COVID-19 – Center for Environmental Farming Systems

RISE Interns Support NC Producers, Food Hubs, and Fisheries during COVID-19

Janie Hynson — Sat, 29 May 2021 01:00:12 +0000

The Remote Internship to Support Enterprises (RISE) for Local Foods was developed by the North Carolina Local Food Council (NCLFC) primarily to address challenges to food systems resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This internship paired seven North Carolina university students with various host sites across the state. Over the course of the RISE program, these paid student interns worked remotely to provide direct support to North Carolina producers, food hubs, and fisheries.

The 2021 RISE interns were:

Liz Campbell

UNC – Chapel Hill (Class of ‘21)

Carrboro Farmers Market

With the Carrboro Farmers Market, Liz helped various vendors (and the market itself), develop and maintain an online presence through social media and newsletter outreach. Liz developed an extensive Instagram guide for vendors new to the platform that highlights how to create an account, use hashtags to increase visibility, and balance marketing with individual vendor personalities and stories. Through RISE, Liz learned time management, facilitation, and the logistics of organizing a program – all of which she hopes to use as a future project manager.

Learn more about her project.

Maggie Funkhouse, Carrboro Farmers Market: “Liz took on many different types of projects as needed and was a wonderful resource for the members of our Market, whether that was helping members with specific projects (for example, developing a customer newsletter for a farmer) or with general consulting for a farmer’s online presence. She also developed visual guides for our Market to help members in the future with digital marketing endeavors.”

Divya Lipscomb

NC State University (Class of Dec ‘21)

Grocers on Wheels/The Black Farmers Hub

A major part of Divya’s work with The Black Farmers Hub/Grocers on Wheels was in community outreach. Divya made consistent updates to their website, highlighting products, media appearances, and donations. In addition, she created and distributed newsletters, helping to integrate social media posts and product/event promotion targeted towards an increase in sales. Through this internship, Divya gained a broader understanding and appreciation for community food systems and the types of support and resources that local growers need.

Learn more about her project.

Divya Lipscomb’s reflection: “Throughout this internship I have learned so much about my community and my local food systems. I have a much better understanding of the level of support that local growers need…Going forward, I plan to continue working within my community, and the marketing knowledge that I gained during this internship will help me with that.”

Carlisle Poteat-Deblock

Appalachian State University (Class of ‘21)

Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture

In her work with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA), Carlisle focused a large portion of her time on the Double Up Food Bucks program for the High Country Food Hub, compiling data and developing/leading a fundraiser for the program. In addition, Carlisle spent time working on BRWIA’s Annual Impact Report, specifically focusing on the Double Up Food Bucks program and farmer testimonials. With the help of RISE, Carlisle feels more prepared to discuss and act within food systems work, which is something that she intends to continue doing.

Learn more about her project.

Carlisle Poteat-Deblock’s reflection: “Being a part of an internship that has been positively impacted by the pandemic in regards to sales and helping farmers, I can see how technology can truly bring people and communities together in a whole other way.”

Taylor Sweet

High Point University (Class of ‘22)

NCDA – Visit NC Farms App

Taylor’s time with the Visit NC Farms App began with interviewing and compiling an extensive list of NC seafood producers in order for them to be added to the app as assets. Taylor also helped promote NC strawberry producers for the 2021 strawberry season and created tutorial videos highlighting the use and administration of the Visit NC Farms App. With this internship, Taylor enjoyed learning about communication styles and leadership in the workplace.

Learn more about her project.

Victoria Patterson, Visit NC Farms App: “Our RISE Intern has helped us by jumping in and learning our software in order to help us manage our new asset accounts. She has also helped us add tools for our administrators through creating videos and tutorials. Taylor has been great at being a team player and helping with things as they come up!”

Aditya Vhanmane
NC State University (Class of ‘21)

Resourceful Communities

Aditya’s main project with Resourceful Communities was to support the development of an inter-food hub trading model. Through research, interviews, and his experience studying supply chain logistics, Aditya helped to visualize what trade between food hubs might realistically look like in the future. The RISE program gave Aditya a deeper understanding of local food systems, the complexities and challenges they face, and the resilience of NC producers.

Learn more about his project.

Olivia Percoco, Resourceful Communities: “Aditya helped our food hubs visualize the ways in which they could source from each other through a really useful map of the varying distances food hubs were willing to travel to buy/sell to each other.”

