![tobacco drying in the barn, photo by Sara Jones Decker](https://asapconnections.org/wp-content/uploads/Sjones_red_tobacco_barn_3-scaled.jpg)
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 farmers with alternatives.