monthly news from ASAP    |   APRIL 2023    |    asapconnections.org

Get the 2023 Local Food Guide!
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The 2023 Local Food Guide, ASAP’s annual free publication for finding local food and farms, is out! You can view the digital version of the Guide here. : [link removed] Or look for the print version at farmers markets, visitors centers, libraries, grocery stores, and other local businesses starting next week. (Get a glimpse behind the scenes of Local Food Guide distribution in our Faces of Local interview below with Stephen Triplett, who has distributed guides for the past 20 years.)
 The Local Food Guide offers hundreds of listings for farms, farmers markets, restaurants, groceries, artisan producers, and travel destinations. There are also charts for finding farms offering u-pick, farm stands, lodging, visitor activities, and CSAs. Stories in this year's edition feature Crow Fly Farms, Yellow Mountain Garden, and Black Trumpet Farm. (Stay tuned to ASAP's social media as we share these stories via our website as well.) Also included in the print guide are seasonal recipes from chefs from The Montford, Cultura, Little Chango, and Red Fiddle Vittles.

In addition to the print publication, ASAP updates the online Local Food Guide at appalachiangrown.org : [link removed] throughout the year. This database, including more than 1,400 listings, is searchable by products, locations, activities, and more.



Fun on the Farm
: [link removed] goal with Growing Minds : [link removed] and farm to school programs has always been to meet teachers, caregivers, and schools where they are. Particularly in the the past few years, that's meant grappling with burnout. So we envisioned Fun of the Farm events as a chance for the educators and administrators to come out to the farm, build community connections, get their hands dirty, and—of course—have some fun!
 
This month we worked with farmer Nicole Coston (pictured on the left) to host a day at Bearwallow Valley Farms for WNC Source, which offers Head Start and NC pre-K services in Hendersonville. Participants got to experience farm to school activities for themselves—from planting seeds, hunting for worms, and even climbing trees. And everyone enjoyed a locally sourced meal together, catered by Simone Jaramillo, owner of The Garden : [link removed], a food truck in Asheville (pictured on the right).



ASAP's Work and Impact in 2022

: [link removed]'s 2022 Annual Report : [link removed] looks back on a milestone year—ASAP's 20th anniversary—through the voices of some of our partners.
 

"ASAP provides a lateral presence, as opposed to a top-down presence, where we can co-create and exchange resources," said Lyric Antio, manager of River Arts District Farmers Market, who participated in two focus groups for market managers, facilitated by ASAP.
 

The report also features Debbie Perry, of Perry's Berry's Vineyard and Winery, which hosted one of ASAP's Farm Fresh for Health Symposia : [link removed]; Whitney Rea of Verner Center for Early Learning, which hosted a Growing Minds Farm to School : [link removed] event; Vannah Roddy of Encompass Farm, who worked with ASAP to provide fresh produce : [link removed] for Verner's students and families and participated in one of ASAP's working groups for farmers; and Nichole Efird, a pre-K teacher at Cherokee Elementary School, who worked with ASAP through the Kenan Fellowships for Teacher Leadership : [link removed].
 The annual report also includes program impact data and a financial overview of the organization. Read it in full. : [link removed]'s New Farm Fresh for Health Program Director
: [link removed] Yetter has joined ASAP as our new Farm Fresh for Health Program Director. In this role, Leah will shape ASAP's Farm Fresh for Health : [link removed] initiatives, including the Farm Fresh Produce Prescription : [link removed]. Leah has been in Buncombe County since 2014 and previously served as Associate Director of the Healthy Opportunities Pilot Project for MANNA FoodBank, a Health Advocate for Pisgah Legal Services, and a Collaborative Care Manager at Vaya Health. She earned her master's in public health from East Carolina University. She has been in Buncombe County since 2014 and loves living in WNC. Leah is also an avid gardener and loves spending time with her chickens and dogs.



Good Fields Appalachia

: [link removed] us at Good Fields, The Appalachian Food and Farms Festival : [link removed], hosted by Shipley Farms on June 24 in Vilas, NC. The event features 12 NC chefs creating dishes that honor our region's culinary heritage and farming history, including Asheville chefs Steven Goff and Cleophus Hethington. Tickets are on sale now. : [link removed]
 
"Fewer and fewer people are getting exposed to local farm experiences, and it’s getting harder and harder for local farms to compete, and to make it to the next generation," says Bob Shipley, fourth-generation farmer and event co-founder. "We think this festival can help bring some attention to that issue, and get some momentum to turn that trend back a little in the other direction.”
 
To that end, the event will benefit nonprofit partners that support farm businesses and local food, including ASAP, Center for Environmental Farming Systems, Watauga High School chapter of Future Farmers of America, and Piedmont Culinary Guild.



