Testimonials

Bill Davidson,
Davidson Farms, Hawkins County, TN:
"I grow strawberries, and customers come to my farm to pick them.  This year we decided to use the Clinch-Powell Community Kitchens to make strawberry jam. 
 Now we're selling more jam than strawberries! 
The jam is more profitable for us
and people are coming back to buy it by the case! 
I plan to do everything I can with the Kitchens
and make other products, too."


Anne Hunter,
Pure Mountain Herbs, Hancock County, TN:
"Kitchens staff have helped us improve our process and our label; the Cooperative that they started is helping us reach new markets.  The resources have been great! 
I feel we can really go somewhere now."

Paul Miller,
Tamsen Farm, Hawkins County, TN:
"No matter how we push the numbers around
for sale of raw produce in today's market,
they just don't add up to a living wage or a level of income
sufficient to sustain our farming activities in the long term. 
 We're convinced that value-added processing of our organic farm produce is the road to financial success for us.  The Kitchens have provided us with both an opportunity and the facilities to launch a specialty bottled salsa product
 which has the potential to quadruple the market value
of our raw produce."


Bob Wagenseller,
Clinch Mountain Farms, Grainger County, TN:
"After 22 years as a machinist
 I'm finally exploring the possibilities of being my own boss. 
 I'm putting all my efforts into starting
a food business using the Kitchens. 
Kitchens staff have been a big help in
developing my recipe and planning my business.
 I've got a marinade that people tell me
tastes better than what they can buy anywhere.
 Kitchens staff have been a big help
in developing my recipe and planning my business."


Frank & Twylia Preston,
Hillcrest Orchard, Jefferson County, TN:
"By taking a typical $10 bushel of apples and
processing them into a value-added product like apple butter,
you could turn it into nearly $100 per bushel. 
You can name your own hours;
you can make your own decisions."