast Food Alliance.
Florida's unique growing season, which lasts about nine months out of the year, makes it possible for farmers to harvest a variety of crops. But in the last two months of opening the business, Matthews has found a demand for more produce like heirloom radishes, leafy green vegetables, lettuce, green beans, Russian fingerling potatoes and French creamer potatoes.
He's working with farmers to expand their crops to meet the needs of the restaurants. Because neither the chef nor the farmer typically has time to venture out of the kitchen or off the farm to either seek out or market fresh produce, both can benefit, especially the chef who prepares the meals.
"They know a lot of the battle of putting a great meal together is having the freshest product," he said.
Mark Imparato, chef at the Linger Lodge Restaurant in East Manatee, says people who really know food will take note of the fresh produce like the "heirloom" tomatoes and pineapple tomatoes.
Of all the companies that vie for business to deliver produce, not too many offer locally grown produce on the commercial level. Suncoast Food Alliance enables restaurants to support local farmers.
"The more of us that support them, the more that they will be around," Imparato said.
Matthews - former manager of the Farmer's Market in Sarasota, and former facilitator for the Farm to School program for Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte - has a passion for agriculture and fresh produce. "It's not just my job. It's my hobby," he said.
"It's my life just like any farmer around here. They'll tell you the same thing," Matthews said.
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