If
you own a local farm or business that uses local food products, you can
be listed in our Local Food Guide. If you're already included in the
2008 edition, update your
listing for 2009. We're working on the new edition for spring
publication.
ASAP's Local Food Guide is one of the largest and most
comprehensive guides to local food available anywhere in the United States.
It's available for free in print around the region and online at www.buyappalachian.org.
In
other Local Food Guide news, a Northeast Georgia Local Food Guide has
just been released. North Georgia Technical College (NGTC) partnered
with ASAP to create a version that spotlights the producers and
providers in NGTC's eight-county service area. Look for this new guide
at tourist destinations and Chambers of Commerce in Northeast Georgia
or call Sandra Maughon at 706-754-7715 for more information on this
Guide's distribution.
Local Food Top Trend for 2009
The National Restaurant Association has released the study Chef
Survey: What's Hot in 2009. The number one food trend identified is
"locally grown produce." No place is better suited to serve those
in-demand local foods than Western North Carolina,
with its combination of a vibrant restaurant scene and a wealth of family
farms.
The Buncombe County Tourism Authority is promoting the Asheville area as "the world's first
Foodtopian Society" with good reason. Western North Carolina is home to
12,000 family farms and the downtown Asheville area alone has dozens of independent restaurants.
For the National Restaurant Association's survey, more than 1,600 chefs ranked
over 200 choices by the how trendy they thought the items would be in 2009.
Here, chefs are well ahead of the curve and have been serving local foods for
years. And they're more than a trend--fresher foods that haven't traveled as
far to the table are better tasting, and the heritage and heirloom varieties
often cultivated on family farms offer distinctive flavors.
Local, and Still In Season
Think
you can't eat local in winter? Western North Carolina
restaurants are proving otherwise, keeping up their commitment to serving local
foods throughout the colder months.
Salad
mixes, winter squash, apples, mushrooms, mustard, grits, jellies and jams,
honey, trout, goat cheese, hoop cheese, feta cheese, eggs, pork, chicken,
catfish, bacon, sausage, bratwurst, roast beef, lamb, bison ribs, breads--this
is a sampling of local items available on the menus of 28806, Early Girl
Eatery, Laurey's Catering, The Lobster
Trap, The Market Place, Savoy, Storie Street Grill, Square 1 Bistro, and Tupelo Honey Cafe right
now.
28806
and Square 1 Bistro, among others, are buying greenhouse salad. Early
Girl
Eatery is receiving a winter CSA from Green Toe Ground Farm. Tupelo
Honey's own chef is growing produce for the restaurant. Look for local
food, learn how it was grown, and enjoy culinary tourism at home.
There's still time to register for the Marketing
Opportunities for Farmers Conference (MOFF) at a reduced early rate. This sixth annual
conference will be held on Saturday, February 28th at Warren
Wilson College
in Swannanoa, NC. Organized by ASAP, MOFF provides farmers
with training and networking opportunities they need to profit from the growing
popularity of buying local, and to sustain their farms.
Workshops about promoting farm products include Marketing
Basics for the New Farmer, Marketing Grass Fed Meats, Successful Tailgate Marketing in Rural Areas,
and Successful Models of Cooperative
Marketing.
Other
workshops focus on selling to institutions and wholesale buyers, as well as
broadening farmers' direct sales to consumers. The conference covers ideas for increasing
income sources including Extending Your
Market Season and Opportunities in
Value Added Products (such as jellies and sauces made from produce). Welcoming Visitors to Your Farm for Fun and
Profit addresses tapping into the growing interest in farm tourism.
Business workshops teach farmers how to use the
QuickBooks accounting software and discuss options for financing farm
enterprises. The Regulatory Overview and GAPS Certification workshops will clarify common concerns of farmers.
Workshops
are taught by fellow farmers, agriculture professionals, and marketing
specialists.
Farmers
and those seriously considering farming as a profession should attend.
Potential buyers of locally-grown goods are also invited to attend the full
conference, or come to network for no charge. Opportunities for farmer/buyer
meetings are planned. Students who are members of FFA
are invited too--free of charge.
If
you register before February 1st, the
cost for the conference is $30, or $40 per two farm partners. Beginning
February 1, the cost is $35, or $50 per two farm partners. Price
includes light breakfast, local foods lunch, and resource
notebook. Contact ASAP to receive an FFA
scholarship. Other scholarships are available for those with financial
need.
If
you own a local farm or business that uses local food products, you can
be listed in our Local Food Guide. If you're already included in the
2008 edition, update your
listing for 2009. We're working on the new edition for spring
publication.
“First
Steps in Starting a Market Garden Business,” a free workshop led by Peter Marks of
ASAP, will be offered at The North Carolina Arboretum on January
31.
jan09 
If
you own a local farm or business that uses local food products, you can
be listed in our Local Food Guide. If you're already included in the
2008 edition, update your
listing for 2009. We're working on the new edition for spring
publication.
