monthly news from ASAP    |   OCTOBER 2024    |    asapconnections.org

After Hurricane Helene

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On September 27, Hurricane Helene tore through the Southern Appalachian mountains, devastating towns across Western North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In addition to catastrophic damage from flooding, landslides, and wind, many communities have continued to lack access to power, water, and communication services for weeks. We are incredibly grateful that all of our ASAP staff members are safe.

Farmers stand to be among the most heavily devastated in Helene’s aftermath, which will have a long-lasting impact on our local food system. For more than two decades, ASAP has worked together to build a community where local farms can thrive. Our community is healthier because more people have access to local food. Farmers markets are community hubs filled with joy and personal connection. We won’t let Helene change this. 

A few ways you can help:
Make a donation : [link removed] to help ASAP continue to support farms and the local food community.Support farmers directly by donating to GoFundMe campaigns or by purchasing products not damaged by the storm or gift certificates to use in the future. Come together at farmers markets : [link removed], many of which are featuring additional vendors who have lost their market outlets with restaurant closures. Join us and our community at a Barn Dance & Volunteer Fair at Hickory Nut Gap Farm : [link removed] this Saturday, Oct. 26, 12 to 6 p.m. This is a free, family-friendly event with music and dancing, hayrides and pony rides, and eats from Grush's Cajun Dino Grill. Beer sales will benefit ASAP's farmer relief work. Photo: ASAP's Local Food Guide amidst the clean up at Stump Farms : [link removed]. Photo by Camilla Calnan Photography : [link removed].



Disaster Resources for Farmers
: [link removed] staff is updating disaster assistance resources : [link removed] for farms daily as we receive updated information. That includes:A roundup of grants, loans, and services : [link removed] for farms and farmworkers (including help navigating federal programs)Technical assistance and resources : [link removed] for documenting disaster losses, food safety for flooded farms, assessing damage in produce crops, and soil managementPivot market opportunities : [link removed] for farms that are not able to sell to their usual outletsASAP's Appalachian Grown Farmers Immediate Needs Grants are intended to offer quick support to farms with significant losses due to weather events.Farmers may apply for up to $500 to cover immediate needs and expenses towards cleaning, replanting, repairing, or other costs not covered through insurance or other programs that will allow the farm to quickly recover. Find out more and apply here. : [link removed]: The market van and a produce box after the storm at Green Toe Ground Farm : [link removed].



Use Disaster SNAP at Farmers Markets

: [link removed] is now open for Disaster SNAP (or D-SNAP) in North Carolina : [link removed], Tennessee : [link removed], and Georgia : [link removed] counties with federal disaster declarations. D-SNAP may provide eligible households with help restocking their fridges after losing food due to power outages during Hurricane Helene. The deadline to register is this week. 
Just like regular SNAP, D-SNAP can be used at farmers markets that accept SNAP benefits (find markets accepting SNAP here : [link removed]). To use your SNAP benefits at farmers markets, head to the market information booth and use your issued SNAP/EBT (or Electronic Balance Transfer) card and swipe it like a debit card and get tokens for the amount of money you want to spend at market. Many farmers markets also offer SNAP incentives, like Double SNAP, which matches up to $20 with additional tokens that can be used to purchase fruits and vegetables.



Get the Expanded Farmers Market Toolkit
: [link removed] has released an updated and expanded edition of the Farmers Market Toolkit, a collection of information, resources, and best practices for farmers market managers in the Appalachian Grown region. View the digital version here : [link removed] or contact Mike McCreary ([email protected] : mailto:[email protected] ) about getting a print copy. 

 

Our October "Faces of Local" interview—see below—is with West Asheville Tailgate Market executive director Vinny Bonanno, who is featured on the cover of the Toolkit!
 

