August 2017 — Casey Auch is a rising senior at UNC-Wilmington, studying English and Professional Writing. Early in her college career Casey got involved in environmental activism, and soon turned her attention to local food because it unites her interests in community development and environmental protection.
Last summer she interned with The Lord’s Acre, a nonprofit community and education garden, and began doing work with Feast Down East upon returning to UNC-W last fall. She was grateful to be able to continue working with them this summer to learn about different aspects of the local food supply chain.
Casey’s main project has been interviewing and photographing farmers who supply the Feast Down East food hub, and creating farmer profiles for use in various communications and marketing materials. She has been able to use her writing and design skills to create flyers for prospective farmers, while also helping with daily operations like checking in produce from farmers and packing out twice each week for delivery to restaurants.
“I don’t know that I’ll ever see my ideal local food system exist but I have to always focus on progress. It’s big systematic issues, but you can make a difference in small ways along the chain.”
This article originally appeared in the August 2017 NC Growing Together Newsletter.