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monthly news from ASAP | AUGUST 2022 | asapconnections.org
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Plan Your Weekend for ASAP's Farm Tour!
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ASAP's Farm Tour is in just a few weeks, on Sept. 17 and 18! There's a lot of information about the tour to digest. You can purchase your pass and find details about farms, a map, and driving directions on our website (or look out for the free printed guide around the region). Not sure how to plan your tour? We have a few suggestions if you need some focus!
Volunteer for the Tour
You can get a unique and up-close experience of a specific farm by volunteering for the tour. As a volunteer, you spend one afternoon, from 12–5 p.m., welcoming visitors at a far. In exchange, you receive a free tour pass (good for everyone in your car) to visit farms on the day you aren’t working. Volunteering is a great way to connect with a local farm, make new farm friends, and meet people from across the region! We need volunteers both Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17-18. Find out more and sign up to volunteer here.
We're also looking for volunteer photographers and videographers for the Farm Tour weekend! Email [email protected] if you're interested in volunteering in that way.
Tailor Your Tour
ASAP’s Farm Tour offers a variety of experiences, whether you are looking for the best spots to entertain kids, to pick up tips for your own farm or garden, go for a hike, or just to relax and sip a locally made beverage. The following themes—while not exhaustive—can help you narrow down which farms you’re most interested in visiting and curate your tour experience.
Check Out Our Sponsors
Photo credit: Kids enjoy feeding the pigs at Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa on the 2021 Farm Tour. Photo by Camilla Calnan Photography. |
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Why Do You Buy Local Food?
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We want to know! ASAP’s Local Food Research Center is expanding on our 20 years of consumer research, and we are looking for people to share their thoughts about local food values and connections in 20-minute interviews.
All are welcome, but our goal is to hear from people with a variety of backgrounds and local food experiences. The first 10 people who take part in interviews before Sept. 17 will receive a free Farm Tour pass!
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Final Farm Fresh for Health Symposium on Oct. 13
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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. Featured in the Oct. 13 symposium are:
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Rose James, nutritionist and project coordinator for Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Food Distribution Program, will lead attendees in a short yoga practice.
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Lisa McBride, founder of WNC Farm to Table, is collaborating with Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Public Health and Human Services Department’s Syringe Exchange Program and Tribal Food Distribution Program to infuse local food and nutrition education in an existing health program.
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Stacy Bredendieck is the co-owner of Winding Stair Farm & Nursery, which offers a wide variety of Certified Naturally Grown vegetables through CSAs, retail store, and markets. A trailblazer for food security, the farm also proudly accepts SNAP/EBT and funds a SNAP match program.
- Jennifer Trippe, director of ASAP’s Growing Minds Farm to School program, is a Registered Dietitian with nearly two decades of experience working to improve the health and well-being of the Western North Carolina community. She has worked at MANNA FoodBank, Food Connections, and as a WIC Nutritionist and Diabetes Educator.
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Hannah and Alan Edwards opened Yonder Community Market will talk about ways that community events can be a catalyst for shifting healthy eating behaviors and social norms.
- Dinner is catered by Mary-Martin Steele, a former employee of Winding Stair and now the owner of Mary-Martin Meals.
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Save the Date for NC Crunch!
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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 19 (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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Madeleine O'Toole is ASAP's new Market and Events Coordinator. She's managing Asheville City Market as well as taking the lead on many of ASAP's events, like the upcoming Farm Tour (Sept. 17-18) and Business of Farming Conference in February. She's also ASAP's point person for volunteers and internships.
Madeleine recently moved to Asheville from Memphis, where she has worked with Edible Memphis, Just City, and Memphis Tilth. She graduated from Rhodes College.
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 20 YEARS OF ASAP |
|  As part of ASAP's 20th anniversary celebration, each month we are sharing the origins of some of our programs.
In 2009, Asheville City Market was one of the first farmers markets in Western North Carolina to accept payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). At that time, fewer than 800 of 5,000 farmers markets nationwide were equipped to take SNAP. Since then, ASAP has worked to mitigate barriers to healthy food access, including helping markets across the region accept SNAP and working with community partners to increase awareness of SNAP at farmers markets.