ASAP has also launched an Appalachian Grown Farmers Market Manager Group, a listserv forum where market leaders can to ask questions, share experiences, and learn from fellow market managers across the region. Market managers should have received information about participating in the group. If you have any questions or need to update your market's contact email, please email Oakley Brewer at [email protected] : mailto:[email protected] .



Scenes from ASAP's Farm Tour


ASAP's Farm Tour on Sept. 21-22 feels like a lifetime away now. Our photo contest was interrupted by Hurricane Helene, but we are sharing one photo from everyone who was able to submit. Thank you to everyone who participated!

From left to right:

Flowers at Never Ending Flower Farm : [link removed] by Peggy Hill
Apple trellises at TK Family Farm : [link removed] by Patti Glazer
Wine barrels at Overmountain Vineyards : [link removed] by Victoria Clark
Grapes at Marked Tree Vineyard : [link removed] by Emily Yagielo
Hose nuzzles at The Ruby Ranch : [link removed] by Laila Johnston
Hay ride at Lee's One Fortune Farm : [link removed] by Bill Strauss
Sign over the pie fryer at Pilot Mountain Pears : [link removed] by Robin Sexton



FACES OF LOCAL
Vinny Bonanno
: [link removed] Bonanno has served as the Executive Director of the West Asheville Tailgate Market : [link removed] since 2022,  as well as being the owner/operator of Stretching in Public, a Make it Happen coach, and the lead on various creative projects and performances around the Asheville area. After Helene made landfall, Vinny opted to open WATM only days later. Visit the market on Tuesday afternoons through December.
 

What is the importance of farmers markets and the West Asheville Tailgate Market being open right now?
 

Greens! I’ve been going to free meals for myself, to have community, and to see friends who are working at these free meal sites. Two chefs asked me to connect them with farmers because they are running out of vegetables to cook with. Michelle Bailey, who was BBQing free meals outside of Citizen Vinyl : [link removed], said, “We have money to pay farmers for their vegetables.” When you go to find free meals, a majority of them are meat and rice and not many vegetables. Knowing the need for fresh produce in our diets as a part of our nourishment is another reason for being open.
 

People really need community right now—did you see the chalk art? It’s stunning! Grown adults using chalk and making art together, drawing the mountains or writing “828 Strong”—people just need to be together and have a creative outlet to express their experience. Getting the community together in a place that they are familiar with and giving people some sense of normalcy and safety feels important.
 

Last Tuesday, Oct. 8, was our busiest market of the year and even with spotty cell connection we have been able to accept SNAP at all markets, which is huge for folks needing to fill their Farm Fresh Produce Prescriptions : [link removed] or to Double their SNAP : [link removed] tokens without missing a week.
 

How did you make the decision to keep the market open just a few days after Helene?
 

I knew that our location would be one of the available spots not affected by flooding, in the heart of a neighborhood in West Asheville—that we could do it. If communications were down we would still get those folks and walkers out on Haywood looking for supplies and resources. Because we are visible from Haywood Road, people would be able to see that the market was still happening whether an announcement was able to be made or not. That was driving me, that our market is set up for this and well positioned to be open and to be a resource. 
 

Early on, there was so much uncertainty of how and where people could get fresh food—lines at Ingles across the street were so long. At first, I was wondering how the community would feel, if having a market and having vendors selling things was the right move at that moment. The thing that helped me see through those two ideas was, well, the farmers need an outlet and they can decide what is best for them—if they are going to offer pay-what-you-can, bartering or charging full price. So, I removed myself from those decisions and thought my job was to give the farmers an outlet and the community members access.
 

How did WATM adapt to meet new community needs?
 

I think with the opportunity for increased demand in fresh local food because the other markets hadn’t been open and people are not getting as much nourishment because of depleted resources, it could be okay to have a market and to bring on multiple vendors in the same category. For example, we had three mushroom vendors when we usually have only one to keep product balance with customer traffic, and they all gave the impression that they did well, relative to the time. 
 

