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.
New Resource Spotlight: A Guide to Hosting Mini Food Shows in Your Community
Mini food shows are community-led events designed to showcase local farms and food producers to a variety of audiences, including buyers like restaurants and specialty shops, food distributors, and residents. This guide outlines the planning, preparation, and marketing tasks for hosting your own event.
NCGT/Poole College of Management MBA Student Teams Work with TRACTOR Food and Farms to Increase Access, Profitability
MBA student teams from NC State University's Poole College of Management Supply Chain Resource Cooperative have worked with NCGT staff and partner entities since summer 2013 to investigate and address food business processes and supply chain issues across the local-to-mainstream food supply chain.
New Grant Supports Supply Chain Approach to Reducing Farm-Level Food Waste
The grant work will focus on two types of unharvested produce: cosmetically imperfect (does not meet USDA #1 standards for scarring, size, or shape, but is otherwise edible); and produce that meets USDA #1 standards but is left in the field because harvesting costs exceed the market price of the produce. Figuring out how to "recover" this otherwise wasted produce can both improve growers' bottom line and make our food system more efficient and sustainable..
Partner Profile: Piedmont Culinary Guild
March 2017 -- NC Growing Together's newest partner is the Charlotte-based Piedmont Culinary Guild (PCG). The PCG is working to connect the food chain in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina by [...]
FreshPoint Open Houses Attract Farmers Ready for Business
FreshPoint, in partnership with NC Growing Together and NC Cooperative Extension, hosted two informational sessions for interested growers on February 21 in Raleigh and February 23 in Charlotte.
Upcoming Events: Webinar for Small Business Developers & Good Agricultural Practices Workshop
March 2017 -- Two webinars for small business developers and a Good Agricultural Practices workshop are coming up in April and May.
NCGT Supports Local Foods at Camp Lejeune and Surrounding Community
Participants of the Season Extension workshop held February 8th at the Onslow County Incubator Farm. February 2017 -- Last April, NC Growing Together reported on Farm-to-Base and Base-to-Farm Efforts at Camp Lejeune [...]
NCGT Supports Planning Focus on Agriculture & Food Systems in Partnership with the NC Chapter of the American Planning Association
NCGT presented at the February APA-NC meeting in Saxapahaw, NC. February 2017 -- NC Growing Together's Local Food Economies initiative is providing resources and tools to professional associations around the state for [...]
North Carolina’s Community Colleges Fill Important Need: Business Training for Farmers
Tiffany Henry with Appalachian Business of Farming students. February 2017 -- North Carolina's community colleges are stepping in to fill a critical need in rural communities across the state: training farmers on [...]
Upcoming Workshops: Season Extension with High Tunnels & Good Agricultural Practices
Season Extension with High Tunnels March 27, 2017 | Concord, NC | Info March 28, 2017 | Greensboro, NC | Info For more information on these season extension workshops, please visit the CEFS website. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) (co-sponsored [...]
Supply Chain Collaboration Brings NC-Branded Shrimp Home for the Holidays
Photo courtesy of Mr. Big Seafood. January 2017 -- This past holiday season, shoppers were in for a special treat when they found frozen North Carolina shrimp at area Weaver Street Market [...]
NCGT Partner FreshPoint to Host Information Sessions for Local Growers
January 2017 -- FreshPoint, the largest foodservice distributor of fresh produce in the country, has been an NC Growing Together partner since 2015. The distributor has hosted a NC Growing Together Summer Local Food Supply [...]
NCGT Offers Resources, Food Safety Training for Cheesemakers and Dairy Producers
Packaging chevre at Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery October/November 2016 -- In October, NC Growing Together offered a day-long training for cheesemakers and dairy producers focusing on the basics of Hazard Analysis [...]
Season Extension Brings New Market Possibilities for North Carolina Farmers
NCGT-sponsored High Tunnel intensive at the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association conference. October/November 2016 -- North Carolina has ample sunshine and rain, great soils, and - with season extension [...]
NC State Poole College of Management MBA Student Teams Investigate Business Opportunities in Local Food Supply Chains
Working Landscapes staff and MBA students in Warrenton, NC. October/November 2016 -- NC Growing Together has been sponsoring MBA student teams from NC State University's Poole College of Management to investigate food [...]
A Government Guide on Building Local Food Economies
August/September 2016 -- NCGT's Local Food Economies initiative has released a new Government Guide on Building Local Food Economies. The guide's online format makes it easy for planners, economic developers, and local government administrators to [...]
Statewide Success Stories Illustrate “What’s Working” in Local Food Economic Development
August/September 2016 -- From the Appalachian Farm School in Western North Carolina to non-profit Working Landscapes in Warren County, cities, towns, and rural areas are finding innovative ways to support economic and business development [...]
NCGT Launches Local Food Economies Initiative
August/September 2016 -- NC Growing Together has launched a new effort to engage local governments in the work of building local food systems. The goal of the Local Food Economies (LFE) initiative is to [...]
New Agricultural Infographics Provide Powerful Tool for Counties and Communities to Examine Their Own Local Food Economies
August/September 2016 -- The USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program funds valuable projects across the U.S. One of the outputs of a recent CEFS-led SARE grant is a set of NC Agricultural Infographics. The [...]
NCGT Apprentice Sandy Ramsey, Lowes Foods
July 2016 - This summer, Sandy Ramsey has been the apprentice for Lowes Foods,where she has been working with Krista Morgan, Lowes Foods' Locally Grown Accounts Representative and Liaison to NCGT. Her experiences working [...]
NCGT Apprentice Enoch Sarku, Piedmont Grown
July 2016 - A graduate student studying Agribusiness and Food Industry Management at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Enoch Sarku has enjoyed being the NCGT Apprentice for Piedmont Grown. Having worked with [...]
NCGT Apprentice Natalie Markowitz, Richmond County Cooperative Extension
July 2016 - A rising senior at Duke University, Natalie Markowitz is interested in global food systems and what connects and disrupts food supply chains. Working with Paige Burns and Susan Kelly in the Richmond [...]
NCGT Apprentice Gigi Lytton, NC Catch and NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
July 2016 - Gigi is no stranger to the NCGT summer apprenticeship, having worked as the Lowes Foods apprentice last year. This summer, she has been working with NC Catch and the North Carolina [...]
NCGT Apprentice Sebastian Irby, Feast Down East
July 2016 - Sebastian Irby grew up eating local, organic produce. Studying sustainability at Wake Forest University, Sebastian was particularly interested in a food and policy class that discussed local food systems. That interest [...]
NCGT Apprentice Taylor Halso, Onslow County Cooperative Extension
July 2016 - Taylor Halso, a junior at the University of Mount Olive, has been working with Onslow County Cooperative Extension Director Peggie Garner. She hopes to go into social work on a military [...]