A local farmer and beekeeper will speak about the benefits of organic locally-grown foods at the Rockdale-Newton League of Women Voters' Tuesday meeting.

Speaker Brady Bala is the driving force in the area's locally-grown online farmers market. His talk will touch on the local availability of organic foods and the opportunities consumers in Newton, Rockdale and the surrounding areas have to participate in co-ops or farmers markets.

The owner of Double B Farm, Bala will also address the current crisis in bee health known as Colony Collapse Disorder.

Bala's presentation will begin no later than 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday at the Rockdale Career Academy at 2064 Culpepper Drive in Conyers. An 11 a.m. League of Women Voters' business meeting will take place prior to the presentation. The program is free and open to all. Attendees are invited to gather at a local restaurant, still to be determined, for lunch after the meeting.

Bala and his farm are part of a larger online farmers market, Conyers Locally Grown that includes 22 farms, the majority of which are located within the Athens-Conyers area.

The organization can be accessed online at www.conyers.locallygrown.net/market.

Conyers Locally Grown sells seasonally available produce, hormone-free meat and hormone-free dairy products among other things.

Currently in season are asparagus, spinach, leeks, spring green onions, radishes, Swiss chard and shitake mushrooms. Also available for purchase through the farmers market are feta cheese, raw milk, buttermilk, homemade butter and fudge.

After placing their orders online at the beginning of the week, customers pick up their purchased produce Friday evenings at Copy Central on Parker Road in Conyers.

Bala said there are many benefits to purchasing your food from a local farm. Organically grown food purchased from local farms is usually tastier, healthier and better for the environment.

"You get to know the guy who planted the seed and harvested the crop," Bala said. "It's more of a community-involved experience. The whole idea is for us to be local and sustainable."