Meet Cam Floyd | Food & Beverage Liaison

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cam Floyd and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cam, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
I think a major part of our business is not only our connection to the public we serve every day, but also a connection to our farmers and fishermen. I like to consider myself as the middleman between the farmer and the guests. We are their platform for recognition and the work that they do. To visit our farms, see the challenges they face every day, and then be able to create a beautiful dish out of their hard work allows the door to open in discussing our farmers and keeping their legacies alive. In turn, we are supporting the local economy around us and bringing the community that much closer together.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I was born and raised in Newnan, GA and currently reside in Douglas County. I am the Food & Beverage Liaison for Hsu Hospitality, which is a restaurant group that supports multiple restaurants in Atlanta, and a partner in Sweet Auburn Barbecue in Atlanta and Mcdonough, Georgia.

Five years ago, myself and my wife, Joni Floyd, purchased a home in Winston, Ga. Joni Floyd, whom is the General Manager of the Farmhouse in Serenbe, has worked there for the past 14 years. Joni Floyd also has her degree in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech where she developed prosthetic limbs, studied, and tutored calculus and trigonometry at Ga Tech, as well as studies in cell regeneration. We have two boys, Trey, who is twelve years old, and Jayden, who is eleven years old.

I am also extremely involved with the West Georgia Community. In May 2021, myself a business partner, Tonya Freeman, started a nonprofit called MAES Farmer’s Market – https://www.maesfrmmkt.com. Currently, we support the agriculture programs at schools in our community to host West Georgia’s largest and most diverse farmer’s market where we bring in over 100 vendors consisting of small, local farmers and small businesses. This years’ farmer’s market also hosted over 70 farmers, 180 vendor lots filled, a rabbit show hosted by The Southeast Silver Fox Rabbit Breeders Club and Club President Hannah Yost-Ramirez, a mechanical bull riding contest by Exodus Ranch, and even a live concert by Michael KMusic! My goal is to bring the community together, support the community of small businesses and farmers, and support all schools in the county by getting gardens and farms in all schools. All vendor fee and raffle proceeds are donated to the school’s Agriculture Program and to the farm at the school. Our next MAES Farmer’s Market date is set for May 16, 2025
The agriculture program at Mason Creek, the previous beneficiary of MFM, is a program that teaches children sustainability and the importance of farm to table programs in the community. The event in May 2021, raised over $2,000 and afforded the school the ability to purchase more enclosures for livestock at the school, rebuild the raised garden beds, and purchase DNA test kits for the Turkeys and Black Australorp Chickens at the school. Due to this, 5th graders now have the ability to study DNA of these animals, and all students can work the farm and study the growth of produce instead sitting in front of screens during afterschool programs. Since then, Tonya and I have hosted four more farmer markets for schools in our area, donating over $12,000.
Another grand achievement is that I recently partnered with Bakers Creek Heirloom Seed Company, and they donated over $1800 worth of rare, heirloom seeds for the school to have a full heirloom garden for the students to study and grow. They are now sponsors and supporters of MAESFRMMKT each year and have donated over $5,000 worth of seeds in total.

I am the Chairman of The Young Farmer’s & Ranchers Committee of Douglas County, GFB State Committee Chairman of the 3rd District, and is an active Board Member of The Georgia Farm Bureau. I am also entertaining more of the legislative side to farming and my goal is to get more involved with the legislative process and I think this is a great avenue for my involvement and ability to impact the community in a positive way. I believe being the voice for agriculture in this way can be a more fruitful and responsible approach. Going to Washington, D.C. the last two years and meeting with senators and congressmen has really provided a different perspective on the challenges our farmers face from the legislative arena.

Recently, I launched the Farmer Partner Organization, which is an organization created to bring awareness of our local farmers, give them a spotlight, and also connect them with local chefs that want to support them. Any restaurants with our “FP” logo on their menu or website will provide a discount for a farmer showing an “FP” ID card. The goal is to convince farmers to dine in the restaurants that are actually using their product. But I also have much larger plans like filming interviews with our farmers with segments called “Crossing Paths” and even creating a mental health sector where we will send therapists to farms to do what I call a “Farmer Check In”. Just to give them an opportunity to reach out for help should they need it.

I continuously visits small farms in Georgia and find ways to support them as much as I can. From buying produce and utilizing their product for the restaurants, to meeting with small businesses and providing consultation on how to improve profits, create profitable business models, decide on what livestock to invest in, and even visiting farms to teach them how to process their own animals, I am extremely dedicated to seeing the community thrive.

I also host a “Harvest Day” a few times per year. At these processing days, I invite my culinary team along with the YF&R team to learn how to process animals on the farm and experience the daily life of a famer.

