monthly news from ASAP    |   JULY 2022    |    asapconnections.org

19 Farms Announced for ASAP's 2022 Farm Tour
: [link removed]
 19 farms will participate in ASAP's 2022 Farm Tour : [link removed], Sept. 17-18, 12-5 p.m. These farms, including 10 new to the tour in 2022, represent some of the amazing diversity of agriculture happening in our region. Learn about harvesting rice in Western North Carolina, pick your own apples, feed farm animals, explore the process of honey-making, and much more! Farms are organized by cluster to help you plan and maximize your time on the farm. Haywood Cluster: KT’s Orchard and Apiary : [link removed], Sustainabillies/Two Trees Farm : [link removed], Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa : [link removed],  : [link removed] Ten Acre Garden : [link removed]
Leicester Cluster: Mount Gilead Farm/French Broad Creamery : [link removed], Davis Ranch : [link removed], Franny’s Farm and The Utopian Seed Project : [link removed], Addison Farms Vineyard : [link removed],  : [link removed] : [link removed] Wheel Farm : [link removed] Cluster: Camp Grier : [link removed], Crow Fly Farms : [link removed], Sweet Betsy Farm : [link removed],  : [link removed]’s One Fortune Farm : [link removed] Cluster: Raspberry Fields : [link removed], Creasman Farms : [link removed], Bee-utiful Farm and Garden : [link removed], Holly Spring Farm : [link removed], Sideways Farm and Brewery : [link removed], Jeter Mountain Farm : [link removed] more : [link removed] about what each farm will offer on the tour and use our Farm Tour map : [link removed] to start planning your weekend. Advance passes ($35, good for all passengers in your vehicle) are on sale now : [link removed]. You can also sign up to volunteer : [link removed] for one day of the tour and tour for free the day you aren't working.



Farm Fresh for Health Regional Symposiums
: [link removed]ASAP's first Farm Fresh for Health Regional Symposium : [link removed] took place July 14 at Perry's Berry's Vineyard and Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton (pictured). Join the conversation and register for your spot : [link removed] at upcoming symposiums now! The symposiums are designed for healthcare professionals in Western North Carolina to take part in farm tours, hands-on activities, and facilitated discussion about how they can use Farm Fresh for Health tools in their own practices to improve health outcomes. Thursday, July 28, 4-8 p.m.
KT’s Orchard and Apiary : [link removed] in Canton, NCKT Taylor, formerly a nurse at Mission Hospital and farmer/owner of KT’s Orchard and Apiary, will welcome us to her farm and talk about the ways her clinical nursing background have influenced the products and partnerships she cultivates around her business.Vecinos : [link removed] Executive Director Marianne Martinez and Farmworker Health Program Manager Valeria Barrera Vizcarra will talk about how they are working to incorporate local food and nutrition education into their clinical services for the uninsured Latinx community in WNC.Jenna Kranz, founder and executive director of Uncomplicated Kitchen : [link removed], will be joined by Nilofer Couture, Registered Dietician and the Clinical Nutrition Manager at Cherokee Indian Hospital, to talk about the ways they are helping community members make better food choices through meal plans, shopping lists, and healthy, simple, and affordable recipes.David Smiley will talk about ASAP’s Appalachian Farms Feeding Families program, a COVID emergency-response effort that worked to get fresh, healthy, direct from farm food to vulnerable community members, and how the program spurred a renewed commitment to local sourcing in hunger relief effots across the region.Dinner is catered by by Luis Martinez of Tequio Foods : [link removed], Aug. 27, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.Hendersonville Farmers Market : [link removed]
Meredith Freidheim, City of Hendersonville downtown events and market coordinator, will lead a tour of the market, focusing on how she works to create a community gathering space.Prescription programs are innovative preventative medical tools to reduce the prevalence and severity of diet-related illness, food and nutrition insecurity, and high healthcare costs. Sonya Jones, founder of Caja Solidaria : [link removed] and the coordinator of Henderson County Committee for Action and Nutrition (CAN), will join ASAP's Larissa Lopez and MAHEC's Stephanie Stewart, in a discussion of how these produce prescription programs are working in local healthcare systems. Amy Lazarus Yaroch, executive director of the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition : [link removed] and project director for the the GusNIP Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information Center (NTAE) : [link removed], will facilitate a conversation delving deeper into produce prescription models that can serve unique community needs and how healthcare providers can play a critical role in nutrition education.ASAP’s Mike McCreary will talk about about how food security programs such as SNAP/EBT and WIC at farmers markets, as well as complementary incentive like Double SNAP, have evolved in the region and how markets are well-suited to take on health incentive programs.Lunch is catered by Launa Marie of Homemade Pasta Noodles : [link removed] back : [link removed] for a rescheduled October date for the symposium at Winding Stair Farm in Franklin, NC.



