Dr. Norman Wirzba, a Research Professor of Theology, Ecology, and Rural Life at Duke University Divinity School and a Research Professor at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, joined the CEFS Board of Advisors in 2011. Dr. Wirzba grew up farming a mixed hay and grain operation in southern Alberta. He says, [...]
SWARM, the CEFS-supported youth food activist group based in Goldsboro, was recently invited by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina to present at a youth empowerment event of the Clinton Global Initiative. As part of the program moderated by Chelsea Clinton, SWARMer Zion Culley, along with two youth from MGR Foundation in Pittsburgh [...]
Farmhand Foods, a CEFS-incubated business that aggregates, distributes, and markets high-quality, locally-raised, pasture-based beef and pork products from a network of 30+ livestock producers, has been selected as a "Study Hub" by the Wallace Center at Winrock International. The US Department of Agriculture defines a food hub as a business or organization that connects producers [...]
Interested in farming but don't know where to dig in, so to speak? You're not alone. Access to land has been identified as one of the top challenges facing new farmers in North Carolina. CEFS' Incubator Farm Project addresses this challenge by working with local communities to repurpose public land into incubator farms -- training [...]
Register now for NC Choices' 2nd Annual Carolina Meat Conference, December 3 & 4 in Bermuda Run, NC. Join a diverse group of professionals within the local and niche meat industry for two days of panel discussions, workshops, networking and demonstrations! Topics include cured meats in retail and foodservice, efficiency in small plants, regulatory issues, [...]
Greetings from CEFS! It's the middle of summer and yes, it's hot. According to a recent article by Bill McKibbon published in Rolling Stone: "June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the United States. That followed the warmest May on record for the Northern Hemisphere - the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature [...]
The adage "health is wealth" is proving true for a host of North Carolina cities and counties. As the costs of treating nutrition-related diseases like obesity rise (estimated to be $147 billion in 2008) and the disease-fighting benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables are proven, municipalities from the mountains to the coast are making [...]
North Carolina's Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council - one of the "game changer" initiatives that emerged from CEFS' statewide Farm to Fork process - is a legislated body that was formed in 2009 to build on the Farm to Fork momentum and facilitate opportunities to develop local food markets and to address barriers and opportunities [...]
* "Goodbye" in Croatian The 2012 Summer Sustainable Agriculture Internship Program has officially drawn to a close. This year's group of 16 students hailed from North Carolina, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Michigan, as well as from Croatia and Honduras. They were one of our very best groups and it was difficult [...]
Figure 1 The horn fly is the southern US' most serious cattle pest. This small biting fly takes about 10 to 12 bloodmeals per day; blood loss can be significant because infested cattle may carry several hundred to thousands of flies. Traditionally, cattle producers have relied upon insecticides to control these flies. However, fly [...]
