July 2015 — Located near her family’s farm in Fayetteville, Shirlee has been working with the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension as they support local farmers in their community.
In particular, Shirlee has been instrumental in working on some important projects for the Cumberland CES, such as the Fayetteville Farmers Market. Throughout the summer, Shirlee has been promoting the market through various media formats, reaching out to farmers to get them involved, and attaining non-profit status for the market. In addition to working with the Farmers Market, Shirlee has also helped to develop a list of local farmers and their products, which can be easily distributed throughout the county.
Shirlee has used her experiences with her family’s local farm to reach out to small and mid-sized farmers, as well as the local community, in order to grow the Farmers Market.
Shirlee also had the opportunity to attend an NCGT produce development meeting at partner-company Foster-Caviness during her apprenticeship, and was excited to hear about the company’s planned efforts to work with mid-scale growers as part of the Greener Fields Together program.
Regarding her experiences, Shirlee says “Doing this [NCGT apprenticeship] has really made me want to go out and help all farmers, not just my dad, not just the people who I know…I just want to help all small farmers get on the map to produce, so people can buy local.” She plans to work towards this goal by studying agribusiness at NC State University.
This article originally appeared in the July 2015 NC Growing Together Newsletter.