We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabriel /Tamita Jimenez/Brown and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabriel /Tamita, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My wife and I are both from the Caribbean, I am from Puerto Rico and she is from Jamaica. I grew up in the suburbs and she grew up in the countryside. I loved going to the countryside when I was growing up and, I loved it as an adult and my wife just LOVE the countryside. She always said, ” You can take me out of the country but you can’t take the country out of me” So when we started house hunting we knew that we wanted a house with a good amount of land in the countryside, we really could not do subdivisions. We wanted to have a garden to plant our own vegetables and to raise a few chickens for eggs and meat like my wife had growing up in Round Hill St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. We started doing this for us but then friends and co-workers started asking to buy meat and eggs from us. We started doing this with our friends and co-workers and word for around and the demand grew.

Our aim was to provide quality meat and eggs to our fellow Caribbean and African folks, those yearning for meat and eggs like home but we realized that this demand was right across the board; across ethnicity and nationality and so I started doing some research and found that there was need and a niche for what we were doing. We sat down and brainstormed for a name that would reflect both of us and our culture and so Caribe United Farm was born (we are both from the Caribbean, one Spanish speaking and one English Speaking and we are married), a blend of both cultures. We started selling our product at the Athens Farmers Market, then online, then at the Oakhurst and the Grant Park Farmers Market, we have sold at the Decatur and Braselton Farmers Market too.

We want economic independence, to see our community in the faming industry and so having our own farm, running our own business is a step in that direction. With the help of our valued customers, family and friends we will achieve this.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Caribe United Farm officially started in 2018. We are a minority owned business, we are a black and Hispanic owned business where we raise pasture-raised organic and non-GMO poultry (chickens, ducks, turkeys, guinea fowls and geese) and backyard pork. We also incorporate a bit of our culture by making and selling Jamaican sorrel drink, rum cakes and Puerto Rican coquito and different Caribbean dishes. We are proud to be from the Caribbean and here in Georgia farming, that is why our slogan is “Farming Georgia’s Land With Caribbean Hands!” We get to where we are by working hard, working long hours and connecting with the people.

When we started the farm we were both working full time. I was as Assistant Director at University of Georgia and my wife, a Spanish Teacher. The business was growing and it became difficult to cope with the daily running of the farm and our jobs so we decided that it was time for me to resign and do this full time. This is something I do not regret. I just love what I do. It is hard work, never ending work, long hours, with lots of ups and downs, which includes loss of animals, infrastructure failures among other things, but we would not have it any other way. We learn from our mistakes, do away with what does not work, and work on improving the things that do work.

One of the things that separate us from others is the way we treat our animals. Our animals are on pasture, as we do not use chicken houses and they are fed once a day and given fresh water daily, we sometimes change their water up to three times a day. These birds have the opportunity to do what birds do; scratch, dust baths and forage for food by looking for bugs and worms and green grass, etc. We love to say that we treat our animals better than we treat ourselves. We may live here but they “run things”. Something else that sets us apart is that we represent a very small percent of people of color that do what we do, poultry farming, and so we have a big responsibility to maintain a high standard by providing quality premium products that will speak well about our brand and our communities.

One of the challenges that we face is being a small scale poultry farm here in Georgia. Even though Georgia is one of the top chicken producers in the USA, the infrastructure and policies benefit mainly large industrial farm corporations. Small farmers of pasture-raised organic poultry struggle daily to produce local and healthy options for consumers. As a result of this, small farmers often go out of business because of the high production costs. Another challenge that we face is being able to balance what we want to provide based on our likes and what we want to sell to our customers (based on our culture) and what the market demands or what sells at the market.

We are extremely proud of how far we have come, from when we started this farm, and how much we have done on just 5 acres of land. With both my wife’s parents being farmers, we try to replicate what she had growing up. We look to them as they are our role models and so they are extremely proud of us. But this is only the beginning and we look ahead to continue to work hard to grow and see how far we can take Caribe United Farm.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Georgia is a fun and interesting place to be and as we are out in Oglethorpe County when we have friend visiting we want them to experience what we love about Georgia. We normally take them to our favorite spots. We love Sanders BBQ in Carlton where we are treated like family. It is like you went to grandma’s house for dinner. A visit to Harry’s and Son in Virginia Highland for sushi is a must. A trip to Seabear in Athens for raw oysters and oyster po’boy and cocktails is a necessity. We love to go to Trapeze for a drink and their boiled peanut. For some Vietnamese food we go to “I Love Pho” and the Honey Pig for Korean BBQ. A trip to Savannah with a trip to Bernie’s is a must.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We would like to send a shoutout and much love to Steve and Mandy O’Shea for their ongoing support. They have been our number one supporters from the very beginning and they continue to help us as we grow. We love you guys so much and thank you so much for the love and support. You cannot i=even begin to imagine the love and appreciation we have for you both. Thank you!

Website: www.caribeunitedfarm.com

Instagram: @caribeunitedfarm

Facebook: facebook/caribe united arm

Image Credits
Photos are by Gabriel Jimenez and Tamita Brown

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