In Our Spring 2019 Issue

Jacquelyn McHugh holding a baby goat at Jeremiah Farm & Goat Dairy on John's Island.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 
My sister and I approached the fence at Jeremiah Farm & Goat Dairy on an unusually warm day in February, and were excited to meet the 1-week-old baby goats that had just been born. Surrounded by adorable baby goats (known as kids), Casey Price, founder of Jeremiah Farm, was holding a customer’s baby boy. 

“It’s either kids or kids” she laughed, as she balanced the baby on one hip while patting the head of a mother goat nuzzling into her side. 

After she handed the baby’s mother a half gallon of raw goat’s milk, she helped her and her two young children to the car. Those toddlers, like many of the farm’s littlest customers, have been coming there since their earliest days. It’s the norm at Jeremiah Farm; the playground and the picnic benches out front are a testament to that. 

That snapshot of community and caregiving is the perfect introduction to our special Women’s Issue. Price is a mother and wife, a homesteader and livestock farmer and a mentor for the Lowcountry Local First Growing New Farmers apprenticeship program, where she coaches the next generation of farmers, like Jess Martin, who you will read about. She’s making a difference, one kid, and one kid—at a time.

Price and Martin are just two of the many amazing women this issue celebrates. All over South Carolina, female farmers, chefs, bakers and business owners are impacting lives and improving our communities. In Columbia, Chef Sarah Simmons is committed to ending poverty and increasing food access in the Midlands. Read about how Simmons left the glamorous New York City chef scene and returned home to find that her strength and love for people superseded her love for food; she makes sure no kid goes hungry in the summer. As Simmons will tell you, she made the shift because it just felt right.

And it is right—a woman’s intuition usually is. Women account for 93% of all food purchases for households; it only makes sense for them to decide how our food is grown, raised and prepared. Increasing numbers of women in agriculture and the food industry offer direct insight into the needs of the community, driving innovations based on their personal experiences and familial needs. 

So, we’re dedicating this special issue to the women right here in South Carolina, honoring the strength and perspective they bring to a traditionally male-dominated space. As the publisher’s “kid,” I speak for my sisters and mother in saying we hope you enjoy our Women’s Issue, and that you are reminded of the great women who surround you.

-Jacquelyn McHugh, Editor in Chief