Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), and Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) are partnering with the Centralina Council of Governments and the Catawba Regional Council of Governments to support CONNECT Our Future, a three-year initiative funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program. The CONNECT Our Future project aims to promote regional economic development, including the local and regional food system, in order to grow jobs, strengthen the economy, and improve quality of life in the Charlotte region.
Over the course of the next year, ASAP, CEFS, and CFSA will work collaboratively with community members, public and private partners, and non-profit organizations to conduct a regional food system assessment, develop an action plan for food system work, and foster the development of food policy councils in the Charlotte region. For this project, ASAP, CEFS, and CFSA will engage communities across a 14-county bi-state region including Anson, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly, and Union counties in North Carolina; Chester, Lancaster, Union, and York counties in South Carolina; and the Catawba Indian Nation.
We are looking for people to participate in public meetings and join the dialogue about the future of food in the Charlotte metropolitan area. If you live within the project region and are interested in helping to guide the growth of food and farming in your community, please contact Jared Cates at jared@carolinafarmstewards.org to join the conversation!
From the September 2013 E-Newsletter