In 2019, ASAP piloted Double SNAP at Asheville City Market. For every dollar spent using SNAP, customers get twice that amount to buy fresh, local food. ASAP expanded the program in 2020 and currently financially supports Double SNAP for Fruits and Vegetables at eight markets in Buncombe County, while promoting more than a dozen other SNAP incentive programs across the region. The current iteration of the program matches up to $20 in SNAP dollars spent with Farm Fresh Bucks, which can be used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at any participating market. |
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 FACES OF LOCAL |
| |  ASAP likes to share the stories of people who help us fulfill our mission. This month we're talking to Kikkoman Shaw, executive chef for Equal Plates Project (formerly We Give a Share). We Give a Share began during the pandemic as a way to support farmers with diminished sales outlets and provide community members in need with freshly prepared meals. The nonprofit reorganized as Equal Plates Project earlier this month, reaffirming its mission to shift the paradigm of food sharing. Kikkoman and his team at Southside Kitchen are preparing meals for schools, early learning centers, subsidized elderly homes, agencies service unhoused people, and to their neighbors in public housing. They've also launched a catering division—and provided a fantastic meal for ASAP's Agritourism Workshop at Creasman Farms! They continue to purchase food at market rates from farm partners.
Tell me about the work you’re doing now with Equal Plates Project.
We were feeding people in housing. We started out with like 550-something meals. People needed food. Now we’re transitioning into schools, and working with Food Connection again. Right now we’ve got it at 200 and something meals in schools, but that’s just for this first week. It’s going to go up.
Now, with our catering, when you hire us for an event, every plate you buy means we get to send one to people living in housing for free.
What are some of the meals you’re cooking right now?
Pasta and bolognese, frittatas with spinach, lemon-herb chicken, rice pilaf, squash casserole, beets and apple salad, kale salads, potato salad, watermelon and arugula salad. I did cucumber sticks and zucchini sticks with creamy lemon dip. Everything we cook is either from a local farm, like Gaining Ground Farm, or a local producer. Today I did a trout pasta salad and the trout came from Sunburst Trout. The cheese in my lasagna was from Looking Glass Creamery.
As a chef, what are some of the benefits of working directly with farmers?
Personally I love everything I put my hands on, because I get to turn it into my own masterpiece. I get to offer these kids and the people in housing healthy meals. You would have to go downtown and spend $30-40 to eat that same food, but with us you’re getting it for a low cost or free.
They can be really picky eaters, so if I can take something and turn it into something they will enjoy and like, that’s a wonderful feeling. Their palates are not used to eating like this, but now that they’re getting it, it’s changing their outlook. Their minds were kind of closed off to certain foods they would not touch. But now they’re loving it. Even with the kids—it’s something new, but it’s tasty, so they’ll take to it.
For me, it’s a good way to give back. The people who are in housing came from the same situation I came from. That’s why I stay and why I this work is more meaningful for me. I’ve had other opportunities come up. But I get to see people who are the same color as me getting fed for free the same food people pay $30-40 for. That’s a way of giving back after all the havoc I caused in the community when I was there.
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 RECIPE OF THE MONTH |
| |  Pepper season is in full swing at farmers markets and farm stands. You can tailor this Southwestern-style recipe to your preferred level of spice. Ask your farmer which peppers are mild or spicy. Typically sweet Italian or bell peppers will have no spice at all. Poblano or Anaheim peppers will be mildly spicy. This is also a great way to use up leftover veggies and grains, as you can swap out what you use in the filling according to what you have on hand or what you like.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups cooked whole grains, such as brown rice, farro, or quinoa
- 4 poblano peppers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes, any type
- 1 1/2 cups corn kernels, cut from about 2-3 ears corn
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped, plus additional for serving
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- Cayenne, to taste
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Cheese, such as shredded Monterey Jack, or crumbled goat cheese
- Lime wedges for serving
Directions:
- Slice the poblano peppers in half and remove the seeds and ribs. Place the peppers in a baking dish skin side up. Broil on high for about 7 minutes, then flip the peppers and broil 7 minutes more.
- In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Gently sauté garlic until fragrant. Add beans, scallions, tomatoes, corn, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, and a pinch of cayenne (if you like). Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Cook until heated through and flavors combined. Stir in rice or other whole grains. Remove from heat. Stir in half of the cheese, about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese or a few ounces of crumbled goat cheese.
- Place the pepper halves skin side down in a baking dish, and spoon the filling into each half. Top the filling with the rest of the cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.
- Serve hot. If desired, garnish with more chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice.
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 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS |
| Last March, ASAP formed the Appalachian Grown Farmer Resiliency Project to bring together leaders from nearly nine farms affected by Fred and other significant flooding events. The project was designed to identify and find immediate and long-term solutions and assist farms through challenging times. The goal is to create a region of resilient farms that can withstand extreme events. “A big portion of this project's aim was an acknowledgment that recovery from such a large storm takes a really long time. We all see the impact of the storm, we all hear the stories, but these types of flooding events take months and even years, if you can recover from them at all.”
“Her three boys can go through a bag of granola and a gallon of milk a day, she said, ‘so either I’m spending $5 on a bag of granola at the regular grocery or 98 cents here.’ She uses the money she saves to buy meat from pasture-raised animals, and fruit and vegetables at local farmers’ markets.”
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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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