On November 8, 2025, we celebrated the amazing work and growth of our WNCStrong Youth Service Corps participants! We launched the WNCStrong Youth Service Corps to help western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene while preparing the next generation of leaders. High school students from Buncombe, Mitchell, and Yancey counties gained hands-on experience in [...]
To provide a snapshot of the importance of agriculture on the county level, the N.C. Cooperative Extension Local Food Program Team, NC State FarmLink, and the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) created an infographic for each county and each Council of Government region based on a comparison of 2017 and 2022 USDA Agriculture Census data.
Many faculty and staff affiliated with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) participated in the 2025 North Carolina Cooperative Extension Conference, held January 6-8 in Greensboro, NC.
The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) is grateful to announce a $50,000 donation from International Farming (I.F.) to support CEFS’ Boots on the Ground: NC Veteran Farmer Apprenticeship.
The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) is thrilled to announce the continuation of its groundbreaking project, EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems (EMFS), with a generous grant of $1.1M from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) as well as additional matching support from Dogwood Health Trust, WNC Bridge Foundation, NC State Cooperative Extension, and other regional community partners, for a total of $2 million.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded North Carolina State University a $200,000 grant to increase leadership and career opportunities in agricultural sciences for women and minority students enrolled in community colleges statewide.
The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) is thrilled to announce the continuation of its groundbreaking project, EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems (EMFS), with a generous grant of $1,186,409 from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and significant match from Dogwood Health Trust and WNC Bridge Foundation community partners as well as NC State Cooperative Extension.
As a part of Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina's "Student Wellness Project", three North Carolina students created the Teens Talk Wellness podcast earlier this year. The students created the podcast as an outlet to explore student wellness from a Farm to School perspective, highlighting issues surrounding nutrition, food justice and inclusivity, funding, and much more!
Follow the journey of three student anchors as they explore student wellness through the lens of farm to school, equity, outdoor education, School Nutrition, and so much more.
Meet Bevelyn Afor Ukah, our new Committee on Racial Equity in the Food System (CORE) Director for the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS)! In her new role, Ukah will be leading the CORE team, advancing CEFS’ racial equity goals, and evaluating impacts of these initiatives.
