NC 10% Campaign Receives Funding to Increase Local Foods, Purchasing at Minority-Serving Universities

April 8, 2015: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Raleigh, NC:  The NC 10% Campaign, an initiative of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, has been awarded a two-year, $78,547 grant from the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education – Professional Development Program (SARE-PDP) of the United States Department of Agriculture.  The grant was awarded through North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T).

The NC 10% Campaign encourages consumers – individuals, organizations, and institutions – to spend at least 10% of their existing food dollars on foods raised, produced, and caught in North Carolina.  The Campaign partners with NC Cooperative Extension (NCCE) on local food programming.  Responding to the growing interest in local foods in North Carolina, in 2010 NCCE designated Local Food Coordinators (LFCs) in each of the state’s 100 counties and with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.  This project, titled “Strengthening University Local Food Systems: Train the Trainer Approach through Extension, Student, and Food Service Collaboration”, will build NC Cooperative Extension (NCCE) educators’ capacity to lead effective teams with the goal of increasing university procurement of local foods.

“Connecting North Carolina’s county-based Cooperative Extension local food experts with the budding farm-to-institution movement statewide will facilitate direct links to local farmers and resources, while hands-on training will increase agents’ understanding of institutional food service challenges and opportunities,” said Robyn Stout, State Program Coordinator for the NC 10% Campaign.

As part of their farm-to-institution efforts, the NC 10% Campaign has worked to develop student Local Food Ambassadors (LFAs) to cultivate student leadership and promote awareness of local foods at three public minority-serving universities: Fayetteville State University, NC A&T, and UNC-Pembroke.  This grant will continue to develop the LFA program at those three universities and propose programs at three additional universities: Elizabeth City State University, NC Central University, and Winston-Salem State University.

County-wide Local Foods Teams will be assembled consisting of the student Local Food Ambassadors, a local farmer, a Local Food Coordinator Extension Agent, a University Sustainability Office faculty mentor, and a University Dining staff member.  In 2015-2016, the NC 10% Campaign will organize these teams while working on capacity-building of Extension Local Food Coordinators, so that they may lead the teams in 2016-2017.

“Through the LFA program we hope to not only engage minority student leaders but to also educate small to mid-sized farmers on the vendor process and certifications needed in the food service supply chain,” explains Jannety Mosley, the NC 10% Campaign Coordinator from NC A&T.

Project partners include Aramark, Sodexo, and Thompson Hospitality food service providers and the Real Food Challenge.

For more information about the NC 10% Campaign, please visit www.nc10percent.com.