Growing Local

Imagine getting a big box of veggies every week, no shopping required. Community Supported Agriculture is a way to simplify eating and cooking so the freshest local produce is at your fingertips each week.

ASAP will host a CSA Fair on Thursday March 10, from 3-6 p.m. Stop by the Jubilee! community church on Wall Street in Asheville to meet local farmers and find out which CSA might be right for you.

Find out more at www.asapconnections.org

Have you ever wondered why there are so many small family farms here? In other parts of the country larger-scale commercial operations line the highways with hundreds, or even thousands of acres of a single crop. So why not here in the Southern Appalachians?

(Photo of East Fork Farm in Marshall, NC by Rich Orris)

Matt Coffay of Second Spring Market Garden is one of several local growers who farm all year. Find out why the community craves fresh produce at indoor markets and how farmers are stepping up production to meet winter demand.

ASAP's Local Food Guide: www.appalachiangrown.org

Second Spring Market Garden 4-season CSA: www.secondspringfarm.com

Listen in as we trace chevre back to the source, from grass to goat and milk to cheese.

Imagine a place where farmers and buyers join forces. Relationships are forged, connections are made, and a locally-sourced meal joins everyone together. This place is not a figment of our local food-loving imaginations. It happens right here every winter at ASAP’s Business of Farming conference.

Stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes peek into the conference.

Saturday, February 20, 2016, 8:30-5:00 p.m.

UNC Asheville in downtown Asheville, NC.

www.asapconnections.org

Last summer farmer Gabriel Noard, owner of Pangaea Plants, poured his heart and soul into a crop of watermelon on his 24-acre farm in Rutherford County, NC. Despite careful attention, weeds grew up around the watermelon and marred their skin.

Find out how ASAP helped Gabriel share his watermelon with local students.

Swain County, North Carolina has a “dream team” made up of three community leaders who work to bring local food into the lives of the county’s 14,000 residents.

A crowd of people line up on the street waiting for the doors to open. They huddle with neighbors and friends until the doors are unlocked and everyone rushes in. It’s not a movie premiere. It’s not even concert tickets that they’re after. These people are waiting for local food at the Asheville City Market.

Farmers markets went quiet for a few weeks after the holidays, but indoor winter markets are finally here. Piles of kale and towers of turnips are ready for the community to take home to their dinner tables. Though the range of produce is limited during the winter months, there are plenty of greens, root veggies, meat, eggs, and crafts for winter shoppers.

These markets are a gathering place for farmers and members of the community who might not otherwise see each other until spring. This past Saturday at the Asheville City Market and the YMCA Indoor Winter Market, the room echoed with vibrant conversations about everything from soil temperature to ways to cook mustard greens.

Winter markets are going strong throughout Western North Carolina. Spruce Pine in Mitchell County has an indoor market the first Saturday of the month at Dry County Brewing Company. Boone keeps its winter market running on the first and third Saturdays of the month at the Agricultural Conference Center. And a few of the regular vendors from the Transylvania Farmers Market sell on Saturday mornings in on East Main street in Brevard.

Does your community have a winter market? ASAP keeps a running list of markets throughout the region in its Local Food Guide, and weekly updates on what’s fresh at the market at www.fromhere.org

What can we do to support food and farms? Here are five ways to join the local food movement:

1. Buying directly from farmers makes a big difference. Farmers markets are a great place to get to know the people who grow our food and to support their efforts. Winter markets start back up in early January throughout the region, making this an ideal time to connect with local farmers each week.

2. Visiting farms is a tangible way to participate in the local food system. Farm tours, pick-your -owns and other on-farm opportunities let people see local farms in action and better understand what it takes to bring farm-fresh foods to the table.

3. Buying local food at grocery stores and restaurants lets them know that there is demand for food grown locally. If you’re not sure whether produce or farm products are local, just ask! Speaking up encourages food buyers to stock more local foods.

4. Talking to public officials, neighbors, friends, and family about why you care about local food helps build a community of supporters. Forming a network of people who value locally-grown food helps build the local food system from the ground up.

5. This is also a great time of year to consider joining a CSA - so keep an eye out for Community Supported Agriculture sign-ups this spring.

ASAP has a wealth of resources about how to support local food and farms at www.asapconnections.org

What does it mean when we say “local?" Local food can be measured in many ways, but the number of miles that food has traveled to get from farm to plate reveals a lot.

When a tomato is shipped thousands of miles from California to North Carolina, it not only loses flavor, it also takes local farmers out of the equation - and that has an impact on the local food economy.

One way to help build healthy local food systems is to choose farm products grown close to home. Buying food that is part of the local food economy instead of the global food economy generally reduces the carbon emissions it takes to transport and refrigerate food as it travels across the globe. Buying local is an important way to invest in local food systems, but how can you tell how far food has traveled to get here?

Food labels help consumers understand the origin of what they eat. Appalachian Grown is a regional branding project started by ASAP that certifies produce and food products that come from the Southern Appalachians. The distinctive green logo helps people identify food that is grown locally so they can make informed decisions about supporting the region’s food systems.

Appalachian Grown labels can be seen at farmers markets, on grocery store shelves, and in local restaurants. A wide range of farm-fresh foods can be certified Appalachian Grown, as well as value-added products like honey and jam. More than 700 farms and 400 businesses participate in the program each year.

ASAP has information about how Appalachian Grown works and why food labeling projects make a difference at www.ASAPConnections.org