Sarah White

NC State University (Class of ‘23)

Greensboro Farmers Curb Market

In her time with the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market (GFCM), Sarah undertook research comparing various aggregator models for online platforms with the intention of helping GFCM increase presales for their numerous vendors. In addition, Sarah led presentations and created guides for vendors on tips for photography and the use/marketability of Instagram and Facebook. Through RISE, Sarah learned communication, research, and organizational skills while broadening her agricultural knowledge to include farms of smaller-scale.

Learn more about her project.

Angie Blomer, Greensboro Farmers Curb Market: The RISE for Local Foods program “was very critical for us during a time when our resources (time and hours) were minimized due to increased duties related to COVID-19 and less budget for support staff due to less income.”

Sienna Zuco

UNC – Chapel Hill (Class of Dec ‘20)

NC Sea Grant

Sienna’s work with NC Sea Grant centered around creating new websites for four NC seafood producers. By conducting research, compiling a list of existing web platforms, and interviewing clients to gauge needs/wants, Sienna was able to build unique websites that highlighted the stories, products, and personalities of the producers while engaging customers with design and integrated online sales capabilities. Through this internship, Sienna has learned web and graphic design skills and has a better understanding of how to promote local foods while supporting local producers.

Learn more about her project.

Barry Nash, NC Sea Grant: “RISE was hugely beneficial to my recipients, who are sharing their deliverables with friends, family and associates to the extent I’m still getting requests for website assistance. There is a strong, ongoing need for technology assistance among seafood products that another RISE effort can satisfy.”

Because the first pilot year was such a success and the demand for producers to have websites and presence on social media is only increasing, we are hoping to continue the RISE internship in future years and are currently looking for funding to continue the program.

Thirteen Local Education Agencies and Community Organizations Awarded N.C. Farm to Summer Rapid Response Funding

CEFS — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 14:35:53 +0000

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our communities and schools, the Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina (F2SCNC) and the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) recently awarded $26,000 in farm to summer rapid response funding to Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and Community Organization Sponsors operating N.C. Summer Nutrition Programs to feed children in need. The F2SCNC believes that farm to school (F2S) contributes to both the well-being of our kids and to community food security and seeks to support partners in meeting urgent needs and building farm to school capacity. Funds will support farm to summer efforts in 12 counties using grant funds through the Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation.

The funding is intended to support local food purchasing, infrastructure, promotion, and/or educational programming. Find more about the RFP here.

The following North Carolina LEAs and Community Organization Sponsors were awarded $2,000 each:

Alexander County Schools
Brigade Boys & Girls Club, New Hanover
Duplin County Schools
Durham Public Schools
Edgecombe County Public Schools
Halifax County Schools
Jackson County Schools
Macon County Schools
Nash Co Public Schools
Student U, Durham
Transylvania County Schools
Warren County Schools
Wilson Youth United – The SPOT, Wilson County

The Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina brings together a dedicated group of farm-to-school stakeholders in collaboration to expand and strengthen farm-to-school initiatives across the state. The Coalition is led by partner agencies and organizations including the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, N.C. Cooperative Extension, N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, N.C. Department of Public Instruction, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), FoodCorps North Carolina and the School Nutrition Association of North Carolina.

More information on the Coalition and the Farm to Summer Rapid Response Funding may be found on the Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina website!

Featured Publication – A Collaborative Approach to COVID-19 Response: The Center for Environmental Farming Systems Community-based Food System Initiatives

Janie Hynson — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 20:07:36 +0000

Many CEFS staff and faculty collaborated on a recent publication in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development: “A Collaborative Approach to COVID-19 Response: The Center for Environmental Farming Systems Community-based Food System Initiatives”.

Abstract:

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) has spent the past two decades developing local food systems to support communities and increase resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how existing structural inequities, primarily along racial lines, are exacerbated. It has also shown the value of community-based food systems work that helps communities network, sharing valuable resources and funding to respond to the ongoing crisis. In this article, we document how CEFS’ community-based food systems initiatives are responding to the pandemic. Some of CEFS programs are community-based, working with food policy councils, offering racial equity trainings, networking schools and early care and education sites, and supporting youth convenings and internships. Others are focused on production and supply chains for meat, seafood, and produce in order to develop stronger local food systems. Throughout the work of all of CEFS’ community-based food systems initiatives in response to the pandemic, we have learned that our past efforts have increased local food systems resilience. We also note the importance of flexible funders who allowed grant dollars to be reallocated to community partners to address urgent needs. We have found that online programming has increased participation and access to resources. Finally, we have been inspired by the creativity, flexibility, and adaptability of our community partners, and we are energized to continue to support them while also offering the resources we have developed to a broader audience.

