In ASAP’s mission to support Southern Appalachian farms and build a local food system, we developed the Appalachian Grown (AG) branding program in 2007 with the goal of expanding local market opportunities for farmers by providing a way for the public to easily identify products from local farms. We send a survey to all AG … Read more
In October of 2020, a survey was shared with farmers markets participating in ASAP’s Double SNAP program to assess the impact and gather feedback. The Double SNAP program doubles the value of a shopper’s SNAP benefits used at market. The survey was open for six weeks and collected 113 responses from market managers, vendors, and … Read more
In ASAP’s mission to support Southern Appalachian farms and build a local food system, we developed the Appalachian Grown (AG) branding program in 2007 with the goal of expanding local market opportunities for farmers by providing a way for the public to easily identify products from local farms. We send a survey to all AG … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of restaurants, schools, events, and in some places, disruption of farmers markets, is having an immediate and potentially devastating impact on farmers and vendors selling to local markets in the Southern Appalachians. In order to better understand these experiences and how to best support these farm and food businesses, … Read more
ASAP’s Local Food Research Center completed a Food and Farm Assessment in the seven western counties of North Carolina and on the Qualla Boundary to guide the work of the EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems Project in November 2019. Learn more about the project here.
In ASAP’s mission to support Southern Appalachian farms and build a local food system, we developed the Appalachian Grown (AG) branding program in 2007 with the goal of expanding local market opportunities for farmers by providing a way for the public to easily identify products from local farms. We send a survey to all AG … Read more
This report presents the findings from an analysis of primary data from the Local Food Guide exploring changes in the growing practices of farmers producing food for local markets in Western North Carolina from 2008 to 2016. Overall, the findings show that every production practice listed in the Guide grew but with notable differences between … Read more
In ASAP’s mission to support Southern Appalachian farms and build a local food system, we developed the Appalachian Grown (AG) branding program in 2007 with the goal of expanding local market opportunities for farmers by providing a way for the public to easily identify products from local farms. We send a survey to all AG … Read more
This report presents an analysis of Census of Agriculture data, assessing changes to farming in Western North Carolina in relation to the “tobacco buyout” and an effort to build a localized food economy. Anticipating the economic and cultural impacts the loss of tobacco would have on communities, a local food campaign was launched to provide … Read more
This report presents the findings of a study that examined the interactions farmers and consumers are having at farmers markets in Western North Carolina on the topic of farmer growing methods. Overall, findings show that farmers markets are places where shoppers expect to find sustainably grown food. Results also point to the larger role of … Read more