Growing Local

Looking forward to an abundance of fruits and veggies this year? Community Supported Agriculture brings that bounty to your kitchen each week. Find out how to sign up for a CSA, and why CSAs support farmers and healthy eating.

Tobacco barns hug the curves of most rural roads in Madison County, NC. Hear how these stalwarts of the past are being honored by the Appalachian Barn Alliance and how Root Bottom Farm transformed its old tobacco barn into a beacon of local food.

Tobacco farming was once the backbone of agriculture in many parts of Western North Carolina. We look back at the culture that grew alongside tobacco and how communities are changing as farming moves to new crops. Photo courtesy of Appalachian Barn Alliance

How does food travel from farm to plate? One route is local wholesale distributor Mountain Food Products, which has connected farmers with chefs and home cooks since 1984. We visited its headquarters in Asheville to hear how the business has grown and learn about its CSA.

Aaron and Nicole Bradley of Colfax Creek Farm have generations of farming experience in their families. While they don’t work the same soil as Aaron’s great-great-grandparents, they carry on the family’s commitment to raising pastured livestock at the farm’s new location in Bostic, NC. Photo credit: Bright Planning

Hear how ASAP’s Growing Minds @ University program teaches dietetic interns ways to integrate local food and farms into their future careers.

Hear how the Wehr family turned a beekeeping hobby into a thriving business that provides honey and mead to Graham County, NC and beyond.

Local employers are encouraging staff to eat healthier and support local farms through workplace CSAs. Hear how the Community Supported Agriculture model works at Appalachian Regional Healthcare System in Boone, NC.

Kids love kale when it's prepared with care. Join Biltmore chef Kirk Fiore for a local food taste test at North Buncombe Elementary.

When Bobby and Elsie Deal founded Deal Farms in 1951, there was no way to know if the fruit stand would weather the next 70 years. Now their grandson, Joe Deal, maintains this thriving farm in Franklin, NC, along with his wife, five kids, and extended family.

In the last installment of ASAP’s community story booth, Stephen and Judi McCrae from Greenville, SC talk about their work at Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery and how they will teach their young daughter to love local food.

Harold and Nancy Long grow heirloom seeds at their 40-acre farm in Murphy, North Carolina. Hear why they maintain this tradition and how it fits into efforts to support agriculture in the Cherokee community.

Farmers markets are full of gifts this time of year. We tagged along as an Asheville local and her friend from New York City went shopping at Asheville City Market. Hear their conversations with farmers and craftspeople as they pick out holiday presents.

Come along to Winding Stair Farm in Franklin, North Carolina to hear how they raise turkeys on pasture.

Two Asheville-based chefs, Ashleigh Shanti and Philip Bollhoefer, talk about their own Thanksgiving traditions and give advice on how to enjoy a locally-sourced holiday feast.

Community member Kay West stopped by ASAP’s story booth to talk about how she explores Western North Carolina through its local restaurants and farmers markets.

A thriving food system depends on strong relationships between farmers. Hear how Beacon Village Farm built local partnerships while scaling up from a market garden to an organic wholesale farm.

Workplace CSAs are picking up steam as employers seek out ways to support the health of their employees. Hear about the City of Asheville’s pilot CSA program and how it’s impacting city staff and Stonecrop Garden farm.

Hear how Vincent and Colleen Sicca from Weaverville, North Carolina turned a family garden project into a local business in this episode of ASAP’s community story booth.

Sara Jane Davis co-founded A Way of Life Farm in 2009 and it’s been an exciting ride ever since. She talks about the childhood garden that sparked her love of growing and shares her vision for the next 10 years on her farm in Rutherford County, North Carolina.