Our region is rich in farm-fresh food. Farmers markets, artisan producers, and small family farms dot the landscape throughout the Southern Appalachians. Here at ASAP, we often hear from people who want to incorporate local food and farms into their lives and need ideas of where to start.
Each year ASAP produces a Local Food Guide to help the community discover the freshest food around. The new Local Food Guide just hit the shelves, and is full of farms, markets, and restaurants that celebrate local food. Read about the people who are changing the food system: parents who bring their kids to farmers markets, chefs who work with local farms, and community leaders who help make local food more accessible.
The guide is a practical way to connect with local farm producers. It also documents the growth of the local food movement here. When ASAP published its first guide in 2002, there were just 36 farms listed in the Local Food Guide. There are a whopping 815 in the online guide today.
More than 70,000 Local Food Guides are now available in counties across the region: at grocery stores, libraries, restaurants, and chambers of commerce. The cover features sweet onions and brightly colored peppers grown by Aardvark Farm in Yancey County, North Carolina. Look for special sections on CSAs, farm stands, and U-Pick family farms.
The online Local Food Guide is easy to use and features more than 1,000 listings. Find out where to pick up a paper guide or search the online guide anytime at www.appalachiangrown.org
Aired 4/18/16