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Greenville meeting

Dec 15th, 1:30-4:30pm, 46 in attendance
St. Timothy’s, 107 Louis St., Greenville, Phone: (252) 355-2125

What are the inhibitors & facilitators for a local, sustainable food system?

Inhibitors/Problems

Lack of:

  • Government / community support (2)
  • Ability to produce adequate supply of foods locally
  • Market / Outlets (4)
    • Lack of profitability
    • Need year-round
  • Processing, including for livestock (2)
    • This prevents waste
  • Land availability / farmland preservation (3)
    • Sold for development
    • Developers are not sensitive to need for greenspace
  • Storage capability
  • Interested / educated / cooperative farmers (3)
  • Interested youth
  • Aware consumers / education about buying local & its importance (3)
  • New programs to teach agricultural awareness / educators / educational programming (3)
  • Cooking facilities
  • Affordable & legal labor
  • Local distributors & brokers (3)
    • Gap in local distribution channels
    • Need supply chain management
  • Start up finances / funding from state & federal agencies (2)
  • Adequate water supplies

 

Challenges

  • Perishability of commodities
  • Lower prices offered by local grocery stores
  • Control by “Big Box” retailers
  • Federal regulations
  • Quotas / crop limits
  • Weather (2)
  • TV / Advertising of junk food
  • Fast food is more convenient
  • Belief that fruits & vegetables cost more
  • Expense of organic food
  • Access to local markets
  • Need for year round production

 

Opportunities/Facilitators

  • Local produce tastes better
  • Availability of land
  • PR (2)
    • Trend – people want local food now.
  • Room for expansion
  • Farm Days offered
  • Ag in the Classroom / School Curriculum (3)
    • ECU
  • Testimonies are available
  • Good markets are available locally (4)
    • Specialty markets, including CSAs
    • WIC Farmers Market
  • Mentors & educators (2)
  • Innovations in crops and technology
  • Education of farmers in storage/harvest/handling/packaging
  • Town & County & Regional efforts (2)
    • Multi-county efforts
    • Town workshops & short courses
  • Parks & Recreation programs
  • Farm to School Programs
  • Family Nutritional Councils
  • Value-Added processing
  • Grants & funding for alternative crops
  • Agricultural land use values for taxation

 

What are “game changer” big ideas? (These were “shout outs” during the meeting)

 

Agricultural Education — Incorporate agricultural education into every facet of our school system & educational curriculum; stop teaching to the test; teach for life.  Expand on SEEDS model.

 

More consistency across markets for what can be sold.

 

Land Availability–Make local land available to those who want to become farmers; Look at Burlington, VT example; the town bought land to facilitate local production and now there is a lot of the food is local as a consequence.

 

Comprehensive local land use planning-create farm land in trusts that are available to people who go through training program at community colleges, NCSU & other programs; training in wholesaling, food processing, & marketing but first focus on farming; City of Greenville would promote incubator businesses that would sell and buy locally.  Eventually become a part of a cooperative system that would include older mentors for younger farmers; clearinghouse for grant funding that would support graduates of the program to rent land to start their own farms; a portion of these funds would be sold in low-income areas to ensure access; need money & leadership to make it happen.

 

Taxes Incentives-local tax law needs to be changed to give agricultural tax breaks to farmers who promise to sell locally; allow 4 acre vegetable farms.

 

Youth / Social Marketing – based on “Bob the Builder,” create “John the Farmer,” to promote healthy food sources and choices to children.  Reach all generations this way because adults here it over and over again while their children and grandchildren listen.

 

Solutions/Ideas for Moving Forward

New Partnerships

Churches to establish food co-ops

Corporations to incorporate community gardens

Create a local “Chamber of Sustainability & Wellness” as a network for health, planning boards and private resources to promote local, sustainable food system, including agritourism.

Establish local food / sustainable agriculture extension agents in every county (2).

Create “NC Partners with Agriculture” as a tax exempt marketing and/or cooperative that is tax exempt.

Partnership with Meals on Wheels & Farmers Market Food Stamp programs to get food / produce out into the county (farmers still need to profit).

