Stone Ground & Southern Made — Inside Georgia's Artisan Milling Company

Walk into just about any pantry in the South and you're bound to find a bag of grits on the shelf — and for good reason. The Southeast produces more than three quarters of the grits consumed across the entire United States. Reporting from Rome, Damon Jones visits the Artisan Milling Company, where owner Brad Swancy has spent the better part of two decades perfecting the craft of stone ground milling. What started as a farm milling operation under the name Riverview Farms Milling has grown into something special. After partnering with warehouse owner Josh Baker, Swancy launched the Artisan Milling Company — expanding beyond grits and cornmeal to experiment with millet, buckwheat, and other gluten-free specialty grains, all milled the old-fashioned way between two stones. And that process makes all the difference. Unlike the big-box brand grits most shoppers recognize, Artisan Milling's products are never degermed before milling — meaning the germ and nutrients of the grain stay right where they belong, delivering a fresher, more flavorful, and more nutritious product. Swancy mills fresh every week, never sitting on product, keeping quality at the forefront of everything they do. That commitment to quality hasn't gone unnoticed. Artisan Milling grits are now showing up on menus at major restaurants in Atlanta and Chattanooga, and demand has grown enough to fuel a new and growing online business — shipping directly to customers across the country. From the farm to the stone to your bowl — this is the song of the South, done right. 🌾 Subscribe for weekly Georgia agriculture and rural business stories — only on The Farm Monitor.