ASAP Connections

Love local? We know you do. When you support ASAP—with your time or your resources—you help strengthen local food systems across the region and support our ability to share what we’ve learned with other communities across the nation.

For more than 20 years, ASAP has helped local farms thrive, linked farmers to markets and supporters, and built healthy communities through connections to local food.

Make a donation or volunteer today. Thank you from the bottom of our heart!

Business of Farming Conference

Saturday, February 23, AB Tech Conference Center, Asheville, NC. Online registration closes on Friday, February 22 at 5 pm. See a full schedule.

Spend the day learning and networking with farmers from across the region and gain tools for improving your farm business. The conference features business and marketing workshops led by regional professionals and innovative farmers, a Grower-Buyer Meeting, individual consulting, Farmers Market Summit, exhibitor hall, and locally sourced breakfast and lunch. The Business of Farming Conference is for beginning and established farmers, and those seriously considering farming as a profession. Learn more about the conference.

Register Today

ASAP’s CSA Fairs

Asheville CSA Fair
Thursday, March 14, 3-6 pm, New Belgium Brewing

Boone CSA Fair
March 21, 4-7 pm, Appalachian Mountain Brewery

Meet area CSA farmers and learn about receiving a weekly box of fresh farm products. Sign up for a CSA program on the spot or just come to learn more about Community Supported Agriculture. These family-friendly events are FREE and open to the public.

ASAP’s Local Food Research Center has a new report: 2018 Appalachian Grown Producer Report. This report contains the findings from our annual survey of Appalachian Grown farmers used to assess the impact of the Appalachian Grown program and ASAP’s support.

ASAP is on the air! Growing Local is ASAP’s weekly radio series that airs on WNCW on Mondays during Morning Edition at 8:45 am. Growing Local Radio comes from ASAP’s Local Food Research Center, and features stories about local food and farms in the Southern Appalachians. We began the series in November 2015 and have more than 150 episodes to date.

If you miss an episode on the radio, or want to tune in to past episodes, you can follow our SoundCloud page, where they’ll be posted each week, or go to Growing Local on iTunes. All past episodes are also available on our website. Follow ASAP on Facebook and Twitter to receive weekly links to new episodes.

Your go-to resource for finding local food in the Southern Appalachian Mountains! ASAP’s Local Food Guide is a free directory of local food and family farms in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Use the guide to find farms, farmers markets, wineries, grocery stores, restaurants, caterers and bakers, farm stands, farms to visit, B&Bs, U-picks, CSAs, and much more. Look for our 2019 guide at a business near you in April.

Pick up a printed copy at a local businesses or welcome center, or use our online searchable guide at appalachiangrown.org. For businesses looking to connect with farms, use our Wholesale Local Food Guide to find local products for your business or restaurant.

Our online guide provides user-friendly search functions including: Geographic Location, Product, Farm Features, Growing Practices, Payment Methods, Business Name, and Searchable Key Words.