Beyond The Southeast Part 1: David Sherrod Discusses the Community and Culture that Sets SEPC Events Apart

MILLEN, GA - You don’t need to knock, you’re already home.

This is the feeling that informs and inspires each task, event, and program undertaken by the Southeast Produce Council (SEPC).

“We are a council that wants to wrap its arms around its members as a whole. A family is what we are; it’s not a small group or a statement. We are welcoming to all because we are all living our lives together—produce is a small world. We love what happens to our events, but don’t want to have a monopoly on that feeling because it is throughout our industry,” David Sherrod reflects.

What he means, the council President clarifies, is that you don’t have to be from the region to be a part of the family that is fresh produce. A key component that differentiates SEPC from other associations is the desire to see the beauty in the whole organism while recognizing the special space it can hold by being uniquely itself. But there is more to it than that.

It is an open-door policy you would expect from a longtime friend, but an association?

Yet can’t you see David and any member of the SEPC Board welcoming you into the family room, where their sofa is your sofa, and you don’t need to ask before checking the fridge, so long as you bring him something back, too.

There is a joy and enrichment the entire SEPC family—yes, family—gains by and shares through their roles in the produce industry.

“If you approach our industry more as a value system than a job, then you will be enriched by it. We on the council all feel like our only competition is us—we try to do better every time. If we do better than last time, it can only go up. Then you’re doing right by all, which is better for the whole industry,” he reflects.

Those who make up the council want everyone they host to feel as if they are being welcomed into a home—one that already has a special place for them. “Southern hospitality for the produce industry” is so much more than a phrase for the stewards of the SEPC.

“We hope it’s more than a feeling; that every time someone attends, they want to be at our events. Not just for work, but because they are something to look forward to and reunite with people at,” David tells me. “The day doesn’t end when you go home in this business, so you'd best make sure you get nourishment and engagement in more than just the job. There are good people in produce—it takes a special group to pull off what these people do, nourishing the world and, hopefully, ourselves.”

At the end of the day, David and the team feel they are a blessed council because of the commitment to the unique space it holds in the produce industry.

“We don’t ever want to be stale or copy others—if we are doing something only because someone else is, we are doing it wrong. Let anyone who does something well get the credit for what they are doing, we’ll learn from it and do something all our own,” he states.

I wholeheartedly encourage this when I recall a mishap at one SEPC-hosted event that turned into one of the best interactive sessions of my year. To this, David tells me that nothing ever goes right in produce, so why not embrace it?

“That’s fine as long as you learn from it, and that’s what we do,” David concludes. “Like everyone we represent in this beautiful industry, we are planting a lot of seeds, nurturing them and hoping to see them grow.”

From STARS and STEP-UPP to Southern Roots and scholarship, to so many other branches and programs, that growth continues to embrace the industry beyond southeastern borders.

The thought David leaves me with is of asking not what we can gain, but where we can uniquely give. Because of the nature of our industry, the efforts of a few provide for so many.

Stay tuned as we continue to dive into the ley lines that make for unbreakable connections through this industry advocate that is the SEPC.