The mission of Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food.

Our decade-long Local Food Campaign serves as a national model and provides consumers with the Local Food Guide, a free print and online directory of the area’s family farms, tailgate markets, and business that use local agricultural products. The campaign’s influence has helped local food sales in Western North Carolina triple in the last three years alone.

ASAP identifies and defines “local” through our Appalachian Grown™ branding and labeling program. We created the Appalachian Grown logo as a tool to help shoppers easily identify authentically local food. When they see the logo, you can feel confident that the farm products were grown or raised right here in Western North Carolina, and that the purchase helps to support our local economy. Over 400 family farms, 200 business outlets using the products of area farms, and dozens of farmers tailgate markets are currently Appalachian Grown certified.

Our Growing Minds Farm to School Program takes ASAP’s work to area schools/preschools/Head Start centers to foster awareness and build appreciation amongst the next generation. The program provides resources and training to farmers, teachers, chefs, school nutrition staff, parents, and other community members to encourage schools to provide the experiential education that will ensure children know where their food comes from and develop lifelong healthy eating habits. Part of that hands-on work includes matching chefs to classrooms for cooking demonstrations that introduce children to the wonders of locally grown foods. ASAP is also the SE Regional Lead for the National Farm to School Network.

ASAP organizes the Asheville City Market and coordinates the Mountain Tailgate Market Association, a network of 22 tailgate markets in counties throughout Western North Carolina, to provide locations for farmers to sell their products and for consumers to purchase locally grown foods while meeting and engaging with growers. The Asheville City Market is pleased to accept EBT (food stamps in electronic form) as well offer the Kids Corner Market, a happy space at the market that provides healthy food and physical activity for children Saturdays June – August.

Annually, ASAP hosts our Family Farm Tour (summer)—a weekend where WNC farms open their doors and barns to offer enriching on-farm experiences—and organizes our Business of Farming Conference (winter) to provide planning and marketing workshops for farmers.

The end goal of all of these programs, campaigns, and events is to keep farmers farming and providing a safe and nutritious food supply that is produced, marketed, and distributed in a manner that enhances human and environmental health. In other words, a local food supply that is sustainable—that sustains us, our communities, our local environment.

To learn more about ASAP’s work, visit www.asapconnections.org or call 828-236-1282.

Check out ASAP on Facebook and Twitter!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Appalachian-Sustainable-Agriculture-Project/95087453436

http://twitter.com/asapconnections

And take a look at our brand new community website, with a blogging component: http://fromhere.org/.