I was thinking about opening the market to other vendors then Black Trumpet Farm : [link removed] requested to come and I thought, “Oh, of course they can come, then let’s open the door to everyone!” So, we opened our roster to vendors at other markets like East Asheville : [link removed], River Arts District : [link removed], and North Asheville : [link removed], which filled the market and gave other local vendors (whether they are on the roster or not) the opportunity to vend when other markets were closed. Because communications were still so spotty on Oct. 1, vendors just showed up and we welcomed them. We did not charge a vendor fee on Oct. 1, then we did pay what you can on Oct. 8.
 

Being open and being a place that is a regular community event and fixture, operating at the same time with the opportunity to purchase local, a lot of people came up who were riding their bike by – they were so excited to see people. I think people just needed to be with each other. Also as far as customer needs, our second market after Helene had two massage therapists, tea with Shunyu, music, free supplies, and a mental health clinic all lined up along the front of the church like a wellness wall of support for the community. The free resource booth is becoming a fixture of the market, especially with the help of our host, Grace Baptist Church.
 

How has the collaboration amongst markets been?
 

Those emails that Mike (ASAP’s Farmers Market Program Director) sent connecting us all. I could quickly see what other markets are doing. Luckily, the River Arts, East Asheville, and West Asheville markets already have the weekday market alliance which has been helpful to keep in touch with each other and have each other’s back. Especially during this time, having a group text with these markets and having other market managers to brainstorm with, it’s like having people on your team even when we are all doing mostly the same thing just a different day of the week and as separate businesses. We really showed up to support each other.
 

What is giving you hope right now?
 

One of my vendors doing my laundry! The well water—I went to take a free shower at the Foamy Homies by Doctor Bronners at the Grassroots AID Partnership : [link removed] site on Haywood. When I got there Lewis (of Bear Necessities Farm : [link removed] and a vendor at WATM) was there pumping free water from his well into the showers. Then, after him, Mateo (of Herbs and Roots : [link removed] and a vendor of WATM) showed up with water from his well too. I have seen Mateo multiple times and multiple different sites filling water. So, that’s giving me hope that our farmers market community, many who live so far out of town, are coming into West Asheville to help meet needs and fill water sites. At our first market back, Black Trumpet Farm even brought water and vendors were giving out free food.
 

Photo by Caleb Johnson : [link removed].

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Crockpot Applesauce : [link removed]
To celebrate the North Carolina Crunch today, ASAP's Growing Minds staff took apples, recipes, and activities to a garden party at Verner Center for Early Learning : [link removed], where staff and families were gathered for the first time since the storm. They shared this crockpot applesauce, made with apples from Creasman Farms : [link removed]. The combination of Stayman and Gala apples were so sweet, no extra sugar or honey was needed!
 
Ingredients
10 local cooking apples, peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks3/4 cup water1 teaspoon cinnamon1 tablespoon local honey (or adjust as needed)
Directions
Peel, core, and cut apples into small chunks.Put apples, water, and cinnamon into the crock-pot, which should be about 3/4 full.Cover and cook on high for about 3 to 4 hours.Add honey and stir.Cool and enjoy!
Find more recipes at growing-minds.org : [link removed] and asapconnections.org. : [link removed]

 

"So many restaurants have closed down due to lack of power and water, and that's a huge market outlet for many farm businesses... High tunnels were just obliterated pretty much across Western North Carolina. We're coming into the season where you need high tunnels to increase the temperature of crops so they can survive frost and grow through the winter, and that can be a big percentage of a farm's business... Several of our farms, especially in Henderson County, do massive u-pick operations, and it's really a critical part of their business... Healthy and productive topsoil is perhaps one of the greatest time and money investments for a farm. For many farms, that was completely washed away, or with the toxins that were in some of the floodwaters, it's been replaced by soil you don't know the health of."
—David Smiley, ASAP's Local Food Campaign Program Director, talking about the affects of the storm on farms in 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.
 

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

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