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monthly news from ASAP | SEPTEMBER 2021 | asapconnections.org
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Farm Tour Photo Contest Winners!
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Thank you to all the farms, volunteers, staff, and everyone who came out to participate in the 2021 Farm Tour! We had a fantastic time and we love hearing your stories and seeing your photos from the weekend. The above images are the winners of our 2021 Farm Tour photo contest. Clockwise from top left:
- Sarah Jane Casciato, tractor jumping at Cane Creek Valley Farm: "We've recently moved to Fairview and are just starting the adventure of growing our own homestead/farm. We wanted to check out some farms nearby and support ASAP and our local farming community. Cane Creek Valley Farm has some fun kids' climbing attractions, but why stop at the made for climbing area when we could climb on farm equipment!"
- Rebecca Lance, swallowtail chrysalis on dill at Sideways Farm & Brewery: "Each year, [owner] Carrieann [Scnheider] lets her dill go uncut once she notices swallowtails arriving."
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Emily Yagielo, silo at Mount Gilead Farm: "The family-run Mount Gilead Farm spoke straight to my country roots with its picturesque setting, buildings, farm animals, and tools. We greatly enjoyed the fresh-made cheese and soaked up the morning sunshine." Find more of Emily's work on Instagram @burnttoastfusedglass.
- John McCaig, pigs at Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa: My father was visiting from Washington state. A pop-up rain storm had us hiding under a tree as I tried to get pictures of the pigs before getting soaked." Find more of John's photos at johnmccaig.com.
We are so grateful for the support of our Farm Tour sponsors, especially our title sponsor, Explore Asheville, and top media sponsors WNC Magazine and The Laurel of Asheville, for helping to make this year's tour possible.
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 The North Carolina Crunch celebrates National Farm to School Month in October, but you don't have to be a student or educator to participate! Anyone can join in by crunching into a locally grown apple at noon on Wednesday, October 20 (or another day during the month of October). Find resources for how schools, farmers, businesses, or other groups can get involved on the Growing Minds website, including:
- Sign up your class, school, or entire district
- Host a Crunch at your farmers market in October.
- Crunch at home or in the office with your family/co-workers.
- Set up a Crunch photo booth at your business and encourage customers to post selfies.
- Do you work at a restaurant? Feature a local apple recipe on your menu.
- Plan an employee field trip to a u-pick apple farm.
- Post pictures of your Crunch on social media with the hashtags #NCCrunch and #F2SMonth.
Register your event to get additional resources. No event is too small to register and you can skip the questions for schools if your event will not be held in a school.
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Take the Double SNAP Survey
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We're seeking feedback and impressions about ASAP's Double SNAP program from community members, SNAP participants, market vendors, and market managers. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey, which will help us improve and sustain this program. All answers will be kept confidential.
In 2021, ASAP supported Double SNAP at eight farmers markets in Western North Carolina, including ASAP Farmers Market, East Asheville Tailgate Market, Enka-Candler Tailgate Market, Hendersonville Farmers Market, Mills River Farm Market, North Asheville Tailgate Market, Transylvania Farmers Market, and West Asheville Tailgate Market. This program increases access to fresh, local food in our communities while supporting farmers and local food businesses.
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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 talked with Dr. Sydney Hendry of The Family Health Centers in Asheville. Dr. Hendry is one of the physicians participating in ASAP’s Farm Fresh Prescription Program pilot, in which healthcare practitioners can prescribe a farmers market visit to their patients.
How can shopping at farmers markets help people live more healthfully?
The healthy experience of the market goes beyond the food. It includes walking, socializing and breathing fresh air. My kids were taught to eat a rainbow a day of fruits and vegetables. I think it’s easier to create that rainbow in the open air of the farmers market. And to talk with the farmers about how to prepare different foods makes new foods less intimidating. I’ve learned several cooking tricks from the farmers and discovered foods I wouldn’t have otherwise purchased.
How do you talk to your patients about visiting farmers markets as part of the prescription program?
There is strong evidence that whole food plant-based nutrition, daily movement, and socialization are essential to overall health and can reverse chronic diseases, like hypertension. I present the farmers market prescription program as a “prescription” and let them know I’ll be there too.
Have you heard from patients about their experiences shopping at farmers markets through the prescription program?
I’ve heard back from a few patients. The feedback has been very positive. Fresh food isn’t easily accessible for many people, and ten dollars of fresh produce makes a huge difference. If they don’t know how to cook, I list foods available at the market that can be enjoyed raw, like bell peppers and tomatoes or even a cup of coffee or popsicle. Getting there is the most important part. This prescription program gives people that incentive and motivation to come back the next week.
What are some of your own favorite farmers market experiences?
Saturday morning at the farmers market is one of my favorite moments of the week. Spending time outside with nothing to do and nowhere to be, enjoying music and friends, watching the kids run around and get excited about picking out fresh produce while taking in all the colors and smells recharges me every weekend.
Do you have products you look forward to each season and/or favorite ways to prepare them?
Apple season is a favorite in our house. We eat them fresh or dehydrate them for later. Butternut squash is also popular in our house, made into a pasta sauce, soup, or curry. We roast just about any vegetable tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin. This summer we enjoyed a sauté of cherry tomatoes, corn, spinach, okra, and garlic with a fish fillet. Before kids, I would get whatever attracted me and try to find a recipe that used as many ingredients in one dish, which is how I found a great blueberry, shallot, and balsamic glaze for salmon. Now that I’m busier, I’m more focused with a menu for the week, often based on what is in season and what I saw at the market the previous week.
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 RECIPE OF THE MONTH |
| Chicken-Apple Curry Salad
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Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts, about 1 pound
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced + 1 knob for poaching chicken
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
- 1/2 tablespoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- pepper
- 1/3 cup scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 local apples, diced
- 1/3 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
Directions:
- Place chicken breasts in a medium pot and cover with water. Add lemon juice, knob of ginger, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring water to a boil, then flip breasts, remove pot from stove, cover, and leave for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Cool chicken in liquid, uncovered, in refrigerator.
- Cut chicken into half-inch pieces. In a large bowl, combine chicken, diced apples, scallions, and walnuts.
- Whisk together yogurt, spices, orange peel, honey, and minced ginger. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste. Fold into chicken and apple mixture.
- Serve over a bed of lettuce or on toasted slices of sourdough bread. Enjoy!
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PHOTOGRAPHER SPOTLIGHT |
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Our photo of the month come from Sky Top Orchard in Henderson County. Apple picking, hay rides, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, and cider tastings are all great fall activities to connect with farms in the region. However, a series of late frosts impacted apple crops this year, particularly in Henderson County, and some u-pick farms may open in a more limited capacity. Use the online Local Food Guide to reach out to your local favorites to see what they are offering this year.
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 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS |
| "For locally sourced produce, cheese, honey, baked goods and crafts, visit one of the city’s many farmers markets. Check the ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) website for a list of the weekly markets, also known as tailgate markets."
—Lonely Planet in a roundup of the best free things to do in Asheville
"The Farm Tour is about getting to know not only your food, but getting to know your farmer."
—ASAP events coordinator Erica Shanks speaking to Asheville FM
[Feeding Avery Families] is joining a group called ASAP, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, which is based in Asheville. [Through ASAP's Appalachian Farms Feeding Families program, the feeding site] will be buying goods from local farmers so that FAF customers will be able to benefit from fresh produce. “I think it’s going to be a really exciting partnership for us."
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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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