I’m Mary Charles Howard, owner of The Athens Food Tour Company. I grew up on a farm in Sandersville, Georgia where my curiosity for all things homegrown and handmade was nurtured. As the youngest of 5 daughters, there was no room for me in the kitchen, but there was room in the garden. I have always been out rummaging around in the earth whether it was gardening, playing with our pet pig “Pork Chop” or painting with dirt, much to my mom’s dismay.
Since the age of seven I knew I wanted to be a landscape architect. I pursued that dream, and upon graduation from the University of Georgia, I moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to begin a career in landscape architecture. I was looking for a little something to keep me busy on the weekends, so I found a part-time job as a tour guide for a company called Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours. I had a great time leading food tours and learning about local food, chefs and restaurants.
Through this weekend job, I realized my passion for nature is strongly influenced by the connection between people, food and their environment. I appreciate the love and time put into locally made food. From the farm to table, food has a journey. I like to search out that journey and connect the land, animals, farmers and chefs with the consumers. The upshot of my realization was that I quit my day job and moved back to Athens to start a food tour company that actively connects people with locally owned restaurants and locally grown food. My hope is that local food tours will contribute to a much more neighborly slow-food community one bite at a time.
Come join me—it will be like a picnic through Athens!
