Dear CEFS Supporter,
The Center for Environmental Farming Systems is committed to developing local food and farming systems that support North Carolina’s farmers and rural economies, reduce food insecurity, improve access to healthy food, and serve the public good. As you can see in our annual report below, the CEFS team has been living this work in partnership with individuals and organizations across our great state, understanding that the work we do now is critical for our present as well as for our future.
Join us in this important work. Donate securely online now at go.ncsu.edu/friendsofcefs. CEFS is a partnership of North Carolina State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Our fundraising initiatives operate under the auspices of the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization (Tax ID# 56-6049304). You will receive an official receipt for your donation.
A More Sustainable Agriculture
CEFS’ Field Research and Outreach Facility at the 2000-acre Cherry Farm in Goldsboro, NC is “home base” for our sustainable agriculture research and demonstration projects. Our Pasture-Based Beef and Dairy Units are important resources for livestock producers interested in the environmental and animal welfare benefits of pasture-based systems. They are also home to Amazing Grazing, a pasture-based livestock educational program which this year organized 27 workshops, seminars and other events with more than 1,700 participants.
Our 28-acre Agroforestry Project is a unique living laboratory to study silvopasture, the combination of agriculture and forestry. Some agricultural lands that are considered marginal for crop production may be ideally suited for silvopasture. The combination of timber harvests and livestock production represents an important economic opportunity for producers.
At the Small Farm Unit, we are conducting an Enterprise Budget Study that is tracking all expenses and projected profits for ¼ acre of fall mixed vegetables. Conducted with the N.C. A&T University Farm and two small farmers in Eastern NC, the results will be analyzed and made available with the goal of helping small-scale diversified farmers make well-informed financial decisions for their operations.
Growing Young Leaders
Seeds of hope are planted when children dig in the earth. We see children’s faces shine with wonder and excitement as they tend their school gardens – and amazement when they eat their harvest in their school cafeterias and discover that they like it! FoodCorps North Carolina, which CEFS co-hosts with NC 4-H, is working in 9 communities across the state to address the epidemic of nutrition-related diseases through nutrition education, school garden engagement, and increasing access to healthy, local foods through building local farm-to-cafeteria pathways.
We are inspired by the teenagers and young adults in our Food Youth Initiative (FYI), who are all doing amazing food justice work in their own communities. This summer FYI hosted Rooted in Community, a national youth leadership summit that brought 140 youth and adult leaders from all over the country to Greensboro for five days of workshops, field trips, and a day of action around climate change education.
Building Academic and Career Ladder Opportunities
CEFS supports the next generation of academic researchers, scholars and leaders in sustainable agriculture and local food systems by offering a Graduate Fellowship Program for Master’s and Doctoral students at both NC State and N.C. A&T. This past October, NC State Ph.D. Fellows traveled to Washington DC to learn firsthand about the importance of translating their research to policy makers in the nation’s capital.
In 2017, CEFS’ Sustainable Agriculture Internship and Apprenticeship Programs welcomed 15 students from all over the country (and two students from Croatia!) to North Carolina for hands-on, immersive learning in sustainable agriculture. Interns and apprentices learn about sustainable agriculture research and practices – developing skills, knowledge, and connections that help them successfully navigate their career path.
NC Growing Together hosted sixteen Local Food Supply Chain Apprentices, who spent their summer working for the businesses, organizations, and agencies that are working to change North Carolina’s food system.
Eight Local Food Ambassadors sponsored by the NC 10% Campaign and NC Cooperative Extension promoted local foods at five Historically Black or American Indian public universities, learning new skills, building professional connections, and developing leadership along the way.
Promoting Equity in the Food System
Food system inequities disproportionately affect low-income people, communities of color, and children. CEFS’ Committee on Racial Equity in the Food System (CORE) illuminates these inequities and examines the role of institutions in perpetuating – and potentially, dismantling – them. In 2017, CORE provided racial equity training to over 50 people from CEFS and nearly 20 partner organizations.
Building Food System Networks
It gives us hope to know that we are building a strong grassroots network of local food councils through the CEFS-led Community Food Strategies initiative. From 2 in 2010 to more than 30 in 2017, North Carolina now has the second-highest number of food councils in the country. Later this month, more than 150 people from 30 food councils and the NC Local Food Council will gather for the Statewide Food Council Gathering to share strategies, expand skills, and advance regional collaboration.
Supply Chain and Business Development
More has to be done to revitalize our state’s rural communities, where hope can be scarce. NC Growing Together (NCGT) is helping to rebuild and reconnect local food supply chains in North Carolina to grow our local food economy. In 2017, NCGT organized more than 25 workshops, webinars, and training sessions that were attended by more than 750 people. NCGT’s good work was recognized with the 2017 Cooperative Extension Program Team Award for North Carolina.
Local Food Economies (LFE), a project of NCGT, engages local governments in the work of building local food systems. In 2017, LFE and the NC 10% Campaign organized three Innovations in Economic Development gatherings to showcase investments that local and regional governments can make to support small and mid-scale food and farming businesses. These events were attended by officials from over 46 local, regional, and state government agencies in 89 of North Carolina’s 100 counties.
LFE’s outreach has helped bring food and farm business development to the economic development agendas of North Carolina’s county and municipal governments. Nine of the sixteen regional Councils of Government now include agricultural economic development as a goal of their comprehensive plans.
NC Choices is helping to build the pastured meat industry in North Carolina. NC Choices supports this growth with educational and networking opportunities including the nation’s largest gathering of pastured meat-makers, the Carolina Meat Conference, which in 2017 welcomed nearly 400 farmers, processors, butchers, chefs, retailers, and Cooperative Extension staff to downtown Winston-Salem.
CEFS’ Supply Chain work also includes University Food Systems (UFOODS), which networks universities with their local food communities specifically to increase local foods on campus. At the other end of the educational spectrum, the CEFS-led NC Farm to Early Care and Education initiative is working with nine county-based teams to increase local foods in childcare centers.
Tackling Food Waste
We know that reducing food waste throughout the supply chain will make our food system more sustainable, can help reduce hunger, and will increase farmers’ bottom line. Our new initiative, Whole Farm Harvest, applies innovative interdisciplinary research to understand the forces that lead to vegetable losses in the field and is developing new ways of increasing the recovery of unharvested crops.
Public and Consumer Outreach
Our hopeful message resonates with consumers and the public. The NC 10% Campaign, which encourages all North Carolinians to commit 10% of their food budget to local foods, now counts over 8,050 people and 1,150 businesses as members, and is tracking over $70.8 million in local food purchases since 2010.
Hope was nowhere more evident than in our weekend-long celebration of local foods and the people who grow and prepare them, the Farm to Fork Picnic Weekend. Nearly 1000 people joined us over the course of three amazing events to support beginning farmer programs. The picnic featured 35 chef and farmer pairings, 15 food artisans, and 16 beverage providers offering the most delicious creations imaginable.
We were honored to welcome culinary historian Michael Twitty as our special guest speaker, and equally honored to present our second annual Local Food Heroes awards to four North Carolina farmers who are making a difference for our young people through their efforts to sell produce to local schools and childcare centers. It is because of them, and all of you, that we do what we do.
We hope that reading about all we’ve accomplished this year will inspire you to join us through your investment in CEFS today.
With warm wishes for a healthy and happy holiday season,
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| Jennifer Zuckerman Chair, CEFS Board of Advisors |
Dr. Nancy Creamer Co-Director, CEFS |
Dr. Chyi Lyi (Kathleen) Liang Co-Director, CEFS |
