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.
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 [...]
NCGT Apprentice Rose Mayo, TRACTOR Food and Farms
July 2016 - Rose Mayo, the NCGT apprentice with TRACTOR Food and Farms, has been learning all about what makes a food hub function successfully. She has a passion for supporting local farming, which [...]
NCGT Apprentice Michelle McCallum, NC State University
July 2016 - Michelle McCallum is a rising junior, studying Animal Science and Agricultural Business at NC State University. As an NCGT apprentice this summer, she has continued the work she began in the [...]
NCGT Apprentice Laura Mindlin, Eastern Carolina Organics
July 2016 - For Laura Mindlin, working with Eastern Carolina Organics (ECO) has allowed her to not only learn about successful food hubs and wholesale produce distribution, but it also gave her the opportunity to [...]
NCGT Apprentice Sarah Miller, Cumberland County Cooperative Extension
July 2016 - This summer, Sarah Miller has found that her work with Kenny Bailey in the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension office has allowed her to blend her studies in marketing with her interest [...]
NCGT Apprentice Sarah Massey, FreshPoint
July 2016 - As the FreshPoint apprentice, Sarah Massey has been learning a great deal about wholesale marketing and food service. Studying food and nutrition at Meredith College, she found a particular interest in local [...]
CEFS’ Supply Chain Scholars Bridge Business, Local Food Systems Work
Graham Givens May/June 2016 -- The Center for Environmental Farming Systems' Supply Chain Scholars are creating connections between business and local food systems work. Graham Givens and Kaitlyn Sutton are both MBA students [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 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 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 [...]