Two new studies involving CEFS researchers highlight innovative approaches to preparing farmers, educators and food system leaders for the future of agriculture.

North Carolina’s agricultural future will depend not only on what farmers grow, but on how we prepare the people who will lead the state’s food and farming systems. Two newly-published studies involving Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) researchers explore how education and workforce development can help meet that challenge.

Published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, the studies examine two complementary approaches to agroecology education: creating hands-on pathways into agricultural careers and building stronger networks among the educators preparing future food system leaders.

In Agroecological Workforce Education: A Case Study of Registered Apprenticeship as an Agroecology Education Model, CEFS researchers Angel Cruz, Kathleen Wood, Sara Kidd, Hannah Dankbar and Michelle Schroeder-Moreno examine CEFS’ Sustainable Vegetable Production Registered Apprenticeship as a model for agricultural workforce development. The study found that paid, hands-on learning combined with technical instruction, competency-based training and mentorship can provide a meaningful pathway into agriculture while building the skills and confidence needed for long-term careers.

A second study, Building Capacity for Transformative Agroecology Education: Lessons from the North Carolina Agroecology Educators Network, looks at the educators themselves. Jacob Rutz, Angel Cruz, Saskia Cornes, Alexia Witcombe, Dawn Rodriguez-Ward, Frieda Kahan and Ann Bybee-Finley explore how the North Carolina Agroecology Educators Network (NCAEN) brings educators across institutions together to share knowledge, develop new teaching approaches and strengthen agroecology education across the state.

Together, the studies point to a common need: North Carolina’s agricultural future requires new ways of learning, teaching and entering the agricultural workforce. By connecting educators, farmers and aspiring agricultural professionals, CEFS and its partners are helping build the knowledge, relationships and career pathways needed for a more resilient food system.

The authors also emphasize that education and workforce development are only part of the solution. Aspiring farmers continue to face significant structural barriers, including access to land and capital. Still, the studies demonstrate the important role education can play in preparing the people who will shape the future of North Carolina agriculture.

For nearly two decades, James Beard Award-winning chef and food advocate Andrea Reusing has been part of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) story. As an inaugural member of the CEFS Board of Advisors, Reusing helped champion CEFS’ work to strengthen connections between North Carolina farmers, food businesses and communities. Today, while she is no longer serving on the Board, her commitment to a stronger local food system continues, and she’ll bring that perspective to CEFS and Farm to Fork NC’s upcoming The Grounded Table webinar.

Reusing is the chef and owner of Lantern in Chapel Hill, where she has spent more than two decades combining North Carolina ingredients with Asian flavors and building strong relationships with local farmers and producers. She received the 2011 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast and is the author of Cooking in the Moment: A Year of Seasonal Recipes, which was named one of the New York Times’ most notable cookbooks of the year.

Her influence extends well beyond the restaurant kitchen. Reusing has long advocated for farmers, farmworkers and food policy change, including through her TEDx Talk at the University of North Carolina, where she called on the food world to make a place at the table for farmworkers. She also chaired the Chapel Hill slow food movement and has been an advocate for better wages and working conditions for restaurant workers.

On July 28, Reginald Speight, Assistant Secretary of Rural Economic Development at the N.C. Department of Commerce, visited Western North Carolina to learn more about CEFS career pathways programs supporting youth and agricultural communities in the region. As Assistant Secretary, Speight leads a team of experts focused on strengthening rural communities across the state. He previously served as USDA Rural Development State Director for North Carolina, where he oversaw programs supporting rural housing, community facilities, business development, water and environmental infrastructure and broadband.

Speight met with CEFS Academic and Extension Initiatives Manager Angel Cruz, other CEFS staff, WNCStrong Youth Service Corps participants and host site partners at Dig In! Community Garden in Burnsville for a roundtable discussion about the program and its role in Western North Carolina’s recovery and resilience following Hurricane Helene.

Launched in 2025 through a USDA Rapid Response Grant, the WNCStrong Youth Service Corps connects two critical needs in communities recovering from Hurricane Helene: farms needing additional labor and young people seeking paid, meaningful opportunities to learn, contribute and reconnect with their communities.

