Biology

Clay Turner of Logan County, a 2006 WKU graduate with a degree in agriculture, was one of the three vegetable producers in the state who have been honored as Local Food Heroes by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the City of Louisville.

Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer (left) presented awards to three Local Food Heroes on Aug. 23 at the Kentucky State Fair. Recipients (from left) Mike Lewis of Berea, Clay Turner of Russellville and Ramsi Kamar of Louisville also will be recognized Aug. 31 during the WKU vs. UK football game in Nashville, Tenn.

The awards were presented Aug. 23 by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer (also a WKU alumnus) at the Kentucky State Fair. The Local Food Heroes will be recognized Saturday night at halftime of the WKU-Kentucky game at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn.

Turner Valley Produce is widely diversified in its vegetable production, but is moving toward primary emphasis on beans, peas, tomatoes, pumpkins and gourds. An ever-increasing volume of the farm’s produce is now headed to cities like St. Louis and Chicago, which send buyers to Kentucky for vegetables grown in Kentucky soil. Turner Valley has also been retained to be the supplier of large quantity of green beans for a meal sponsored by Kentucky Proud to let the public experience the benefits of eating locally grown foods.

“We want people to know when they buy from us at our home stand or at farmers’ markets that the vast majority of everything we sell was grown on land my grandparents bought over 75 years ago,” Turner said.

Read more about Turner’s award at http://www.theloganjournal.com/Stories.aspx?Article=features128