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monthly news from ASAP | MARCH 2021 | asapconnections.org
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Find Your Market's Opening Date!
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Farmers tailgate markets are readying tents for the new season, with many openings scheduled in April and May throughout the region. Find a complete list of the more than 100 Appalachian Grown farmers markets, including opening dates and hours.
These early spring markets will offer an array of produce, including colorful root vegetables like carrots and radishes, tender lettuces and salad greens, cold-hardy greens like kale and spinach, mushrooms, spring alliums, and much more. In addition to produce, market vendors will have meats, cheese, eggs, bread, and prepared foods as well as a wide selection of plant starts.
Read about what regular market shopper Catherine Campbell looks for at spring markets in our Faces of Local interview below. And for a weekly report on what's fresh at markets, subscribe to our weekly newsletter!
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Double SNAP Continues at 8 Farmers Markets
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School Gardening Workshop with Growing Minds
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 Join ASAP’s Growing Minds team for a free virtual school garden workshop and networking session March 25, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Preschool and K-12 educators as well as families are welcome. Please register to receive the Zoom link.
- Hear about the resources and support Growing Minds offers for school gardens.
- Get tips for starting (or restarting) a garden this spring, summer, or fall.
- Network and share resources with other school garden stakeholders.
- Brainstorm creative ways to keep students engaged in gardening during COVID-19.
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New Round for Appalachian Farms Feeding Families
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 ASAP is thrilled to bring back the Appalachian Farms Feeding Families program for 2021. This program, begun during the pandemic, gets fresh, healthy food to people who need it—while also fairly compensating farmers. ASAP works to connect farms with feeding sites or childcare centers in their own communities and subsidizes the cost of food, packaging, or delivery.
In 2020, the program served 26 sites in 18 counties, working with 28 farms (including SMM Farms, pictured with peppers going to Haywood Christian Ministries). Between 3,000 and 4,000 families received fresh, local produce each week. Food deliveries for 2021 will begin in late April and May. Find more details about the program and a preliminary list of participating sites.
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Call for ASAP Operations Intern
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Are you (or do you know someone) interested in nonprofit leadership? ASAP has just added an operations internship—a great opportunity for some nuts-and-bolts organizational experience, including working with Google Workspace and Salesforce integration. Find out more and apply.
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 FACES OF LOCAL |
| |  ASAP likes to share the stories of people who help us fulfill our mission. This month we talk with Catherine Campbell, founder of Asheville Strong, about why she shops at farmers markets and what she's looking forward to this spring. Last month Asheville Strong released a print edition of its cookbook featuring recipes from local chefs and restaurants. Proceeds benefit the Feed Our City program, which helps preserve local restaurant jobs by paying for employees to cook meals for community members in need. Buy a copy here.
What are you looking forward to as farmers markets reopen for the spring?
The thing that I’m looking forward to the most is trying new (or new to me) heirlooms or different types of vegetables that I don’t grow in my own garden. That’s an especially exciting part of the farmers market in the spring. There are types of lettuces I’ve never tasted before, radishes I’ve never seen before. It’s so much fun to try something colorful and new.
I live next to East Asheville Tailgate Market, so I’m really excited about that market opening back up in April this year. I also go to the ASAP Farmers Market every Saturday.
What's your farmers market shopping strategy? Do you shop with a plan and a list, or do you like to buy on impulse?
I’ve flipped my plate. I think vegetable first instead of protein first. For me that’s been a creativing and exciting challenge to fill a plate with vegetables, then have my proteins complement that. So the first thing I do is visit Ten Mile Farm. What they have in season or determines my strategy for the rest of the market. Next I’ll look for proteins and dairy. And whenever I go to market, I’ll treat myself and my family to one special thing. It could be a chocolate croissant or a fresh jar of kimchi. Maybe it’s even something we would normally get, like eggs, but instead we’ll try duck eggs.
I think what I love the most about shopping at the farmers market is that you don’t want to go in with a plan. If you leave yourself open to that surprise and delight, you’ll find it every time.
Do you have a favorite springtime dish or meal you'd like to share?
I try to keep it pretty simple, like a whole bunch of greens on a plate. I love doing something with fresh radishes and good butter on fresh bread. That’s such a great seasonal treat—really comfort food. Then I pair that with a good cut from a local farm like Warren Wilson, Hickory Nut Gap, or Dry Ridge.
What have you learned from the farmers you buy from?
I’ve really opened my eyes a lot to sheer amount of labor and time that goes into bringing product to market. Really getting to know farmers inside and outside of the market is helpful to changing the system—understanding why things at the market might cost more than at a grocery store or mass market. If you follow a farmers Instagram or chat with them and see behind the scenes, you start to appreciate that and understand that shopping at farmers markets is an investment in your community.
Why is shopping at farmers markets important to you?
I grew up in a farming community, so being part of a farmers market or around farmers has always been a part of my life. What I tell friends and family who have moved from big cities or haven’t had access to farmers markets, it literally tastes so different. Once you taste what fresh local food can be, it’s really hard to go back.
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 RECIPE OF THE MONTH |
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As part of ASAP’s Farm Fresh for Health initiative, we’re partnering with community health professionals to bring you virtual cooking demos to inspire your farmers market shopping. In the latest episode, Dr. Brian Asbill of Ruckus Health is demoing his family's take on taco night with plant-based tacos. These's a lot of room to improvise, but his version includes sticky rice and purple sweet potatoes from Lee's One Fortune Farm, as well as spiced and crumbled tofu standing in for ground beef and cashew cream instead of sour cream. Try the recipe below or watch the demo here.
Taco filling ingredients:
- 1 pkg. medium or firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Tamari or soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- Soft tortillas or burrito wraps
- Rice, cooked
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 bell pepper, sliced
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 sweet potato, cubed
- Cilantro leaves
Cashew cream ingredients:
- 1/2 cup cashews
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
- 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- Dash of salt
To prepare the taco filling:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Press the tofu in a press or wrapped in a towel and weighted down with a heavy pan or books for 20 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine oil, Tamari, tomato paste, maple syrup, and spices. Stir to combine.
- Crumble pressed tofu into the bowl with the paste. Stir until combined. Spread out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring midway through.
- Using 1 tablespoon of water, sauté onion, pepper, and mushrooms.
- Steam cubed sweet potatoes until tender.
To prepare the cashew cream:
- Place cashews in a high speed blender, such as a Vitamix. Add water to cover. Add lemon juice, vinegar, and spices, and blend on high for 1 minute. The cream will thicken as it chills. Loosen with additional water if needed.
Assemble the tacos:
- Warm tortillas or wraps for a few seconds in a microwave. Add rice, baked tofu crumbles, and vegetables. Top with cashew cream and cilantro leaves. (Optional: Add other toppings, such as guacamole or salsa.)
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PHOTOGRAPHER SPOTLIGHT |
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Our March photo of the month comes from Mary Carroll Dodd of Red Scout Farm. Gardening (or farming) with kids is a great way to engage all the senses, encourage healthy eating, and teach skills like patience and responsibility. Find more resources for educators and families at growing-minds.org.
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 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS |
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AVL Today including the ASAP Farmers Market in a roundup of markets opening this spring and also mentioned ASAP's resources for finding CSAs.
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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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ASAP’s Double SNAP program
