NC Growing Together News
Find news posts from 2013-2018 from our NC Growing Together Initiative. You can also find all these articles in our NCGT Newsletter archive.
Introducing the 2016 NCGT Local Food Supply Chain Apprentices!
The 2016 Local Food Supply Chain Apprentices with their mentors. May/June 2016 -- We have a great group of Local Food Supply Chain Apprentices on the ground here in North Carolina! Apprentices spend [...]
Lowes Foods Creates Efficient Model for Bringing on Local Vendors at New Stores
NCGT’s Laura Lauffer speaks at Lowes Foods’ Greer, SC new vendor summit. May/June 2016 -- Lowes Foods is expanding in South Carolina, and NC Growing Together support is helping to bring on local vendors [...]
Peer Learning Across the Supply Chain: Connecting Small-Scale Farmers, Mainstream Buyers
FreshPoint's Dan Batchelder explaining grading requirements to a producer at a recent Postharvest Handling workshop. April 2016 -- NC Growing Together is bringing together small-scale farmers and food service and retail buyers for [...]
GroupGAP: A New Food Safety Option for Small-Scale Growers
NCGT's Trish Tripp during a GroupGAP practice audit. April 2016 -- In April 2016, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced a new food safety certification program called GroupGAP. The program allows small [...]
NCGT Supporting Farm-to-Base, Base-to-Farm Efforts at Camp Lejeune
Onslow County Incubator Farm April 2016 -- NC Growing Together is strengthening farm-to-base and base-to-farm connections with new project partner Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC. NCGT matched funds with Onslow [...]
NCGT and NC Choices Highlight New Pasture-Based Meat Tools and Events
March 2016 -- NC Growing Together and partner NC Choices are collaborating on a series of upcoming events and tools for pasture-based meat producers and businesses. Funded by USDA Rural Development, the NCGT/NC Choices' Meat Quality [...]
NCGT and NC Cooperative Extension Release Guide to Selling Milk to Grocery Stores
March 2016 -- NC Growing Together and NC Cooperative Extension have released a new guide entitled Selling Fluid Milk to Grocery Stores through Direct Store Delivery. The guide is intended for small to medium-scale North Carolina [...]
NC Cultured Fish and Shellfish a Popular Choice for NCGT Partner Pate Dawson-Southern Foods
March 2016 -- NC Growing Together partner Pate Dawson-Southern Foods (PDSF) is helping to move more local fish and shellfish in North Carolina. As featured previously in the NCGT News, PDSF Director of Marketing Joel [...]
NC Growing Together’s Annual Meeting Convenes Entire Local Food Supply Chain
Cliff Pilson of CV Pilson Farms talks with Chris Woodring, Senior VP of FreshPoint, Raleigh. February 2016 -- On February 24, NC Growing Together hosted more than fifty farmers, fishermen, ranchers, food [...]
NCGT Sponsoring Upcoming Postharvest Handling and GAPs Workshops, Local Food Webinar
February 2016 -- NCGT will be sponsoring several educational workshops and events in March and April: March 30, 2016 | Adding Value to Local Food | WEBINAR April 4,6,7, 2016 | Postharvest Handling for Improved [...]
Partner Profile: Piedmont Grown
February 2016 -- NCGT Partner Piedmont Grown is a certification program that identifies and promotes farm products that are grown, raised, and made in North Carolina's 37-county Piedmont Region. Their label identifies local agricultural products [...]
Student Research Team Focuses on Best Practices for Dairy Farms Transitioning to Value-Added Production
January 2016 -- NC Growing Together and project partner Supply Chain Resource Cooperative at NC State University's Poole College of Management are sponsoring MBA students to investigate supply chain issues across the local-to-mainstream food [...]
NCGT Partner Lowes Foods Seeking More Local Value-Added Products
January 2016 -- Lowes Foods is bolstering its commitment to buying local by seeking local value-added products for its stores. Says Krista Morgan, Lowes Foods Locally Grown Accounts Representative and Liaison to NCGT, "we'd like [...]
NCGT Partner Merchants Distributors Growing Relationships with Local Food Cooperatives and Aggregators
January 2016 -- Produce Distributor Merchants Distributors LLC (MDI), Lowes Foods' sister company, is buying more local produce from small and mid-scale producers through local food cooperatives and aggregators. "It's a win-win," says Tony Ciluffo, [...]
NCGT Releases Postharvest Handling Videos
November/December 2015 -- NCGT has released two videos that illustrate best postharvest handling practices to maintain product quality and extend shelf-life, limiting post-harvest disorders and loss of sales: Best Practices for Temperature and Humidity Management for [...]
NCGT, N.C. A&T Sponsoring Veggie Compass Training, Farmer Trial
November/December 2015 -- NC Growing Together and the Cooperative Extension Program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University are sponsoring trainings for farmers and extension agents on how to use the Veggie Compass, a [...]
NCGT Support Advancing Fresh Produce Food Safety Work Statewide
Fresh Produce GAPs Workshop. Photo by Diane Ducharme. November/December 2015 -- NC Growing Together is helping to advance fresh produce food safety work statewide. Working in partnership with North Carolina State University, [...]
Foster-Caviness Opens Local Food Aggregation Center in Raleigh
Foster-Caviness is sourcing local Korean pears from Riverbirch Farm in Reidsville, NC. October 2015 -- North Carolina-based produce distributor Foster-Caviness recently opened an aggregation center for local food in Raleigh. The cross-dock [...]
NCGT Supports Carolina Meat Conference Sessions
October 2015 -- NC Growing Together supported the NC Choices Carolina Meat Conference, October 12-13 in Winston-Salem, NC. The conference brought together over 400 local meat supply chain professionals including livestock producers, James Beard Award-winning [...]
Collaboration Key to Building Local Meat Industry
October 2015 -- A panel discussion at this month's Carolina Meat Conference brought together farmers and processors to discuss how collaboration is key to advancing one another's businesses. The NCGT-sponsored panel featured Joe Cloud from [...]
Upcoming Events: Fresh Produce GAPs and Enhancing Farm Profitability Workshops
November - December: Fresh Produce Good Agricultural Practices Workshop Series, Burnsville, Lumberton, Louisburg, and Mills River NC In 2016: Enhancing Farm Profitability Workshops for NC Cooperative Extension Agents Jan 12, Rocky Mt NC Jan 19, Newton [...]
Upcoming Events: GAPS Workshops and Conference Sessions
October 12-13: NCGT-sponsored sessions at the Carolina Meat Conference, Winston-Salem NC November 6-8: NCGT-sponsored sessions and events at the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Sustainable Agriculture Conference, Durham NC October - December: Fresh Produce Good Agricultural [...]
MDI Food Show Features Local Produce
September 2015 -- NC Growing Together partner Merchants Distributors Inc. - sister company to Lowes Foods - held its seasonal food show on August 18-19, 2015, with a special focus on local produce. Based in Hickory, [...]
NCGT Supports NC Catch Groups
September 2015 -- NC Growing Together is supporting efforts to promote local seafood in North Carolina. NCGT support is helping project partner NC Catch create two brochures designed to help consumers find local seafood in [...]
Connecting the Dots along the Value Chain: Pate Dawson-Southern Foods and Taylor Fish Farm
August 2015 -- New NCGT partner Pate Dawson-Southern Foods has been making efforts to source locally for years, according to Director of Marketing Joel Sullivan. Sullivan is the fifth generation of his family to work in the [...]