VALDOSTA — Carter and Sons Farms were awarded the Georgia Grown Subway contract. 

The contract has Carter and Sons Farms selling cucumbers and bell peppers to every Subway in the state of Georgia, according to the restaurant franchise. 

The award not only locks in Carter and Sons Farms with Subway for the next year, but also includes a television commercial featuring owner Walt Carter and his farms. 

“It helps what we do and helps people know and understand where their food is coming from,” said Carter and Sons Produce Manager Shannon Wilson. “That we are local farmers and that they they are getting food from local farms.”

Carter and Sons Farms has a focus on educating younger buyers on where food comes from. 

“It’s good where I live,” said Carter. “We have wholesale and retail stores. But you wouldn’t believe the number of young people that don’t know where bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and squash come from. We try to teach as many people as we can. By Subway (awarding the contract), it shows a lot of people where their food comes from.”

To help buyers stay informed on their food’s point of origin, Wilson holds “like and share” contests on Facebook almost every week or when a new product comes out.

Carter and Sons Farms has 1,800 acres of farm land and produces almost all of the food in the stores and packing house, said Wilson. 

“We do buy from smaller farms as well,” she said. “If it is good quality we’ll buy it. We weren’t always a 1,800-acre farm. So we know the struggle of being a smaller farm.”

Since adding meat in the stores four years ago, the same four vendors have been selling the store meat, she said. The peaches for the peach ice-cream also comes from a vendor in Morven. 

Carter and Sons Farms has two store fronts and a packing house. 

The packing house is about 30,000-40,000 square feet, said Wilson. The company ships 3 million boxes of peppers a year. A box of peppers is 25 pounds. 

“That is anywhere from 48 to 60 large peppers per box,” she said. 

Carter and Sons Farms ships food across the eastern seaboard and all the way into Toronto and Quebec, Canada, she said. 

Carter and Sons Farms also sells locally to several restaurants like Rascals, Big Daddy’s, Lake Dogs, the Salty Snapper, Woodstack BBQ and several others, said Wilson. 

Walt Carter is a fourth-generation farmer, said Wilson. He gets on the tractors and works the farm land himself. It is a family-ran business, Carter’s father, uncle and cousins all help run the farm. He has family friends who also help. He is in and out of the store regularly. 

Carter and Sons Produce is located at 1500 S. Patterson St., Suite A and can be reached at (229) 242-5950, carterandsonsproduce@yahoo.com or its Facebook page www.facebook.com/CarterandSonsProduce. It is open from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. 

Carter’s Market is located at 3009 N. Ashley St. and can be reached at 229-333-2267. It is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1256.