August 2015 -- Shawn and Karen King are making big business out of tiny greens. The couple's company, MicroGreen King in Yadkin County, produces a variety of microgreens hydroponically, using only water, light and natural burlap fiber as a growing medium. They were ready to expand their business when they attended the NCGT/NC 10% Campaign [...]
August 2015 -- NC Growing Together has released a new report entitled How to Sell Shell Eggs into Grocery Stores through Direct Store Delivery. It is intended for small to medium-scale North Carolina egg producers who are interested in expanding their markets into North Carolina grocery stores. There is growing demand for locally-produced eggs in [...]
Tracy (right) with NC 10% Campaign Director Robyn Stout. July 2015 -- Situated in Raleigh, NC, Tracy has been working with the NC 10% Campaign. As their apprentice, Tracy has mostly focused on the education portion of the campaign, gathering information on existing resources which aim to teach consumers about sustainable, local [...]
July 2015 -- As the Lowes Foods supply chain apprentice, Gigi has examined employee training in order to identify more ways in which store employees can learn about local food and then educate their customers about it. In addition, she has contacted vendors for a Direct-Store-Delivery (DSD) order book, which will aid stores in ordering [...]
July 2015 -- This summer, Josie has been working with Feast Down East, also called the Southeastern North Carolina Food Systems Program, in Burgaw, NC. Josie has contributed to several different Feast Down East projects, including completing purchase orders, communicating with farmers, and accomplishing other day to day tasks. Much of her work has [...]
July 2015 -- Working with NC Choices, Kristen has learned a lot about local meat supply chains. Participating on many levels, Kristen has had the opportunity to help with a Women Working in the Meat Business seminar, conduct consumer surveys regarding label claims at local farmers markets, create documents to help farmers sell their meat [...]
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 [...]
July 2015 -- As the apprentice for TRACTOR (Toe River Aggregation Center Training Organization Regional Inc.), Erin has enjoyed working with the food hub community as they seek to support and educate farmers regarding how to get their produce into local grocery stores and also stimulate the local economy through partnerships with local businesses. This summer, Erin [...]
July 2015 -- As the apprentice for Firsthand Foods, Eva has participated in several projects aimed at connecting small, pasture-based meat farmers to local markets. In particular, Eva has worked on two main projects, the first of which is creating a case study documenting the relationship between Firsthand Foods and Carolina Dining Services, which will be [...]
Photo by Debbie Roos. June 2015 -- NC Growing Together has released a baseline survey on North Carolina's growing farmstead creamery industry. A "farmstead" creamery, by definition, is one that manufactures on-farm, value-added dairy products made exclusively with milk from that farm. The survey summarizes data on 13 goat creameries and 10 cow [...]
