Works Cited Allegretto, Sylvia, Marc Doussard, Dave Graham-squire, Ken Jacobs, Dan Thompson, and Jeremy Thompson. “Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-wage Jobs in the Fast-food Industry”. UC Berkeley Labor Center, 2013. http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/publiccosts/fast_food_poverty_wages.pdf. Ferrer, MCR, and EG Fonsah. “Local Food Impacts on Health and Nutrition.” Meeting, July 24-26. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Georgia, … Read more
In 2000, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) began a local food initiative in the Southern Appalachian region of Western North Carolina (WNC). The Local Food Campaign was designed to engage the public with local farms, create demand for locally grown food, and build market capacity for local product. ASAP’s Local Food Campaign was one of … Read more
Historically, farming in WNC has been heavily dependent on single-crop industries like Burley tobacco, apples, and Christmas trees. Over the second half of the twentieth century, as the agricultural industry centralized and consolidated, the region lost much of its infrastructure and capital investment for processing and distributing these key products, as well as federal support. … Read more
As a community, how can we remove the systematic and systemic practices that perpetuate poverty and reduce food system equity? There is no single solution; however, a number of organizations in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties devote themselves to tackling the underlying causes of inequity and provide assistance to tens of thousands of … Read more
For over two decades, Mountain BizWorks has helped small business owners in WNC. As a nonprofit community development financial institution, Mountain BizWorks provides training, coaching, and financing to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. This includes family farms and food business entrepreneurs, both of whom are important to the small business community and economic development … Read more
The tagline of Asheville-based grocery store Katuah Market says it all: “Local By Nature.” A locally owned and community-oriented natural food store in Biltmore Village, Katuah Market has a mission to promote local farms and the food they produce, as well as other locally made items. The store’s commitment to the local community can be … Read more
From the very beginning, ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) has undertaken its work from the perspective that building local food systems should be a democratic, grassroots process where engaged citizens actively create the food system that best serves everyone in the community. While the infrastructure of food production, processing, delivery, preparation, sale, consumption, and disposal … Read more
Farm to school is a set of educational activities that includes school gardens, local food cooking classes and demonstrations, farm field trips, and the serving of local food in school cafeterias. Farm to school helps keep local farms in business with additional market opportunities. Incorporating local products into school meals also helps keep dollars in … Read more
One farm family working to sustain farmland and feed our WNC communities are the Stepps of Stepp’s Plants. Stepp’s is a third-generation farm in Flat Rock (Henderson County). They grow and sell bedding plants, vegetable plants, hanging baskets, roses, shrubs, and fresh asparagus in the spring. During the summer and fall, they grow raspberries, blackberries, … Read more
The hospitality and tourism industry, much like the agricultural industry, has been and continues to be a prominent economic force in WNC. The region is home to the two most visited national parks (the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and North Carolina sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway) and the two most visited forests in … Read more