2023 Farmer Champion Award Winners — The Dirt

Little Tart Bakeshop  

Farmer Champion Community Award, chosen in partnership with The Working Farms Fund 

The Farmer Champion Community Award started in 2022 when we expanded our programming and realized that there were plenty of Farmer Champions who deserved recognition beyond local food procurement for their contributions to the good food community. We also wanted to highlight community partner organizations that we admire.  

This year, we partnered with the Working Farms Fund, a project from the Conservation Fund, that protects at-risk farmland and creates a patient and equitable pathway to affordable farm ownership for next-generation farmers. The Working Farms Fund allows for more resilient regional food systems to take root across the nation, which can properly feed thriving local economies by supporting the expansion of sustainable agriculture and providing increased access to healthy, nutritious foods. In Georgia, Love is Love Cooperative Farm, Atlanta Harvest, Global Growers Network, Little Fox Farm, Pride Road, and Snapfinger Farm all expanded their operations through the Working Farms Fund.  

Together, we chose our 2023 Farmer Champion Community Award winner – Little Tart Bakeshop. Little Tart Bakeshop was founded by Sarah O’Brien and has grown from a single stand at a farmers’ market into three storefronts across southeast Atlanta while continuing to sell to farmers markets around the city.  

We chose Little Tart Bakeshop because of their outstanding commitment to supporting their community however they can. From hosting an annual “Cookie Grab” in support of Planned Parenthood Southeast to co-founding Southern Restaurants for Racial Justice, an organization giving financial support to Black-owned food businesses in the South, Sarah has made her mark in service to her fellow community members. Little Tart has participated in Wholesome Wave Georgia’s annual Southern Chef’s Potluck and even held a fundraiser for the Georgia Organics Farmer Fund in the wake of 2022’s Winter Storm Elliott.  

Sarah and her team understand the role they can play in uplifting their friends, family, and neighbors through the power of delicious pastries. Georgia Organics and the Working Farms Fund are happy to present Little Tart Bakeshop with the 2023 Farmer Champion Community Award!