Dear friend,

Thanks to caring and generous supporters like you, in 2025 we were able to positively impact our communities. As we close out the year, we’re reflecting on all we achieved together. 


Sometimes a little support goes a long way for a small business to promote themselves and increase customers. This year a farmer told us:


“This was instrumental in getting our name onto signs and into the community for our blueberry farm. We are so excited for this blueberry season to arrive! Words are not enough to show how thankful we are to have the support of ASAP to aid in our little farm venture.” 


Sometimes your help provides a meaningful experience for a child at school and they share that experience at home with their family. This year a parent told us:


“My almost-four-year-old daughter has such a strong understanding of where food comes from and how it is grown. She loves to plant seeds and nurture and care for them due to her involvement with this at school. She was also able to make candles out of local beeswax and has them hanging on her wall. She has a bedtime ritual where she smells them every night before bed because she loves the way they smell.” 


Then there are times your support eliminates a barrier to accessing fresh, local produce. This year, a Double SNAP participant shared:
 

“I love supporting local farmers. Fruits and vegetables are very expensive for me to buy as I don’t get very much in food stamps. The Double SNAP program is truly a lifesaver for me. And I am so appreciative!” 
 

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Your support could mean that a farm can participate in the Farm Tour and take a big revenue win that helps them recover from Hurricane Helene. A farmer who participated in Farm Tour this year told us:


“I am always one to say 'not enough' because we always want to see more, but we had our strongest revenue weekend since Helene with this event, so I am going to take the win and be thankful to all y'all at ASAP for allowing us to participate.” 


And for those in our community who got to go on the Farm Tour, you helped provide an experience that highlights how special our farming community is. This year, a Farm Tour participant shared:
 

“The overall impression was that without the small farms, life would have been 1,000 times more miserable for folks in Asheville. Fresh food would have been so much more scarce. It's a model that the rest of the country can learn from.” 
 

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Your support also encourages adventurous spirits! This year, an educator told us:
 

“I am always surprised how much students love to cook in the classroom. Our recipe called for diced onions. I thought for sure nobody would want to do that job, but I was wrong! Lots of kids wanted to chop them and a couple even tasted the raw onions. Lots of students tasted fruits and veggies that they have never tasted before. Maybe in the classroom they seem a bit more adventurous!” 
 

Sometimes, your donation means a community member can access free fruits and veggies at the farmers market to support their health. This year, a Farm Fresh Produce Prescription participant shared:
 

“...We were welcomed in kind ways by everyone who worked with the program (without judgement). Yay! It was so fun to try new produce and purchase things I would never buy due to the high costs. Thanks for offering this program to us.” 
 

ASAP is working to fix our food system. We want you to feel close to the farmers in our community and hear their stories, feel good because you’re eating the healthful food they produce, and feel proud because your dollars are invested in the local economy. We couldn’t do this work with you. A Farm Tour attendee this year told us: 
 

“As a consumer, I wanted to understand where my food comes from and the farming practices at local farms that I frequently buy from—both veggies and animal welfare. As a homesteader/gardener I wanted to understand techniques I might be able to use on my own property for gardening and farming and build connections to local farmers. As Virginia at Hickory Nut Gap said, 'farming is better with friends.'” 
 

You are our friends in this work. Your donation is tied to all the amazing stories we hear throughout the year. You help make it all happen! It will continue to take all of us, together, to keep moving the local food system in the right direction. Please help ASAP with a donation : [link removed] as we enter 2026 so that we can keep going!


With deep gratitude,
Your friends at ASAP
 

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

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