 

PR/Marketing

Use local outlets to educate & advertise activities, events, issues

Local media outlets

“Our State’ magazine

County government TV channels

Local newspapers

Televised local shopping tours

Use local businesses & organizations

                        Libraries

Government agencies

Chamber of Commerce

            Other: shopping carts, buses, cinema sliders, billboards

Focus on seasonal eating, long term benefits of local, sustainable food systems, including environmental, food safety & economics.

Tie these efforts to job development and “green” industry (2).

Teach adults how to cook again using fresh produce (3).

Teach people how to profit from your own backyard garden.

Focus on building community / engagement with local food/historic preservation.

Provide local food at all educational events (like CEFS fall festival).

Educate policy makers about importance of providing local markets to the community.

Establish ONE COMMON goal with multiple players & diversity.

“Food of the Month” program where people can buy subscriptions to local produce (a week’s worth of what is in season for a month/year for a certain price).  Delivered like milk used to be.

Reach out to landowners re: benefits of retaining land for farming.

Bolster “buy local’ programs such as Goodness Grows and other marketing programs by NCDA.

Health Departments to promote locally grown designation.

 

Marketing Research

Soy-based marketing; consider infrastructure of processing soyburgers, soy cheese & other products.

 

Local Label

Increased promotion of NC products / branding of NC products, including seafood to help farmers & fisherman tell their stories.

Education / Farm to School

Educational curriculum reform (6):

Incorporate environmental/nutritional/physical activity & health into curriculum for credit.

Children need opportunities for hands on experiences growing food; create classroom gardens; foster entrepreneurship with youth engagement in local food businesses.

Incorporate agricultural education into all facets of school.

Need to revitalize 4-H program; offer programs which address agricultural literacy into 4-H and Ag in the Classroom (2).

Get local foods into school lunches; highlight the goodness of locally grown food (2).

 

Policy/Regulatory

Greater representation of healthy options; petition corporate franchises.

Invest tobacco money in nutrition programs.

Require “green space” with each new development.

Funding & incentives to encourage local food purchasing

Tax incentives to sell to public institutions or incentives for public institutions to purchase local food

Insurance agencies required to consider full cost of producing conventional/organic foods.

Health care provided for food producers to help bring down prices of local, sustainable foods.

County tax incentives for selling products locally.

Change local tax laws to allow farms under 10 acres.

The state of NC to designate a portion of its income to stimulate a “farm to fork” economy.

More incentives to grow organic & sustainable produce.

 

Support for New & Transitioning Farms & Farmers

Incubator Farms – sustainability model.

Training & professional development for farmers (5)

special programs to train sustainable farmers and in particular in underserved populations.

training & development programs and include scholarships for local farmers to attend regional conferences (www.madmc.com is very good).

Mentoring programs.

Education & technical assistance to keep up with current technologies (e.g., GPS, computers, tax programs); provide grants for $ to coordinate volunteers that can help farmers in a “hands on” fashion.

Grant to create lending library for new innovative technologies (tractors).

Educate farmers about value of “value-added” products (e.g., pecans).

 

Food Access & Hunger

Enable food stamps to be used for produce

Gleaning programs to supply food banks

Fight Hunger initiatives via high quality food & healthy nutrition

Have Farmers Markets in low income areas (as well as upscale communities).

 

Direct Marketing

Make farmer’s markets more “consumer / family friendly.”

Create a Seniors’ Farmers Market.

Create consistent policies between farmers markets about selling meats & dairy.

 

Towns/ Counties / State

Have towns establish a place, with support & infrastructure, for farmers’ markets with easy access; consider using vacant buildings in downtown.

Government agencies need to share information and integrate planning efforts, including amongst planning, farming & forestry agencies.

Counties can give tax incentives to farmers who keep their products within the county.

Make land available to those wishing to produce their own food, including local land used to incubate local farmers producing food (2).

 

Community Gardens

Broad community involvement in support of community gardens with a wellness focus; tie into schools & educational gardens (3); 

Good models include SEEDS in Durham, Discover Agriculture at NCA&T.

 

Labor

Need organized labor system for supporting labor.

 

Infrastructure

Incubator/commercial kitchens publicaly run; merge with Industrial parks to focus on agricultural, including seafood, food processing.

Local brokers to buy & sell produce and other foods locally (within state).

Increase in-state processing facilities, including for seafood, beef (2).