The other “bigger picture” for these harvest days is the ability for some many to make connections with a diverse group of individuals they would normally never meet in their personal day to day. For my chefs, they will forever remember these relationships on the farm and when they grow with us, or have restaurants of their own, they will have the connections with farmers needed to keep the farmer – chef relationship alive. I can only hope my chefs will continue my efforts of supporting local and I think the only way I can do that is facilitate those relationships now, early in their careers. There’s also nothing like being covered in mud and blood, and then sitting around a fire enjoying wine to create memories and build camaraderie.

I also host “Homestead Series” at the Douglas County Farm Bureau where they invite the public to attend classes in order to learn a variety of skills. These classes can range from Whole Animal Processing, cooking classes, poultry educational classes, canning and preserving, and so much more.

For my career, I worked as a chef at Farmhouse in Serenbe, Local Three Kitchen & Bar, Lure in Midtown Atlanta, and also have traveled to Merida, Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula to learn under Paco Hidalgo and Chef Roberto Solis at his restaurant, Nectar. In my tenure there, I refined my craft with the authenticity of Mexican cuisine. Working in Mexico was absolutely the most humbling experience in my life. Being with the locals there can surely give you a new perspective on not taking things for granted. I worked directly with chef Paco Hidalgo to curate a menu for Estrella Atlanta, the restaurant I later returned to open and serve as the chef of Estrella in Atlanta, Ga. This was my first restaurant opening. The analytical and data driven teachings from Charles Fricke, of Sweet Auburn Barbecue, are what afforded me the ability to open the restaurant. After learning Yucatecan cuisine, I was offered a position as the chef de cuisine of one of the most well-known restaurants in Atlanta, Iberian Pig in Decatur, GA.
I worked directly with John Castellucci at Iberian Pig and eventually took over as the chef for John to remove himself and open Iberian Pig Buckhead. Upon beginning my career there, my wife Joni and I traveled to Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, to learn and experience Spanish cuisine, experience farming and local agriculture, and further assist my knowledge of the wine and cuisine’s culture there. I returned to Iberian Pig with a new mindset of how to translate Spanish cuisine to what Atlanteans crave. Being a part of the Iberian Pig and the Castellucci Group family had to be the most memorable and meaningful times of my life. I will forever miss that company.

Now, I am currently the main operator at Gezzos Cantina in Atlanta and oversee multiple operations/employees and am hoping to continue opening more restaurants in the future. My focus is getting more farmer’s product to the city and continuing to develop business models around the needs of the farmers. Another important mission for me is informing the public that there are countless professions directly tied to agriculture, not just the farmers.

From truck drivers, train engineers, packaging warehouse employees, seed salesman, real estate agents, lawyers, financial advisors, avian scientist, and more can all play a role in agriculture and be a voice for our farmers. The Georgia Farm Bureau is one of the most diverse organizations focusing on agriculture, it just takes the step forward of involvement to see that.
My goal is to remain humble and be better than I was yesterday. Everyone has a story and reason for striving to be better. As a chef, I want to give people the same chance at life as I was given years ago. I now have that ability to do that. As a chef, it is my responsibility to take care of, teach, mold, and grow each one of my employees. My family.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely take someone visiting the city to Bastone to start the day with a cocktail and a mozzarella flight. Then walk over to The Optimist for more drinks and oysters. After that, it would have to be heading to Lyla Lila for pasta and finishing the night at Kimball House for cocktails and snacks. Other than that, it would have to be a stroll down the beltline, stopping by Ponce City Market to grab a beer, and just people watch. The best alternative is to grab a pizza from any loca pizza place and hang out at Scofflaw brewery, Wild Heaven, or Monday Night Brewery with our dogs and our kids.

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?
There are quite a few people in my life that deserve recognition for their faith in me. Howard Hsu, Anita Hsu, and Charles Fricke have put their faith in me for years and are the main three in my life that provided me the opportunity to be where I am today. The others would be Joey Rainwater, our county president from the Douglas County Georgia Farm Bureau. He genuinely provided me a space of trust and respect within the farm bureau and has been a foundation of support with the work that I am doing with our farmers. The Georgia Farm Bureau as a whole has been instrumental in my connections to the community and our farmers by being the road map allowing myself and so many to cross paths. So many in the community and across the state that I would never have met if it were not for the Farm Bureau. They continue to set the standards for excellence and striving for better every day. Rebecca Jacobs, Breanna Coursey, Cleve & Emilia Jackson, Colt & Leanna Hart, Tucker & Emily West, Alicia Kopp, and so many others in the Farm Bureau have opened their arms to me and sparked the desire to continue supporting our farmers in Georgia. They have all been crucial in my investment in the Farm Bureau and in general for me to continue my efforts in all of the projects I am working on.

Website: https://www.maesfrmmkt.com/

Instagram: @chef_cam_floyd

Facebook: https:www.facebook.com/cameron.floyd.125

Other: Instagram:
farmer_partner
maes_farmers_market