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monthly news from ASAP | MAY 2020 | asapconnections.org
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Announcing the Appalachian Farms Feeding Families Program
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ASAP's new Appalachian Farms Feeding Families program gets fresh, healthy food to people who need it—while also fairly compensating farmers. Our communities are facing unprecedented challenges right now, with many families struggling to access fresh foods. Farms in our region are entering the time of year where production is high, but many have lost market outlets with closures or reduction of service in restaurants, schools, and other institutions. The Appalachian Farms Feeding Families program facilitates direct connections between farms and relief efforts that might not otherwise be logistically feasible.
ASAP will partner with food relief efforts, including food banks, charitable prepared food services, and child and adult care feeding sites, on an individual community level. After assessing needs, ASAP will contract with a farm or farms to supply one or more sites. This contract may include subsidizing or covering the cost of packaging, delivery, and/or products, and can be customized to fit different sizes and types of farms as well as relief efforts.
Farms and relief agencies who would like to participate should start by filling out interest forms on ASAP's website. The first phase of this project will focus on rural communities in Western North Carolina, but please indicate your interest regardless of where you are located.
This program is supported by the Appalachian Grown Farmer Relief Fund. Donate today to support your farmers and community.
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 Every year, our Growing Minds program purchases seeds from Sow True Seed for distribution to schools and preschools. When schools closed this spring before the seeds had been given out, we shifted gears to send them home with shoppers at the ASAP Farmers Market. But that wasn't enough! The Growing Minds team ordered 2,400 additional seed packets from Seed Programs International, a hunger relief program headquartered in Asheville, and another 500 heirloom okra seed packets were donated by Slow Food Asheville. These seeds will be distributed to families at home, along with a tip sheet on sowing seeds for novice gardeners, through Buncombe and Haywood County School Nutrition meal sites, as well as WCCA/Head Start centers in Henderson and Haywood Counties and Buncombe Partnership for Children sites.
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Farmer Relief Discount on Appalachian Grown Materials
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 Farmers are facing many added costs due to COVID-19, and increased packaging requirements are a big one. To help offset these costs ASAP is offering Appalachian Grown branded packaging materials, including all four sizes of wax boxes and small and large roll bags, at a 25 percent discount. Note that all items must be preordered for scheduled pickup, as the office is not currently open for walk-ins. Get new pricing and the order form on our website.
This discount is made possible with support from the Appalachian Grown Farmer Relief Fund.
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Grants Going Out to Farmers and Markets
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 Appalachian Grown Farmer Immediate Needs Grants, intended to help farmers who have lost sales due to COVID-19 pivot to new market outlets, have gone out to 25 farms to date (including Carringer Farm, pictured, modeling Appalachian Grown roll bags in action). Farmers plan to use the assistance from this grant for a range of immediate needs, including advertising, updating online presence and e-commerce, packaging materials, sanitizing products, and farming equipment. Look for stories about these farms and how they're using the grants in upcoming episodes of Growing Local Radio, ASAP's weekly podcast.
Farmers Market COVID-19 Response Grants, which assist markets in the Appalachian Grown region with increased public health measures, have been awarded to 37 farmers markets. In addition, ASAP has procured and delivered hand sanitizer and/or masks for 22 markets in need.
Both grants are supported by the Appalachian Grown Farmer Relief Fund and will continue to be made on a rolling basis as long as funds are available. Donate today!
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When Will Asheville City Market Reopen?
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Both locations of the Asheville City Market (downtown on N. Market St. and in South Asheville at Biltmore Park Town Square) will remain closed until social distancing recommendations have been lifted. Many of the vendors from these markets can be found at the ASAP Farmers Market, which will continue to operate at A-B Tech on Saturdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon until the other markets can fully reopen.
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Where Is the Local Food Guide? |
With so many farms, restaurants, and other local food businesses in flux, ASAP will not be printing the 2020 Local Food Guide with full listings, which were submitted prior to the disruptions caused by COVID-19. Look for local food and farm stories in an abbreviated print edition this summer and continue to use the online guide at appalachiangrown.org—now with added search functions for online ordering, delivery, and pickup options—for the most up-to-date farm and business information.
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Is the Farm Tour Still Happening?
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ASAP's 2020 Farm Tour, originally scheduled for June 20–21, has been postponed until farms can once again safely welcome visitors to their farms en masse. In the meantime, look for virtual farm tour experiences for kids from ASAP this summer. We look forward to seeing all of you out on the farm someday soon!
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 FACES OF LOCAL |
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ASAP likes to share the stories of people who help us fulfill our mission. This month we're talking to Wesley Sleight, of Sleight Family Farm in McDowell County, who recently joined the advisory committee for the NC Farm to Preschool Network, co-facilitated by Growing Minds. He's pictured here a few years back sampling microgreens at the Child Care Center of First Presbyterian Church of Asheville.
How did you first get involved with farm to school programming and education? Why is it important to you?
I have been involved in farm to school activities since 2003. I was working for a couple of farms in Santa Barbara, California, and I represented them for school visits to discuss life on the farm, organic farming, and nutrition. I also started a produce wholesale business selling produce from local farms to public schools, universities, hospitals, etc.
What motivated you to move to North Carolina and farm full time?
I have family ties to NC, and I lived here for a while as a teenager. After spending many years delivering wholesale produce through my previous business, I finally decided it was time to purchase our own farm. I have always wanted to move back here, and my wife Anna, my son Finley, and I finally made the move in 2013. We now have a 30-acre farm near Old Fort, and it is the best life we can imagine for ourselves!
What are you excited about in working with Growing Minds and the NC Farm to Preschool Network?
I have always been excited to share the enjoyment of delicious produce that makes the body feel so alive and healthy. I really look forward to helping kids and their families enhance their connection to nature and nutritious produce.
What are some of the ways you like to educate young minds about the importance of farm-fresh food?
I like to share with kids how eating nutritious produce makes your body like a superhero. It will make you feel more energetic, smarter, stronger, faster, etc. And to have a close connection to where your food comes from makes you feel even better when you eat it. It is important to support farmers in our community.
How are you and your family doing during COVID-19?
We are doing great during this difficult time. Our farm is named Sleight Family Farm because we all take part in growing great food. Our seven-year-old son enjoys our lifestyle and he is very patient with all the work we need to get done. Some days can run pretty long with all the homeschooling (Fin normally attends public school in Swannanoa) on top of the busy spring farming season, but we are staying healthy and trying to have reasonable expectations about what we can accomplish in a day.
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PHOTOGRAPHER SPOTLIGHT |
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Our May photo of the month was taken by Susan Hawthorne, displaying the bounty of a u-pick strawberry adventure. Many u-pick farms have closed their doors to visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some farms are setting up precautions that will allow community members to pick safely. Find u-pick farms on ASAP's online Local Food Guide and contact farms directly to find out what their plans are for this year.
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 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS |
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 ASAP’s Growing Local audio series runs on WNCW on Monday mornings during Morning Edition at 8:45 a.m. Here are a few recent episodes:
You can listen to all Growing Local episodes on SoundCloud, iTunes, or on ASAP's website.
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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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