Need better quality & consistency at local processing facilities.

Purchasing cooperatives needed that connect customers with producers.

 

Environment

“Growth for growth’s sake is the mentality of a cancer cell.  Growing farms that propagate current environmentally destructive agricultural practices will continue to degrade our environment.”


current efforts

Grow More Farms

Farmer’s Markets

1. Pitt County (on County home road)

2. Beafort County (on the waterfront)

Establish Sustainable Farm

Farmer’s Market

CSA

At Sandy Point, Chowan County

Sam Young, same@DPE.com

Developing more community gardens in Goldsboro

Farmland Preservation Efforts-Coastal Land Trust

Briley’s Produce

Joey Briley, Greenville

Pick your own corn, maze, etc

Form a partnership with farmers to keep their products here

-through grants

-better marketing skills

-make a good profit

Many people still have home gardens

Farmer to Farmer Mentor Program

Young and beginning farmers, David Jones, Keith Baldwin

Weeping radish

Great speaker

Great ideas

Great for education

Strong & Diverse

School system

Taste Explorer

Highlight fruit or vegetables each month and let students sample (Pitt County)

Farmer’s Market Nutrition Education Program

-cookbooks-sample

-guest chef

Contact: Jackie Suggs, Pitt County Health Dept

Raleigh State Farmer’s Market

N. Hills Market (Sat)

Little Willie Center has after school program in which children are being taught how to make their own garden.

Cooperative Extension effort to develop information for consumers, growers related to local foods.

www.theproducelady.com

Strong Environmental Justice Organization

North Carolina Environmental Justice Organization

Gary Grant-Contact

Pamlico-Tar River Foundation

www.ptrf.org

David.emmerling@ptrg.org

-Environmental Protection Agricultural for River Benefit

Blue Cross-Blue Shield of NC

Kid’s Café Programs

Active and functioning after school programs for low income children providing a hot meal rather than a snack.

For more information- j. Caprice Brown0Outreach Coalitions and Programs 919-868-3037

County Initiative To promote local seafood (general consumers, use in restaurants) of Carteret Co. called “Carteret catch”.

NC Sea Grant

Fresh catch literature for consumers

Info on seasonal availability of seafood “local catch literature”

Consumer Awareness Campaign on local and seasonal seafood (entire state) called “Local Catch” by NC Sea Grant

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Edenton-youth group does sweet potato glean

Tomatoes from test plot donated to local food bank

Scott Organic Farm

-sell at Farmer’s Market

-Sell at farm itself

-sell at local butcher’s market

-offer hayrides, pumpkin picking on property

Successful website, photo gallery, news release

Food Safety

Tourism Development Authority

Elizabeth City Government

Community of 100 all support our market

Hospitality Management Education, ECU

Center for Sustainable Tourism

Intergenerational Center

West Greenville

Strong Infrastructure

In local market by farmer

CEFS

R & D workshops, newsletter

Greene County processes sweet potatoes into puree for other food products

“Crazy Claws”

Prawn Farm (Walstonburg)

Will host a quick freeze line next summer

Food bank of Central and Eastern NC serving over 900 partner agencies-non-profit with their feeding programs-locally contact Christal Andrews, Outreach Coordinator-Greenville Branch @ 252-752-4996 ext. 2303

Green Market in Buxton

Joanne Thorme in Buxton

Trying to organize one with a small group

Lane Cedar Restaurant owned by Senator Marc Basnight; Does a great job of buying and selling local fish and seafood.

Small Farmer’s Market in Hatters Village in summer

Belinda Willis, Lee Robinson

To support entrepreneurial efforts by fisherman NC sea grant is conducting regional workshops in food processing, risk management and financial tools (funding Southern Regional Risk Management Education Center

TX through National Cooperative Ext.

State of NC Division of Marine Fisheries (Louis Daniel, Director)

Some money available to protect working waterfronts where fisherman unload BUT we need more of these public facilities


Goldsboro: Wayne Food Initiative

-Community gardens

-Farmer’s Market

-Youth Programs

-Community Food Assessments

NC Tourism Sustainability Inventory

Center for Sustainability Tourism

Alex Nour

Restaurant Identification Program

Center for Sustainable Tourism

Marketing Value Added products

NC Division of Tourism

Downtown Farmer’s Market, Elizabeth City

Perm Bureau-Young

Farmer/Rancher Program

PA Disaster Payments for farms with a farm serial #?