Virtual Trainings from Growing Minds Farm to School
: [link removed]'s Growing Minds offers training opportunities for educators and community members around farm to school programming. We have several upcoming virtual events for educators and community members.
School Garden Training : [link removed], Aug. 3, 4-5 p.m. Please register in advance. The training will be repeated on Sept. 17 and March 3.Farm to Preschool Training : [link removed], Aug. 17 4-5:30 p.m. Please register in advance. The training will be repeated on Oct. 12 and Feb. 8.
Can't make it to a training in person? We've posted a few virtual trainings to ASAP's YouTube channel : [link removed]! Join Debbi and Cameron (pictured) to learn how to offer a local foods cooking demo : [link removed] or get tips on starting an edible school garden : [link removed].

Find more farm to school resources at growing-minds.org. : [link removed]ñol Buttons Available
: [link removed] Español? Let your customers know! ASAP has buttons available for free for farmers or markets in the Appalachian Grown region to help connect with Spanish-speaking shoppers. Request buttons via the Appalachian Grown materials order form : [link removed]'ll find the same icon now throughout ASAP's website noting areas where we have Spanish-speaking staff to assist (including our services for Appalachian Grown farmers : [link removed] and partners : [link removed] and the Farm Fresh Prescription Program : [link removed] at farmers markets).



20 YEARS OF ASAP
: [link removed] part of ASAP's 20th anniversary celebration, each month we are sharing the origins of some of our programs. In 2006, ASAP introduced the Appalachian Grown brand : [link removed]. The logo identifies food grown or raised by family farms in the region, 60 counties in Western North Carolina and parts of Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina within 100 miles of Asheville. ASAP certifies family farms and farmers markets as Appalachian Grown. Restaurants, retailers, wholesalers, and artisan food producers that source from local farms are designated as Appalachian Grown partners.
Look for the Appalachian Grown logo on product labels and displayed at grocers, restaurants, and other businesses. When you see it, you know the product was grown here and that your purchase supports our local economy!

FACES OF LOCAL
Shaniqua Simuel
: [link removed] likes to share the stories of people who help us fulfill our mission. This month we're talking to Shaniqua Simuel, founder of Change Your Palate, a grassroots whole-food meal prep program focusing on BIPOC people who suffer from type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Shaniqua also works with the WNC Food Justice Planning Initiative : [link removed] and Shiloh Community Garden.

You grew up in Asheville?

I was raised in the Shiloh community. My grandfather was the president of the Shiloh Association. I'm his oldest granddaughter. People call me his shadow. I went wherever he went. He died 10 years ago. I wanted to continue the legacy. Currently, I’m a coordinator at the Shiloh Community Garden. There are three of us who work there. The other two have a green thumb. I'm working on community engagement and with youth.

How did you come to your work in health education and food justice?

I went off to college and eventually earned an MS in Public Health. For my Capstone project, I wanted to address food insecurity in the rural county where the college was. I was working with a local food pantry that happened to get lots of fresh produce. But nobody was taking it. I asked if I could I make two meals that are friendly for Type II diabetes and petition the people that stand in line. I ended up with eight families for a qualitative study. I did something like Hello Fresh, creating a meal prep bag that had fresh ingredients from the food pantry. I created a recipe card and laminated it. I would sit with each family in their home for an hour and ask questions about their grocery shopping habits, their label literacy. What made them go to that particular food pantry? How do they know that they're eating healthy? What indicators are there? One lady said the colors. I thought, “Oh, maybe she's getting produce!” But she was talking about labels. I learned that people really depended on food pantry in that area, that cost was associated with their health outcomes. People wished they could have a meal when they left that food pantry. They didn’t always know what to do with the food. You couldn't always afford to go grocery shopping in addition.

After graduate school, I applied for AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and got into both. I took the Peace Corps option as a health educator in Ethiopia. I was supposed to be there until May of last year, but of course COVID pulled me out after three months. I moved back home to save money and just to collect my thoughts. I didn’t have a pandemic plan. Nobody did. Phyllis Utley, who I knew from A-B Tech, suggested I apply for a grant, which I received, and then I learned about another one. With grant funds, I was able to start Change Your Palate, a whole-food meal prep program that focuses on BIPOC families that have Type II diabetes and hypertension. I got my certification as a community health worker and I’m partnering with ABIPA for my first families. We’re subcontracting through the Health Opportunities Pilot.

I want to focus on the social determinants of health and how the non-medical needs that we have affect our health outcomes. I'm learning more about trauma-informed nutrition. What you experience as a child in your household affects the choices that you make today. I’m hoping to take a little pressure off of people when they have to make another health choice because of a diagnosis like Type II diabetes. I want to learn more about local food systems—who’s connected to who, who’s already doing what works and how I can partner.

How did you connect with ASAP?

