Food City is well-known for their locally grown produce initiative.  Through a partnership with local farmers, the retail supermarket chain offers their customers fresh-from-the-field fruits and vegetables during local growing seasons.  Many items are delivered directly from the farm to the store the same day they are picked.  What began over ten years ago with a small number of items, supplied by a handful of area farmers has now grown into a multi-million dollar operation.  Today, Food City purchases an average of over $5,000,000 annually in fresh produce from local growers. 

“We pride ourselves in selecting the best possible products for our customers,” says Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer.  “Our local farms are known for producing some of the finest products in the country.  Buying locally is the logical choice.  It provides our customers with the freshest produce possible, while lending additional support to our local economies.  In many instances, our locally grown produce arrives at the store the same day it was picked.  It simply doesn’t get any fresher than that”.

In 2007, Food City created the Wayne Scott Memorial Grower of the Year Award.  The award is named in honor of Unicoi County farmer Wayne Scott, one of the first to partner with the retail supermarket chain.  Wayne Scott’s leadership, passion for the business and dedication to delivering the “best produce possible” are just a few of the reasons for his tremendous success.  The award recognizes one outstanding grower each year.  

“Scott Farms was among the first to partner with our company and Scott’s Strawberries continue to be one of our most sought after products,” says Smith.  “Wayne Scott was one of the finest, most honorable men I have ever had the privilege of doing business with.  We thought it befitting to honor his memory and dedication to the agricultural industry with this annual award”.

Luke Stratton of Stratton Tomato Farms in Rutledge, TN was named this year’s award recipient.  Stratton is a fourth generation farmer, cultivating the same land where his great grandfather planted the first crop.  He began working on the farm at a young age, packing tomatoes in bushel baskets, going to the market with his family and cutting and hanging tobacco.  As a young boy, Stratton would accompany his grandfather and father to deliver tomatoes to small chain stores.  During his high school years, he joined FFA and continued his work on the family farm.  After graduation, he accepted an opportunity to partner with his father and mother in their thriving business, growing different varieties of tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, peppers, zucchini and beans.  Stratton’s father taught him the importance of personally delivering products to the stores, setting displays and talking to store associates and customers about their freshly hand-picked and hand-packed produce – so it’s understandable that customers were usually waiting on their produce to arrive.  

In 2015, when Food City acquired 29 additional stores in the Chattanooga and North Georgia market area, they also gained a valuable new locally grown partner in Stratton Farms.  A true family business, Luke and his wife, Missy proudly continues the legacy of his parents, Lillard and Emma. Stratton is the proud father of two daughters, Maranda and McKenzie, as well as two sons, Logan and Reggie.  Today, both of his sons are following in their father’s footsteps, working alongside him on the family farm.

Food City is proud to have partnered with Stratton Farms for the past three years to provide their loyal customers with locally grown, fresh from the farm tomatoes.  Food City purchases produce from a number of local farms, including those in Grainger, Blount, Hawkins, Unicoi, Jefferson and Sullivan counties in Tennessee; Scott and Carroll counties and through Appalachian Harvest co-op for locally grown organics from the growers in Scott County, Virginia. 

“We enjoy a great partnership with a variety of local farms,” comments Bucky Slagle, director of produce operations for Food City.  “And we are proud to be the exclusive retail outlet for a number of them and of course our customers love the added convenience,” says Slagle.

Food City purchases a wide variety of items from local growers, including tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, cabbage, half runner beans, okra, peppers, squash, gourds, pumpkins, cantaloupes, watermelons, blackberries, strawberries, pears, raspberries, select organic produce and more. 

Pictured Above (left to right):  Steven C. Smith, Food City President/CEO, Luke Stratton, Missy Stratton, Lillard Stratton, Logan Stratton, Reggie Stratton and Bucky Slagle, Food City Director of Produce Operations

Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 133 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, Chattanooga and north Georgia.