Through the program, high school students complete paid internships with farms in their communities, supported by local teacher mentors. Participants gain hands-on agricultural experience, participate in career-readiness workshops, serve additional farms through group workdays and develop individual projects that contribute to community recovery and resilience.

Since its launch, WNCStrong has placed 37 youth interns with 14 Western North Carolina farms, providing approximately 180 hours of on-farm work-based learning per participant. Participants have also contributed more than 1,100 hours of group work supporting 13 additional farms, while 17 youth have designed and implemented community resilience projects.

The visit highlighted CEFS’ commitment to creating work-based learning pathways into agriculture. CEFS developed and coordinates North Carolina’s first Registered Agricultural Apprenticeship programs focused on sustainable agriculture, providing paid, structured training for military Veterans and aspiring farmers.

Through these programs, apprentices work alongside experienced farmers while completing technical instruction, workshops, farm tours and skills assessments. To date, 20 apprentices have graduated, with 85% working in farm management positions or owning their own farms, while 16 active apprentices are currently training on farm operations across North Carolina.

Looking ahead, CEFS is working to develop WNCStrong into an agricultural pre-apprenticeship aligned with ApprenticeshipNC. The goal is to create a clearer pathway from high school work-based learning to Registered Apprenticeship, postsecondary education and agricultural employment.

Together, these programs demonstrate how work-based learning can help build the next generation of agricultural professionals while strengthening farms and communities across North Carolina.

Learn more about CEFS career pathways programs, including the WNCStrong Youth Service Corps and agricultural apprenticeships.

Faculty and staff affiliated with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) participated in the 2026 Just Transformations in Food Systems and Cultures Conference, held June 7-10 in Burlington, Vermont. Hosted by the Agriculture, Food & Human Values Society (AFHVS), Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS) and the host committee at the University of Vermont, this conference brought together scholars, practitioners, educators and community leaders to explore pathways toward more just and sustainable food systems.

CEFS’ interdisciplinary work reflects the conference’s focus on transformation through research, education, community engagement and collaboration. From agroecology and food system education to local food access, supply chains, and community-based initiatives, CEFS-affiliated presenters shared insights from our programs advancing resilient food systems across North Carolina and beyond.

CEFS at the Conference

CEFS-affiliated faculty and staff contributed to conference discussions through paper presentations, roundtables and collaborative sessions highlighting innovative approaches to food systems change.

Presenters and contributors included Ann Bybee-Finley, Dara Bloom, Angel Cruz, Hannah Dankbar, Laura Lauffer, Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, Sara Snyder and others whose work represents CEFS’ commitment to connecting research, education and community action.

Conference contributions included:

• Registered Agricultural Apprenticeships as a Model for Transformative Agroecological Education
  • Angel Cruz, CEFS Career Pathways, NC State University
• Youth as agents of food system recovery and resilience: WNCStrong Youth Service Corps
  • Angel Cruz, CEFS Career Pathways, NC State University
  • Eric Klein, CEFS WNCStrong Youth Service Corps
• Agroecology Education Farm in Action
  • Sara Snyder, Farm Manager at the NC State Agroecology Education Farm
  • Frieda Kahan, Agroecology Graduate Student at NC State University
  • Ann Bybee-Finley, Assistant Professor of Agroecology, NC State University
• Training Food System Leaders: Lessons from an Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems Degree in the Southeast
  • Ann Bybee-Finley, North Carolina State University
  • Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, CEFS Director based at North Carolina State University
• Supply Chain Assessment, Processes, Outcomes, and Impacts
  • Laura Lauffer, Center for Environmental Farming Systems, EmPOWERing
    Mountain Food Systems, North Carolina State University
• Getting to Scale with Local Food Purchasing in Farm to ECE: Strategies to Grow the Market
  • Dara Bloom, CEFS Assistant Director of Community Based Food Systems, NC State University
  • Shironda Brown, CEFS Farm to Early Care and Education Initiative, NC State University
• Paper Presentation – From Theory to Practice: Local Government Planners on Planning for Food and Agricultural Systems in North Carolina – Hannah Dankbar, Local Food Program Manager, NC State Extension
• Roundtable – Learning Across Boundaries: Building a Statewide Agroecology Education Network
  • Angel Cruz, CEFS Career Pathways, North Carolina State University
  • Ann Bybee-Finley, Assistant Professor of Agroecology, NC State University

