Our Mission, Vision, and Practice  (Our good ideas for some other entrepreneur to use)
Leading Green Distributing's mission is to develop and promote a sustainable, local food network across the southeast.

LGD assists local farmers across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia by marketing and distributing farmers' produce to grocery stores, restaurants and buying clubs. 

We have all the permits and insurance necessary to haul a wide variety of products year round, including seasonal harvests, meat, and dairy.  

We also have an ABC permit and are licensed to haul beer and wine.

LGD also provides recycling services for all common materials, as well as "difficult to recycle" items. We supplement your existing curbside pickup by offering bulk pickup of cardboard, metals, block styrofoam, batteries, and many plastics. We offer full service clean outs with a mission to divert as much from the landfill as possible. We recycle and donate everything we can, even if there is no scrap value. On some items like fluorescent tubes, floppy disks, select electronics, and cassettes there is a separate charge to recycle. 

Our home base is the Western North Carolina Farmers Market.  

** Calling All Local Breweries **

We are actively seeking contacts with local breweries to discuss partnerships. Leading Green would like the opportunity to ship your craft beers to grocers and restaurants across the region. Please contact us to expand your brewing market.

Developing a Sustainable Food Infrastructure

Leading Green is continually expanding its transportation lanes and increasing the number of food outlets for farmers to sell their produce profitably. By focusing on the logistics of distributing produce, farmers can focus on what they do best: working the farm.

We are the people who move local food from farms to the grocery stores, restaurants, and homes. Distributors like Leading Green make it easy for Southerners to eliminate food deserts and enjoy fresh food that helps the neighbor farmer.

We handle all aspects of the business cycle: marketing, food pick up, and delivery - all with a commitment to minimal environmental impact. We have a fleet of trucks that run on biodiesel, ensuring producers and buyers participate in an increasingly sustainable food distribution system.

Why does buying local food matter?

Local Food is Fresher

Locally grown food is simply closer to grocery stores and restaurants, so less time is required to deliver to your market. Fruits and vegetables purchased locally are often delivered less than 24 hours from the time they are harvested. Fresh produce has more nutrition and flavor.

Local Food Conserves Fuel

Food that is grown and distributed close-by requires less energy input (in the form of diesel fuel, electrical power, etc). Transportation and refrigerated storage consume fuel rapidly. Locally grown vegetables require less driving and cooling, so these buying decisions conserve energy resources and reduce environmental pollution.

Local Food Promotes a Thriving Economy

Money spent in the local community stays in that community longer. This circulation of money is what keeps your economy vibrant. When you buy from farms in your area, you are promoting the healthy growth of your neighborhoods and urban centers.

Local Food Stabilizes Our Food System
Buying from nearby farms creates a local market and encourages more food to be grown in the area. Depending on crops grown in far away places can create food-supply risks. Increasing the amount of food produced in your region, promotes a secure food supply.