Read the full article.

Eighteen Local Education Agencies Awarded Farm-to-School Rapid Response Funding

Marcello Cappellazzi — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 20:51:39 +0000

Eighteen local education agencies (LEAs) were recently awarded Farm-to-School Rapid Response funding by the Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina. The funding is intended to support urgent needs and long-term capacity building for local food purchasing for school meals and local food educational programming in ways that increase the skills, knowledge, and connection to local foods for children and their families.

The following North Carolina LEAs were awarded $4,000 each in Farm-to-School Rapid Response funding:

Alexander County Schools
Avery County Schools
Brunswick County Schools
Buncombe County Schools
Caldwell County Schools
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
Durham Public Schools
Franklin County Schools
Halifax County Schools
Jackson County Schools
Lenoir County Public Schools
Orange County Schools
Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools
Pender County Schools
Richmond County Schools
Rockingham County Schools
Transylvania County Schools
Yancey County Schools

The Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina acknowledges the financial, logistical, and equity challenges this pandemic has created or magnified and the tireless efforts of school nutrition professionals and educators to meet the nutritional and educational needs of our children during Coronavirus (COVID-19) related school closures. The Coalition is providing the funding, with support from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of North Carolina, to assist schools and school nutrition programs in building farm to school capacity, believing that farm to school is a valuable contribution to the health and well-being of our kids and our communities.

The Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina brings together a dedicated group of farm-to-school stakeholders in collaboration to expand and strengthen farm-to-school initiatives across the state. The Coalition is led by partner agencies and organizations including the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, N.C. Cooperative Extension, N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, N.C. Department of Public Instruction, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, FoodCorps North Carolina and the School Nutrition Association of North Carolina.

More information on the Coalition and the Farm-to-School Rapid Response Funding may be found on the Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina website.

Cherry Research Farm Update

Janie Hynson — Thu, 21 May 2020 19:42:36 +0000

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted operations at Cherry Research Farm in the following ways:

The station has been closed to visitors.
Research projects have required an approval process through the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and the Station Superintendent.
Project leaders and associated staff with approved projects have adapted to University and site-specific rules and guidelines to protect themselves and Station staff.
Routine animal care, field tasks, and approved projects have continued with precautions being taken to protect staff.

Overall, Cherry Research Farm has continued to be successful in carrying out the mission of the Research Stations Division: To manage crop and livestock facilities that serve as a platform for agriculture research to make farming more efficient, productive and profitable, while maintaining a sound environment and providing consumers with safe and affordable products.

Find more information and COVID-19 updates from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Farm to School Coalition of NC (F2SCNC) Rapid Response

Janie Hynson — Wed, 20 May 2020 20:36:01 +0000

The Farm to School Coalition of NC (F2SCNC) wants to honor the tireless dedication of both School Nutrition staff and Educators to meet the nutritional and educational needs of children during COVID-19 related school closures and acknowledge the financial, logistical, and equity challenges this pandemic has created or magnified. To support schools and School Nutrition Programs in building farm to school capacity, F2SCNC will offer up to 21 Local Education Agencies (LEAs) $4,000 in funding to support urgent need and long term capacity building for

local food purchasing for school meals or student connection to local food/farmers, and/or
local foods educational programming (gardens, cooking, other education efforts) in ways that increase the skills, knowledge, and connection to local foods for children and their families

This funding is open to North Carolina K-12 Local Education Agencies (LEAs), public school districts and charter schools, who participate in School Nutrition/Summer Nutrition Programs.

Read more about eligibility, selection criteria, the application process and timeline here.

Virtual Committee on Racial Equity in the Food System Discussions

Janie Hynson — Wed, 20 May 2020 15:37:04 +0000

The CEFS Committee on Racial Equity in the Food System (CORE) hosts “In-Between” discussions (now virtually) every 3rd Thursday from 9:30-11:30am.

“In-Betweens” were created as a follow-up to CORE racial equity trainings. Participants in the introductory training asked for ways to continue practicing the shared language developed during the training and deepen our collective analysis. So, CORE started meeting monthly to have a group reading and discussion session, featuring readings, video clips and other “story prompts” that intersect food and race, as a way to create a Community of Practice working towards racial equity.

