Tennessee Locavore overview

Tennessee Locally Grown Product

There are plenty of seasonal Locavore opportunities to find exactly the fruit, vegetables, beef, lamb, poultry, wine or dairy products that you may be looking for. The 2007 USDA Farm Census reported that Tennessee had approximately 79,280 farms and the average number of acres per farm was 138. Of those farms, 1,543 showed that they raised vegetables for sale, there were 786 orchards, 137 organic farms and 251 CSAs in the state.

Synopsis of 2007 USDA Ag census for Tennessee

Classification
Number of farms within the State
Top five counties with the greatest number of farms in each type of classification
Farms with Vegetables harvested for sale
1,543
Lawrence Grainger Washington Blount Greene
Number of Orchards
786
Robertson Lincoln Blount McMinn Sumner
Sweet Corn
740
Lawrence Washington Blount Wilson Coffee
Potatoes
398
Lawrence Johnson Blount Hawkins Washington
Tomatoes
806
Lawrence Grainger Wilson Lauderdale Blount
Apples
543
Robertson Lincoln Blount Overton Williamson
Peaches
253
Lincoln Dickson Greene Anderson McMinn
Cantaloupe
297
Lawrence Blount Lincoln Knox Dickson
Watermelon
383
Lawrence Blount Lincoln Coffee McMinn
Strawberries
219
Lawrence Robertson Sumner Coffee Giles
Blueberries
263
Blount Hamilton Lawrence Greene Knox
Raspberries
77
Blount Union Robertson Hamilton Knox
Blackberries and Dewberries
269
Knox Johnson Lawrence Coffee Anderson
Poultry and egg production
1694
Bedford Bradley Lawrence Franklin Fentress
Dairy cattle and milk production
893
Greene Marshall McMinn Monroe Washington
Beef and Cattle ranches
41,886
Greene Giles Lincoln Hawkins Washington
Bison
14
Washington Bledsoe Carroll Cocke Crockett
Aquaculture or other animal production
9,010
Wilson Rutherford Williamson Bedford Greene
Farms that collect Honey
840
Blount Greene Knox Monroe Lawrence
Farms that collect Maple Syrup
7
Knox Perry Sullivan Humphreys -

For more specific detail on what local fruits and vegetables are available (and when), please check out our Tennessee availability guide.

How to find Tennessee Growers and producers

To search our database for growers, producers and wineries near you, use one of these three methods:

1. Go to the Proximity search page. Enter the Zip code that you want to use as the basis for your search, enter the number of miles around the Zip code, click or unclick the business types you want to search for, then click the "Search' button. When the results appear, if you want more information about a specific business, you can click on the map marker and then the farm or business name within the information box.

If you would rather not enter a Zip code, you can enter a City and State name or a County and State name.

2. To see all of the Profiles within a specific State, go to the menu selection entitled "State Information" in the blue menu section at the top of the page. Scroll to your State name and as you move through the State names, you will see two menu choices appear to the right of your cursor. Click on the one that includes the words "Growers and Producers". When the list shows on your screen, you may sort by County name (click on the word "County"). If you are looking for a specific product such as Peaches or Beef or Honey, simply enter your search term in the appropriate box. For the Tennessee Grower list, click on this link: Tennessee Grower list .

3. Using the search box in the upper right hand corner of the screen, just enter the terms you wish to search for..there is no need to include a coma. As an example, if you want to find Peach growers in Tennessee, just type in the words Peaches Tennessee and click on the Search button.  There is no need to enter connecting words such as "and" or "in".

Additional Tennessee Locavore information

Every state has a Cooperative Extension System. Regional offices offer location specific advice on a broad array of topics (including gardening), and may be able to provide you with contact information for growers who are not yet registered on our site. Most have gardening hotlines and offer informational fact sheets, soil testing and pest identification for free or a nominal cost. Often the help is provided by Master Gardeners who are trained to assist the agriculture agents with home gardener's needs. To find contact information for your local County Extension Office – Tennessee County Extension Offices.

  • If you would like to ask questions of fellow Tennessee Locavores, discuss tips, share recipes, stories, pictures or any another great “Slow Food” discovery, please post it in our Tennessee forum by clicking here: Tennessee Locavore Forum
  • State sponsored “Locally Grown” program - Pick Tennessee Products
  • Tennessee County Fair Schedules – This link provides schedules for County Fairs within Tennessee as well as many other local festivals – Tennessee County Fairs