March 2016 -- NC Growing Together and NC Cooperative Extension have released a new guide entitled Selling Fluid Milk to Grocery Stores through Direct Store Delivery. The guide is intended for small to medium-scale North Carolina fluid milk producer-processors who are interested in expanding their markets to grocery stores. The publication includes information on what producers [...]
March 2016 -- NC Growing Together and partner NC Choices are collaborating on a series of upcoming events and tools for pasture-based meat producers and businesses. Funded by USDA Rural Development, the NCGT/NC Choices' Meat Quality Project is developing a software interface that allows meat processor Acre Station Meat Farm to collect meat quality data for [...]
March 2016 -- NC Growing Together partner Pate Dawson-Southern Foods (PDSF) is helping to move more local fish and shellfish in North Carolina. As featured previously in the NCGT News, PDSF Director of Marketing Joel Sullivan met Valee Taylor, co-owner of Cedar Grove-based Taylor Fish Farm, at the 2015 NCGT Annual Meeting. The two quickly [...]
Cliff Pilson of CV Pilson Farms talks with Chris Woodring, Senior VP of FreshPoint, Raleigh. February 2016 -- On February 24, NC Growing Together hosted more than fifty farmers, fishermen, ranchers, food processors, wholesalers, retailers, and extension educators for its fourth annual meeting, held at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. [...]
February 2016 -- NCGT will be sponsoring several educational workshops and events in March and April: March 30, 2016 | Adding Value to Local Food | WEBINAR April 4,6,7, 2016 | Postharvest Handling for Improved Shelf Life Workshops | Durham, Henderson, and Rowan Counties April 11, 2016 | Good Agricultural Practices One-Day Workshop: Navigating the [...]
February 2016 -- NCGT Partner Piedmont Grown is a certification program that identifies and promotes farm products that are grown, raised, and made in North Carolina's 37-county Piedmont Region. Their label identifies local agricultural products and helps consumers make informed buying choices that benefit local farms and our local economy. NCGT is sponsoring Piedmont Grown's [...]
January 2016 -- Lowes Foods is bolstering its commitment to buying local by seeking local value-added products for its stores. Says Krista Morgan, Lowes Foods Locally Grown Accounts Representative and Liaison to NCGT, "we'd like to find canned or packaged goods such as sauces, jams, relish, dressings, etc. that are produced with all NC-grown ingredients, [...]
January 2016 -- NC Growing Together and project partner Supply Chain Resource Cooperative at NC State University's Poole College of Management are sponsoring MBA students to investigate supply chain issues across the local-to-mainstream food supply chain. Last fall, a team of four students - Jazmine Davis, James Hollifield, Kaitlyn Sutton, and 2016 NCGT Supply [...]
January 2016 -- Produce Distributor Merchants Distributors LLC (MDI), Lowes Foods' sister company, is buying more local produce from small and mid-scale producers through local food cooperatives and aggregators. "It's a win-win," says Tony Ciluffo, Produce Buyer for MDI. "MDI is committed to supporting local farmers and local communities. It's good business - customers want [...]
Fresh Produce GAPs Workshop. Photo by Diane Ducharme. November/December 2015 -- NC Growing Together is helping to advance fresh produce food safety work statewide. Working in partnership with North Carolina State University, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, NC Cooperative County Centers, and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, NCGT has been sponsoring Fresh Produce [...]
