monthly news from ASAP    |   NOVEMBER 2023    |    asapconnections.org

Double Your Impact on Giving Tuesday with a Matching Gift
: [link removed]
 
Giving Tuesday is November 28th and we have an opportunity to grow the local food movement on this special day. This year, Wicked Weed's Cultura : [link removed] has contributed a matching gift of $5,000 as part of their Beers That Build program. That means that when you donate : [link removed] you double your impact!
 
This past year a farmer told us they feel hopeful because of “the joy of growing local food, which is appreciated every week, both by our farmers markets customers, and by the chefs at restaurants we serve. Their expressions of gratitude and appreciation of what we have produced makes all of our work worthwhile.”
 
Your gift helps build viable farm businesses. Your donation provides our neighbors access to fresh, local produce. Your contribution sustains your neighborhood farmers market. Your generosity makes it all worthwhile! Thank you for being someone we can count on to grow this movement.



Registration Is Open the Business of Farming Conference
: [link removed] is open for ASAP's 2024 Business of Farming Conference : [link removed], which will be held Saturday, Feb. 24, at the A-B Tech Conference Center in Asheville. Register by Feb. 1 to receive the early-bird discount and save more by registering with a farm partner. ASAP is also offering scholarships for BIPOC and limited-resource farmers. Find out more. : [link removed]  The annual conference brings together professional farmers from across the region to network and share resources to grow their farm businesses. Farmers learn about marketing, business planning, and financial management from regional experts and innovative peers. The popular lunchtime Grower-Buyer Meeting is a chance to meet with chefs, grocers, and distributors to learn about individual buyer requirements and discuss your products and the potential of a business relationship. The conference is designed for beginning and established farmers as well as those seriously considering farming as a profession. Interested in sponsor or exhibitor opportunities? Email [email protected] : mailto:[email protected]  to find out more.



Time to Update Your Local Food Guide Listing!
: [link removed] year, ASAP calls more than 1,400 businesses to update our Local Food Guide so that we get the most accurate information about connecting with local food and farms. We've started making calls for 2024! Want to get a head start on updating your listing? You can give us a call (828-236-1282, Tuesday to Thursday) or do it yourself online : [link removed]. The deadline to be included in the print Local Food Guide is Jan. 31. ⁣Have a new farm, restaurant, retail outlet, or other locally sourcing food business that you want to be listed? Go to appalachiangrown.org : [link removed] and click Get in the Guide.⁣ An online listing is completely free.



FACES OF LOCAL
Blake Hart
: [link removed] Hart is the executive director of Haywood Christian Ministry : [link removed], a nonprofit organization providing a food pantry as well as heating and housing assistance. The food pantry serves 800 to 850 families each month, offering fresh, local produce in addition to frozen meat, bread, and shelf-stable pantry goods.
 

When did Haywood Christian Ministry first begin working with farms to provide local produce?
 

I can on board after the start of the pandemic, in 2021. When I came, we were halfway through Appalachian Grown Farms Feeding Families : [link removed] [an ASAP program that paid farmers to provide produce to relief agencies in their communities]. We had connections with local farmers before that, but mostly in terms of donated food and our food waste goes to pig farmers. Following the pandemic we’ve had conversations with farmers, with David at ASAP, with MountainWise. We see that buying local produce at the market rate could actually help build a more robust micro food system in Haywood that could play a part in a solution for hunger. 
 

Our conviction is that local food should be available to everybody. Our small farmers have a role to play, but they have to be compensated equitably for the food. This year our goal was to be more intentional about our food work. Food pantries play an important role, but they aren’t the cure to hunger. We want to help insulate our food system by developing small farms in our area. 
 

We currently have agreements with four farms—Mighty Gnome Market Garden : [link removed], Two Trees Farm : [link removed] (or Sustainabillies), Alta Vista Farm : [link removed], and Bertollini Agricola : [link removed]. Right now, that’s going 100 percent into the food pantry. We are beginning conversations about the next growing season and getting some of that food into our our fruit and vegetable prescription program through HOP. Also, to help farmers have better access, we want to start offering CSA subscription boxes and selling to the general public as well. We’re working toward being a food hub in our community—hopefully establishing that in the next three to five years. This is the dreaming phase! 
 

Why is offering fresh produce along with pantry or shelf-stable products important? 
 

It’s the healthiest and it’s what people want. We’ve done one surveys with our neighbors, asking what food items do you use the most. Overwhelmingly it was fresh produce and fresh meat. We’ve heard gratitude for the freshness and pristine condition of the local produce coming in. It’s the best of the best, not what was left on a shelf. The reality is that the way our current food system works, food pantries get the leftovers from retail word. We’re grateful, but if that food isn’t used within two days it’s gone bad. We shouldn’t be satisfied with giving away produce at end of its life.
 

What’s made it possible to keep working with farms?
 

Grants from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Dogwood Health Trust, and Haywood Healthcare Foundation have helped us buy from local farms over the past couple of years. Next year, next budget cycle, we’re working to use more of our general fund. I’ve been overwhelmed with how many farms tell us they would give us all the food we need if that was viable option for them. This helps them grow their business and helps our neighbors. Farmers are our neighbors, too.
 

What’s on the horizon for you and Haywood Christian Ministry?
 

The food hub is the biggest part of what we’re looking at. We’re hoping to do a CSA model on a smaller scale as a pilot, and also as a way to take that next step for the farmers we currently have. We’ll have a space expansion in the near future. We are very excited about new rural foods system we’re putting into place through a grant from Golden Leaf Foundation. Hopefully by spring we’ll be installing refrigerated food lockers at five pilot locations in Haywood County. That would allow people to place an order online and pick it up at their convenience. We’ll use local produce for those as well. Our intention is to get local food into as many areas as we can.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Apple Ring Pancakes : [link removed], you have your plan for the big meal this week, but you still need to eat breakfast! Save a few of your pie apples for this morning treat, a crowd-pleaser no matter who's coming to visit. 
 
Servings: 4-6
Time: 25 minutes
 
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour1 teaspoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt1 1/4 cups buttermilk (or regular milk)2 eggs3 teaspoon vegetable oil3–4 large local applesButter or vegetable oil for the panDirections
Whisk dry pancake ingredients in a bowl.Whisk wet ingredients in a separate bowl; pour mixture into dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Set aside.Core the apples and slice them into thin rings.Preheat a skillet over medium heat and brush the skillet with 1 teaspoon of butter or vegetable oil.Dip each apple slice into the pancake batter, allow the excess batter to drip off, then transfer the apple slice to the skillet.Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until small bubbles form on the surface of the batter, then flip. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook on the opposite side for about 1 minute, or until golden brown.Serve immediately.Find more recipes for fall on our website : [link removed]
"Many first-time market shoppers can find the experience overwhelming or intimidating, so I would offer the suggestion of walking around the market first to get a sense of what’s available and make a plan for what you want to buy. Then lead with curiosity and talk to farmers—ask questions about how they like to cook or prepare foods. If prices aren’t posted, ask. And bring a friend. You can get a treat together and catch up, in addition to trying something new and getting some of your shopping done."
—Molly Nicholie, ASAP executive director, interviewed by the Mountain Xpress : [link removed] ASAP
: [link removed] : [link removed] : [link removed] : [link removed] 
asapconnections.org : [link removed] | growing-minds.org : [link removed] | appalachiangrown.org : [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.
 

: [link removed]



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

Subscribe to this newsletter:
[link removed]
Unsubscribe [email protected]:
[link removed]
Change your preferences:
[link removed]
Forward to a friend:
[link removed]
Report this email as spam:
[link removed]

This email was sent using MyNewsletterBuilder.com.