Crop Insurance

Which protects

Pitt County Farmer’s Market

Roadside markets

NCSU has a CALS Leadership Program which trains younger farm leaders

PSA has low interest loans for 1st time farmers

Cooperative Extension available to help farmers-all farmers current and new

Pasquotank Extension

Clearing the rules of serving local foods

ECU Center for Sustainable Tourism

Mentors of all levels of local agricultural support

Local restaurants support local farms

Tipsy Teapot

Starlight Café

Uptown Greenville

6th Street Lot-want a week-end Farmer’s Market

Organize farmer’s group to sell

Snow Hill Dairy

Greater Greenville Green Drinks

Greenville is 1 of over 400 cities worldwide participating in a monthly gathering of environmentally conscious citizens to learn, share ideas, etc.

There is an existing list serv-

www.greendrinks.org (search Greenville)

Community Garden (Truna)

Buy into space

Need to look into non-profit organization to sponsor infrastructure

Existing business that support local food

1. Starlight Café

2. LA Lounge

3. Tipsy Teapot

4. The Sojourn Goods

5. Oakmont Natural Foods Market

How do we develop a farm labor organization to make farm labor is available

H2A program?

School interns?


Sixth Street lot possible location for sales

City of Greenville/Uptown Greenville

Design-Redevelopment Commission –Show need construction-unfunded

Greenville (on government) and Truna (Tar River Area Neighborhood)

Partnered to develop Greenville’s 1st Community Garden (located east of uptown near the River)

Boutique Restaurants

Express interest in buying locally (Tipsy Teapot)

Loans for farmers

Infrastructures to support

Cow Share

Share of animal products

Central pick-up

Effort of Farmers

Mobile market south of Winterville

Central pickup

Expand Market Access

Park system

Pasquotank County Food Bank

WIC Minim lessons on fruits and vegetables

Contact: Robin, High Pitt County Health Department

Community Garden

Sprint/Embarg Employer

Garden located on Western Boulevard in Tarboro, NC

Employees form a plot of land on company property

Cornerstone Church

Satellite Farmer’s Market

Piggly Wiggly advertises produce from local farmers

Church distribution center in Tarboro that has cheese, vegetables

Pick your own produce at Morris Strawberry Patch in Macclesfield, NC, local industry

Small groups in faith based organizations

Sign up for program related to health awareness

Wayne County Community Garden at the public library

Wayne County Public Health Department

Local Farmer’s Market managed by Karen Padgett

I am working with Martha Libster, ECU College of Nursing to start a Farmer’s Market on campus

Coordinated a Farmer’s Market at The Oakwood School in Greenville

I have brought together local farmers to start a buying club in Greenville

Manteo, NC Farmer’s Market is new-2 summers now

Only one (to my knowledge) on DBX

Farm 4 You Program

ECU Campus Dining

Local Seafood (forget the name)

Fire Tower Road

Farmer Cooperative/CSA Channeled through Weeping Radish, Jarvisburg, NC

Oriental has a Farmer’s Market but not enough local producers

Use e-mail and the web

Oriental’s Farmer’s Market collects customers names and e-mails at every market/ we get 5-10 on an average.An e-mail is sent to that e-mail list – 200 customer’s now- every Friday to let folks know what will be for sale on Saturday.This requires e-mailing the farmers/vendors earlier in the week to learn what they will be selling. I also post the list of products on ever-updated bases each week on an on-line newspaper that I publish.This merging of old market and new marketing works.For more info contact Melinda@Towndock.net

DWOW Saturday

Farmer’s Market, Washington, NC

Pitt County Farmer’s Market

Mitch Smith, Fresh Food Demonstrations

Uptown Umbrella Market

Uptown Greenville

Denise Walsh 252-561-8400

www.uptowngreenville.com

Creation of “Market Places” ex: “Weeping Radish”

Downtown Waterfront Market

Open to farmers and crafters

Advertising Cooperative through Cahoon and Cross and the Albemarle Economic Development Office and the Tourism Board