NEWS FEATURE: Green Tomato Relish Funds a Ministry for the Needy

c. 2000 Religion News Service SYLVANIA, Ala. _ Move over, Smuckers, and make way for the Green Tomato Specialties of Sand Mountain. While Smuckers may not have to worry any time soon about this Johnny-come-lately to the jam and jelly business, those who know Dorsey Walker, the founder and creator of the Green Tomato Specialties, […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

SYLVANIA, Ala. _ Move over, Smuckers, and make way for the Green Tomato Specialties of Sand Mountain.

While Smuckers may not have to worry any time soon about this Johnny-come-lately to the jam and jelly business, those who know Dorsey Walker, the founder and creator of the Green Tomato Specialties, don’t doubt he will make it a success.


Since arriving as director of the Upper Sand Mountain Parish of the United Methodist Church’s Albertville district, Walker has lived up to the ministry’s slogan, “Make Possible the Impossible.”

For many years, needy families in the Sand Mountain area have been the recipients of foods grown and canned by hundreds of volunteers from throughout the United States through the Upper Sand Mountain Parish ministry.

Making pickles, relishes, marmalade, jams and jellies is just another of the many projects Walker has undertaken during nearly 25 years of serving the parish.

He is probably best known for the Heart and Hand program, which has built more than 30 homes for needy families in the Sand Mountain area, including two this summer.

In addition to Heart and Hand, the ministry oversees the Better Way Shoppe, a secondhand store that sells clothing and household items, makes soup and sauerkraut for various soup kitchens in the area, and ministers to more than 3,500 families.

To fund all of these projects, Dorsey came up with the idea of starting the Green Tomato Specialties products. Walker said he is hopeful this project will eventually raise enough money to not only fund the various ministries, but also provide jobs for the residents of Sand Mountain.

Walker had been searching for a project to raise money for the parish when John Anderson, a professor at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, visited Sand Mountain last year.


Walker had started a community garden for needy residents, but few knew how to can the vegetables they grew. Walker invited Anderson to conduct a workshop on canning to solve the problem.

During the workshop the idea to develop a green tomato product began to take shape.

“I knew there had to be something grown on Sand Mountain that we could showcase,” said Walker.

He knew other areas of the country had cashed in on local specialty items.

While thumbing through a recipe book of the Alabama Extension Service, he saw a recipe for green tomato pickles and green tomato relish.

“The recipe was rather simple, and I knew tomatoes were one thing that Sand Mountain had plenty of,” said Walker.

With many volunteers and some paid help, Walker produced his first batch of Green Tomato Specialties last year. An article in a Birmingham newspaper helped spread the news of Walker’s new product line and a local religious bookstore began stocking the items. Boosted by the success of last year’s sales, new items were added this year. Before the operation ceases in the next few weeks, Walker hopes to have canned 4,000 jars.


It is the green tomato base that sets the Upper Sand Mountain jams apart from others, according to those who have tried them.

“We have found that green tomatoes go with just about any food or berry that you put them with,” Walker said.

According to the ministry’s Web site, tomatoes have been called “love apples” throughout history: “Tomatoes have long been recognized to offer health benefits and to kindle romance in certain people _ we don’t make any such claims, but simply pass on what we’ve been told. However, we do believe you’ll enjoy our specialty Green Tomato Foods that reflect longtime southern Appalachian traditions.”

Walker has received a $600,000 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to build a storm shelter for the citizens of Sand Mountain, and he wants to house a new cannery in the building. He hopes that he can use some of the land near the shelter to plant blackberry bushes and muscadine vines, which produce some of the ingredients for their jams and relishes.

The ministry’s current product selection includes blueberry, peach, grape, strawberry and apple jams, along with marmalade, relish, pickles, and chutney.

Eds: For more information on the Sand Mountain parish, visit the Web site at http://www.gbgm-umc.org/usmp/ or call (256) 638-2126.


DEA END GREENWOOD

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!