I learned about ASAP thorough the WNC Food Justice Planning Initiative : [link removed]. I’ve been the coordinator for Healthy Food Distribution and Nutrition and Cooking Education for six months. David Smiley was part of the healthy food distribution group [through ASAP’s Appalachian Farms Feeding Families : [link removed] program], and he connected me to Larissa Lopez and the Farm Fresh for Health : [link removed] program. At the first Farm Fresh for Health symposium, there was a nurse practitioner with a pediatrician’s office who talked about having fresh fruits and vegetables available for the children when they have their appointments. Hearing stories like that and hearing what other people are doing is amazing. I'm hoping that by continuing to show my face, talk a little bit here and there, I can build trust and connect with the right people. And I got to pick lemonade blueberries!

What's are some of your most memorable local food experiences?

We do a lot of good things in Shiloh. I love talking to the people when they come to the garden for our free market. Last year we were growing Malabar spinach. It's a little bit thicker than a traditional spinach. People looked at it and said, “Oh, this is beautiful,” but they weren't taking it. So I learned to make some fritters with it. When people liked what they tasted I took them to the garden and showed them where it was growing and talked a little bit about how the sliminess is good for digestion. That got people’s minds going and some took a nice bit of it. I like doing that. We recently had a Juneteenth celebration. We had collard greens that we picked from the garden that were prepared certain way. Someone made cornbread and talked about the history of corn. Someone made vegetable skewers with okra and talked about the history of okra. Someone else made hoppin’ john and talked about black-eyed peas. People learned about that food and why one culture had more access to it than another, or why that was part of their plate consistently.

My grandfather planted pear trees in the garden over 10 years ago. They were dying earlier this year. They were all brown. I said, “Someone teach me how to prune!” Now we have pears. When I first noticed them, tears came to my eyes.

The reason I chose this avenue, other than my experience in graduate school, is my grandparents. My grandparents loved food. My granddad had a huge garden. He had four deep freezers in the basement. But I watched him and my grandmother take a lot of medicine for heart conditions and cholesterol. I was giving my grandmother and her mother insulin when I was eight years old. They died early. I know there’s a high chance that I could develop those problems if I don’t take care of myself. I’ve tried it the wrong way, losing weight quickly. I want the people in my household, in my community, to make different decisions around food. We’re still a butter-loving family. But there’s a chance. I’m always after that one family. If I contact 100 and there’s one family that makes different decisions that are going to help them generationally, then I feel like I did what I needed to do.

ASAP's next Farm Fresh for Health Symposium takes place this Thursday, July 28. Register or find out more about the series here. : [link removed] THE MONTH

Chilled Corn Soup with Basil Combat the heat with this no-cook chilled soup. Look for corn and basil at local farmers markets and farm stands.
 

Ingredients:
3 ears corn, shucked1 ½ cups buttermilk½ cup basil leaves, plus more for garnish3 scallions, sliced1 tablespoon fresh lime juice1 garlic clove, chopped1 teaspoon salt Cherry tomatoes, radish slices, or edible flowers, for garnish Extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish
Directions:
Slice kernels off corn cobs (you should have 3 to 3 1/2 cups kernels). Discard cobs and place kernels in a blender.Add buttermilk, basil, scallions, lime juice, garlic, salt and 1/3 cup ice cubes to the blender and purée until very smooth.Strain mixture through a sieve, pressing down hard on the solids. Serve soup garnished with radish slices, cherry tomatoes, or edible flowers, along with a drizzle of olive oil.
Adapted from The New York Times : [link removed].

MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
"Hmong rice is planted and harvested by hand, often with no machinery at all. Some people still hull it using a log that’s controlled by a foot pedal—basically a big, hammer-like mortar and pestle. While many Hmong sell their produce on a small scale, the Lees decided to do things differently. They set up Lee’s One Fortune Farm as a business and as a showcase to highlight their community. They sell their fresh produce at farmers markets around the Asheville area through the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) : [link removed] and directly to chefs like William Dissen of The Market Place : [link removed] in Asheville and Haymaker : [link removed] in Charlotte, and Andrea Reusing of Lantern : [link removed] in Chapel Hill."

—Our State : [link removed] magazine

“'Take two tomatoes and call me in the morning.' Not what most people expect to hear from their physician, but that’s the advice Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project is promoting through the Farm Fresh Produce Prescription program the nonprofit piloted in 2021 and has expanded this season."
—Mountain Xpress : [link removed]
 

“We are happy to be a small part of ASAP’s Farm Tour again this year. One of the most asked questions we get during the tour is, ‘What is the key to keeping the family farm sustainable and the land in agriculture production?’ We hope that our visitors can see firsthand the diversity in our production, sustainable procedures, and best management practices that we hope will propel our farms into the next generation.”
—Jason Davis, owner of Davis Ranch and North River Farms, in Morning Ag Clips : [link removed].

CONNECT WITH US
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asapconnections.org : [link removed] | growing-minds.org : [link removed]
appalachiangrown.org : [link removed] | fromhere.org : [link removed]
 
Donate to support local food, strong farms, and healthy communities today! : [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.



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

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