Through these presentations and conversations, CEFS-affiliated participants shared examples of how research, education and collaboration can support meaningful food system transformation. Their contributions reflect our ongoing efforts to build connections among farmers, educators, researchers, communities and policymakers to create more resilient and sustainable food systems.

We are excited to welcome 16 summer interns to the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), including 12 students participating in the Agroecology Scholars Program in Research and Extension (ASPIRE) and 4 interns supporting Farm to Early Care and Education (Farm to ECE) initiatives across North Carolina.

This summer, these interns will engage in hands-on research, extension, and community-based learning experiences focused on sustainable agriculture, local food systems and agricultural education. From exploring diverse agroecosystems and advancing professional development through ASPIRE to promoting healthy eating, local food access and garden-based learning through Farm to ECE, this cohort represents the next generation of leaders committed to strengthening food systems.

The 2026 CEFS ASPIRE interns and their mentors/research areas are:

Find more information about the 2026 ASPIRE faculty mentors and research areas here. For more information about the ASPIRE internship, please visit the program website.

The 2026 CEFS Farm to ECE interns are:

For more information about the Farm to ECE internship, please visit the program website.

Shironda Brown, Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) Training Coordinator and Extension Associate with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), received the 2026 NC Association of Cooperative Extension Specialists (NCACES) Award for Outstanding Subject Matter Program Developed by an Individual. Brown was nominated by Robyn Stout and Dara Bloom in recognition of her leadership and impact through the NC Farm to Early Care and Education Program.

Launched in 2016, Farm to ECE is an evidence-based program designed to increase young children’s access to local food while providing hands-on learning opportunities through gardening, nutrition education and food preparation. The program serves preschools, child care centers, Head Start programs and family child care homes across North Carolina, helping children develop healthy eating habits and stronger connections to agriculture and local food systems.

Brown joined the Farm to ECE team in 2018 and has served as Interim Program Director since 2024. Drawing on 28 years of experience as a child care educator and director, she develops educational tools and trainings tailored specifically to child care professionals. Her work supports not only young children, but also educators, Extension agents, Smart Start technical assistance providers and community organizations focused on child well-being.

Under Brown’s leadership, Farm to ECE programming has expanded to include a statewide Farm to ECE Collaborative, virtual Learning Burst webinars, Cooking with Children instructional videos, onsite Whole Center Trainings and the annual Farm to ECE Institute. Recognizing that trainings often only reached center directors, Brown developed Whole Center Trainings to engage entire child care staffs — including teachers, chefs and cooks — helping ensure farm-to-ECE practices are fully implemented within centers.

Brown has also worked to strengthen partnerships and expand Farm to ECE programming statewide through collaboration with county Extension agents, local food organizations and statewide early childhood networks. Her train-the-trainer approach helps child care providers of varying capacities build practical skills in gardening, local food purchasing and food-based learning.

Since Brown joined the program, Farm to ECE has reached more than 6,000 children across nearly 200 child care programs in 31 counties and the Qualla Boundary. The annual Farm to ECE Institute has also engaged 80 to 100 participants each year since 2021. In addition, Brown has mentored 25 Farm to ECE interns since 2022, supporting the next generation of educators and food systems leaders.

Participants consistently report increased knowledge and confidence in sourcing local food, starting gardens and incorporating experiential food education into their classrooms. One participant shared, “Working with young children, I see how powerful Farm to ECE is in shaping healthy habits early. Growing and cooking fresh food together helps children feel capable, connected and excited about learning.”

Through her leadership, Brown continues to strengthen connections between agriculture, education and community health while supporting young children, child care professionals and local farmers across North Carolina.

We congratulate Brown on this well-deserved recognition and celebrate the continued impact of Farm to ECE across the state.