FACES OF LOCAL
Stephen Triplett
: [link removed] likes to share the stories of people who help us fulfill our mission. This month we talked to Stephen Triplett, who has distributed ASAP’s Local Food Guide in the community for two decades. You can find the 2023 Local Food Guide : [link removed] at local businesses, community centers, and farmers markets starting May 1.
 
When did you start distributing ASAP’s Local Food Guide?
 
I think it was around 2002, 2003. A friend of mine, Erin Everett, was the publisher of a local health food publication, New Life Journal, and she had asked me if I wanted to do their distribution. I thought I would just drop it off at Earth Fare and maybe a handful of places, but it kept growing and growing. Charlie [Jackson, ASAP founder] knew Erin and they worked out a deal where the Local Food Guide could piggyback on New Life Journal’s distribution. When New Life Journal went out of business in 2009, ASAP asked if I would like to continue, and I’ve been doing it ever since. 
 
Have you seen enthusiasm for local food change in that time?
 
Over the years there’s been a lot more people identifying with and wanting to support local, especially farmers and local food. It’s done nothing but grown. But in the past few years, tourists are really picking up the Local Food Guide and using it to help them find places to eat and learn about the area. For example, the airport: When we first started taking guides to them, they didn’t move. But in the last three or four years—man, I can’t bring enough. Now they’re adding seven gates, you know. With the rate they’re expanding, I joked to David King [Guest Services and Advertising Manager], “You want me to start bringing these in on a tractor trailer?” With the Asheville Visitors Center on Montford, it’s the same story. Five or six years ago I started taking guides to the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitors Center. They had tight rules around free publications. They said, “People come from out of town, they don’t want local food.” Cut to the chase, now I can’t keep enough in there. 
 
You’ve really become an ambassador for the Local Food Guide out in the community, convincing places give space for the publication. 
 
It can be a battle, I’m not kidding! There have been so many publications in Asheville through the years. And remember, we’re a free thing, so businesses are doing us a service. They could be using that space for their own retail. But I go in person, bring in a bundle, and smile. I talk about how this is a hugely popular service for local food and most of the time people are really positive about that. I might make a joke like, “These are free, but I can autograph it for you.” Getting people laughing is a good way to get in, get them to trust me. But then they see how customers really want the guides and they ask for more. 
 
What are some of your favorite delivery spots?
 
I love the local companies. I really like going into Mast General Store, Sow True Seed. French Broad Chocolate Lounge is always a good one. Really good people at Foothills Butcher Bar out in Black Mountain.
 
What are you up to when you’re not delivering Local Food Guides?
 
I do other jobs as well, landscaping and I work for a small property management company in Montford, gardening. I’ve done marketing jobs as a brand ambassador, though not as much since the pandemic. I really enjoy my hobbies. I have a 16-foot Old Town canoe. I love canoeing, hiking, and camping, especially trips up the James River in Virginia. And I love going to tailgate markets. There’s a small one out where I live in Mills River : [link removed] on Saturday mornings. Don’t you just love when the tailgate markets start bringing in blueberries, strawberries, spinach, broccoli, fresh greens?

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Strawberry Salsa : [link removed] season is beginning! Try a twist on this sweet treat with strawberry salsa from our Growing Minds recipe files : [link removed]. You can also find green onions and cilantro at farmers markets or farm stands right now.
 

Ingredients
1 quart local strawberriesjuice of 1 lime1/4 cup chopped green onions1/4 cup chopped cilantro1/2 teaspoon kosher saltInstructions
Wash the strawberries, green onions, and cilantroRemove the tops and slice the strawberries. Place in a medium bowl.Chop the green onions and cilantro, toss with the strawberries.Cut the lime and squeeze the juice into the strawberry mixture.Add salt and stir. Serve with tortilla chips.

MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
“The early days of our work was in promoting and helping farmers find new opportunities to sell. At that time, there weren’t enough restaurants in Asheville to be a viable source of income, so we focused on getting markets opened, helping farmers start CSAs and getting information out there.”

—ASAP founder Charlie Jackson speaking with Edible Asheville : [link removed] about the rise of local food and restaurants in Asheville
 

"One of the coolest elements of the Asheville City Market : [link removed] is a program that works with SNAP to double family’s dollars when spent on fresh fruits and vegetables. Often, farmers’ market produce isn’t twice as expensive as grocery store produce and lasts longer, meaning that these dollars go farther."
—About Asheville : [link removed] on the 9 Best Farmers Markets in Asheville

CONNECT WITH US
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asapconnections.org : [link removed] | growing-minds.org : [link removed]
appalachiangrown.org : [link removed] | fromhere.org : [link removed]
 
Donate to support local food, strong farms, and healthy communities today! : [link removed]
 
ASAP's mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food.



ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) - 306 W. Haywood Street - Asheville - NC - 28801

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