The purpose of “In-Betweens” is to provide context and give participants practical examples of how to incorporate racial equity principles and action throughout our organizations and food systems work. An additional purpose of the “In-Betweens” is to create a collective space that allows us to practice utilizing our shared language and raise up examples of equity in action as models of how our efforts may be applied as it relates to our food system. We suggest that participants have completed an introductory level racial equity/anti-racism training prior to joining our session. For questions or to receive updates about the In-Between sessions join our CEFS Racial Equity Listserv, by contacting Shorlette at sammons2@ncsu.edu.

Find information about other upcoming racial equity trainings and resources on the CORE webpage.

Cooking at Home? Why Not Make Buying Local Your Priority?

Marcello Cappellazzi — Tue, 19 May 2020 19:26:51 +0000

Americans are gravitating to the familiar and the comfortable, as we cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing is more comforting than making family recipes and memories using ingredients sourced from local farms, fisheries and food businesses.

Aspiring and experienced cooks at home will find that North Carolina is a leader among states in cultivating local food. Our state’s food ways reflect our cultural and environmental heritage — from ingredients like creasy greens and ramps in the mountains to soft-shelled crab and hush puppies on the coast. North Carolina’s food specialties have become standard in farm-to-table restaurants across the state.

Just because you’re cooking at home now doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the same great local ingredients — an assortment of seasonally available, locally grown and harvested meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables. There are many ways to connect to the local food supply, be it via farmer’s markets, local food stores, or direct sales off the farm.

To locate local suppliers, you can start by visiting the Got to Be NC Find Local. There, you can link to hundreds of local products and producers including locally made artisan products like cheese, agritourism farms, farmers markets, farm stands and growers/producers. The database, maintained by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, is searchable by county.

The Visit NC Farms App is an excellent resource for finding places to purchase from local growers. The app will connect you to farmer’s markets, pick-your-own operations, local foods shops and more. Not only that, but you’ll get directions on the spot.

Prior to the pandemic, most of North Carolina’s wild catch was sold in restaurants. Even though many restaurants are takeout-only establishments at the moment, North Carolina seafood consumers can still find fresh and fresh-frozen seafood in local supermarkets or in seafood retail outlets. To learn more about where to find North Carolina seafood in your community and how to store and prepare it, check the Mariner’s Menu.

If you’re missing the favorite meat dishes you had regularly ordered at your favorite restaurants, you’ll find local meat produced and processed in North Carolina at many of the state’s farmer’s markets. You can also connect to farmers providing local meats at MeatSuite.

Across the state, produce growers offer a variety of seasonal products. The NC 10% Campaign has calendars showing what is generally in season each month. There’s a link to connect you to food box delivery providers too. And if you don’t find a food box delivery service in your area, be sure to ask a local farm if they have added boxes as an on-farm option to meet increased demand.

North Carolina’s home cooks have one of the greatest bounties of local foods available anywhere, thanks to our state’s farms and fishermen. As we seek to focus on the familiar and create memories for our children, invite a North Carolina farmer or fisherman to dinner by sharing a family meal made with locally sourced ingredients.

Posted on behalf of the NC Local Food Council.

Telefarming at the Small Farm Unit

Marcello Cappellazzi — Wed, 13 May 2020 13:32:29 +0000

The need for social distancing measures has drastically changed operations at the Small Farm Unit, and at CEFS Field Research, Education, and Outreach Facility at Cherry Research Farm.

With more than 5,000 transplants in the greenhouse at the Small Farm Unit since February 2020, it became imperative to find solutions to maintain essential operations to not lose the crop. Thanks to creative thinking and technological innovation, we were able to prepare the field and transplant many of the starters. We are thankful for having dedicated staff at CEFS Field Research, Education, and Outreach Facility at Cherry Research Farm!

Read more about how the Small Farm Unit adapted their procedures here.

Preschool’s Farm & Food Partnerships Keep Kids Eating Local

Marcello Cappellazzi — Mon, 11 May 2020 19:08:20 +0000

NC Farm to Early Care and Education, a Center for Environmental Farming Systems initiative, is proud to work with Sonflower Seeds Christian Pre-School and Learning Center LLC and other early childhood facilities to purchase local food and provide children with experiential learning around local food.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sonflower Seeds, in Silk Hope, North Carolina, has continued caring for children of paramedics, police and other essential workers. And thanks to years of partnership building with local farmers, the preschool is still serving local food five days a week.

Read our guest blog post for the National Farm to School Network.