We’re building on existing community work to strengthen local food access for older adults in your county.
We’re excited to share that the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS)/NC State University has received a two-year, $145,200 grant from Dogwood Health Trust to support a collaboration between Farm to Senior Services (F2SS) and Empowering Mountain Food Systems (EMFS), and N.C. Cooperative Extension.
The grant project “Piloting community-based farm-to-senior-services strategies to improve food security for older adults in rural Western North Carolina” will build on existing work in McDowell County and support new F2SS local food purchasing pilot efforts in Burke County, Yancey County, and the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI).
The work will be guided by County/EBCI F2SS Teams, bringing together Extension, senior services, farmers, older adults, food hubs, and food councils to identify barriers, pilot local food purchasing solutions, and support long-term systems change.
Community partners will include:
Burke County Cooperative Extension, Burke County Senior Center; EBCI Cooperative Extension, EBCI Healthy Eating Action Team, Yancey County Cooperative Extension, TRACTOR Food & Farms, Yancey County Senior Services; McDowell County Cooperative Extension, McDowell County Senior Center, McDowell County Local Food Advisory Council, Foothills Food Hub, and many community-based organizations.
“Older adults are at particular risk for food insecurity and we are excited to partner with Dogwood Health Trust who understands that thriving local food systems can improve the health and well-being of older adults. We’re hoping to bring lessons learned from previous farm to senior services programs and to support some of the existing WNC community organizations who are looking out for older adults.”
“Our recent Regional Supply Chain Assessment revealed the need and desire among farmers to sell their products to local institutions. We know older adults have benefited from local food programs, and it will be great to make new connections. We aim to work with community leaders to establish long-term sales channels for our partners.”
The project grant team at NC State will be co-led by Robyn Stout, NC 10% Campaign Program Director; Laura Lauffer, EMFS Program Director; and Marcello Cappellazzi, CEFS Multimedia Manager; with support from Molly Sandfoss, McDowell County Cooperative Extension Director; and Jennifer Badger, EMFS Area Specialized Agent, Agribusiness, NC Cooperative Extension
Find project updates: cefs.ncsu.edu/farm-to-senior-
