February 2015 - One of the biggest challenges facing local small and mid-sized producers and large-scale "mainstream" buyers (grocery chains and wholesale distributors) is how to move smaller volumes of source-identified product from farm to point-of-sale at a price that keeps everybody along the supply chain in business. NC Growing Together is working to develop and [...]
The refridgerator unit is clean and the lighting is good. You can clearly read the labels on the packaging. The prices are prominently displayed and you can see the brand. The meat being sold in this section is locally produced at the Henry and Nina's farm in Granville County, NC. January 2015 - [...]
December 2014 - NC Growing Together is sponsoring student teams at NC State Poole College of Management's Supply Chain Resource Cooperative and Consumer Innovation Consortium that are addressing pressing business and supply chain issues. In the Fall 2014 semester, one of three sponsored teams examined a hot topic among North Carolina's food business entrepreneurs and food hubs: [...]
December 2014 - Over the past two years, NCGT and Lowes Foods have worked in partnership to connect producers and store managers to bring more authentically homegrown North Carolina products into Lowes Foods stores. Now the company is adding eggs to the mix. Demand has varied across the five stores that piloted the first direct-store-delivery [...]
November 2014 - The NCGT Local Food Infrastructure Inventory is a mapped inventory of businesses that serve as intermediary steps in local food supply chains. This includes value-added processors, fresh produce wholesaler/distributors, multi-farm CSA"s, food hubs, community kitchens, incubator farms, and cold storage locations. "It"s a great guide for new farmers," says Henderson County extension [...]
Wanchese Fish Company in Wanchese, NC. Photo by Dr. Garrity-Blake. September 2014 - In September, NC Growing Together released Keep It Moving: North Carolina Seafood Transportation Logistics with a Focus on East to West Routes. The report, by Dr. Barbara Garrity-Blake of the Duke University Marine Laboratory and Megan Ware of Duke University"s [...]
August 2014 - On Saturday August 23, Fort Bragg held its first local farmers' market. Timed to coincide with the popular monthly 5k walk/run sponsored by the Fort Bragg MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) office, the market featured four farmers selling a variety of fresh produce and value-added products. The impetus to start an on-base [...]
July 2014 - NC Growing Together partners have been working on several different fronts to identify and increase local foods purchasing on NC military bases. NCGT partner NCEast Alliance (NCEA) is a regional economic development corporation serving more than one million North Carolina residents from the edges of the Research Triangle to the Atlantic Coast. [...]
NC Growing Together and NC Cooperative Extension Work Together to Promote Local Foods <a href="http://www.ncgrowingtogether.org/stories/ncgt-and-ncce">Read the Story</a>
May 2014 - NC Growing Together is partnering with the EDA Center at Fayetteville State University to grow a Farmer Network in the Fayetteville area. The Farmer Network will increase the area's local food supply and potentially supply NCGT partner Fort Bragg. Interested growers must be GAPs certified, carry liability insurance, and participate in crop [...]
