Food & Farm Stories

  • Lucy Wetzel

    Lucy Wetzel

    Lucy Wetzel (pictured on the right) and her two-year-old son Wiley are avid farmers market goers, shopping at multiple markets per week. Lucy participates in both ASAP’s Double SNAP for Fruits and Vegetables program and Farm Fresh Produce Prescription. How has the Farm Fresh Produce Prescription made an impact on your life and household?  We…

  • William Yates

    William Yates

    William Yates is an AIG (Academically or Intellectually Gifted) teacher at Waynesville Middle School. He spent three weeks this summer embedded in ASAP’s programs as part of the 2024–25 Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership. The fellowship connects outstanding educators with mentors, creating opportunities and relationships to help students understand how STEM concepts apply in…

  • Dawn Jordan

    Dawn Jordan

    Dawn Jordan, on the left, is the Agricultural Economic Development Director for Polk County, which has coordinated the NC Foothills Farm Tour as well as homestead tours in the county for many years. This year, Polk County will instead be part of ASAP’s Farm Tour! (Look for announcement of farms and other cluster areas in…

  • The Liar’s Table: Connecting with Community

    The Liar’s Table: Connecting with Community

    “The farm is just something that we started doing as a hobby, something we wanted to do for ourselves—and it kind of grew into this bigger, wider thing we could share with the community,” says farmer Kaci Nidiffer, who co-owns The Liar’s Table in Elk Park, NC, with her husband, Amos. Back in 2010, when…

  • Tierra Fértil Coop: Creating Space

    Tierra Fértil Coop: Creating Space

    “Many Hispanics have a painful relationship with agriculture,” acknowledges Delia Jovel Dubón, co-founder of Tierra Fértil Coop in Henderson County. “A lot of effort has been put into production and profits, with less interest in the protection and care of humans and the environment. We have chosen to farm, but for many Hispanic people, it’s…

  • Jacqueline Smith

    Jacqueline Smith

    Jacqueline Smith is the market manager for Black Mountain Tailgate Market. The market participates in ASAP’s Double SNAP for Fruits and Vegetables and Farm Fresh Produce Prescription programs.   What are you most looking forward to this season at Black Mountain Tailgate Market? Vendors and regular customers, of course… and most definitely, the Children’s Programs. They…


Story Archive

The Appalachian Grown region is rich with local food and farm stories—from farmers, educators, chefs, community advocates, and many more. ASAP tries to share as many of these as possible, including in our annual Local Food Guide, in our newsletters, and on social media.

From 2015 to 2021, ASAP presented Growing Local Radio, a weekly broadcast on WNCW. Stories were based on research from ASAP’s Local Food Research Center. More than 200 audio stories and transcripts from Growing Local Radio are included in the archive below.

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Recent Stories

Lucy Wetzel August 21st, 2024 in Faces of Local

William Yates July 29th, 2024 in Faces of Local

Dawn Jordan June 27th, 2024 in Faces of Local

The Liar’s Table: Connecting with Community June 12th, 2024 in Local Food Guide

Tierra Fértil Coop: Creating Space June 4th, 2024 in Local Food Guide

Jacqueline Smith May 30th, 2024 in Faces of Local

Laura Torres May 29th, 2024 in Faces of Local

Wild East Farm: A Rough Draft That’s Working May 22nd, 2024 in Local Food Guide

Holly Kolarova April 23rd, 2024 in Faces of Local

Kiera Bulan March 28th, 2024 in Faces of Local


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