Corrected NCGT logo
NCGT Monthly Project Update
In This Issue
Upcoming Events and Workshops
FreshPoint Open Houses Attract Farmers Ready for Business
Spotlight on New NCGT Resources
Partner Profile: Piedmont Culinary Guild
Upcoming Events

Start or Grow a Food Business in North Carolina: A Marketing Webinar for Small Business Counselors
April 11, 2017 | 10-11 am | Virtual 
This webinar will train small business counselors and developers on the best ways to work with food businesses in their region, with particular emphasis on value-added food producers, caterers, personal chefs, food truck operators, and other local food innovators.   More info...

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Kitchen Incubators & Small Food Businesses in North Carolina: A Webinar for Small Business Counselors





May 24, 2017 | 10-11 am | Virtual 
Presented by NCGT and the North Carolina Rural Center,  this webinar will train small business counselors and developers on the opportunities available to food business clients through kitchen incubators in North Carolina.   More info...
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Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
(co-sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association)

 
May 16, 2017 | 9 am - 4 pm | Henderson, NC 
The Navigating the Harmonized GAP Audit workshop will combine classroom and on-farm instruction to provide producers with the tools needed to identify potential food safety concerns, as well as strategies to minimize potential contamination.   More info...
 About NCGT
  
GOAL | Bring more locally-grown foods - produce, meat, dairy, and seafood - into mainstream retail and food service supply chains, thus enhancing food security by increasing access to local foods and by strengthening the economics of small to mid-sized farm and fishing operations.
  
STRATEGY | Identify the most promising solutions by which local production and associated value-added activities can enter local retail and food service markets, pilot these solutions in North Carolina, and evaluate and report the results for the benefit of other states and regions.
  
March 30, 2017
Greetings all,  

Thanks for reading our monthly newsletter and please let us know what you think.

Sincerely,

The NCGT Management Team

FreshPoint Open Houses Attract Farmers Ready for Business
FreshPoint's Chris Woodring giving producers a tour of the warehouse.

FreshPoint, in partnership with NC Growing Together and NC Cooperative Extension, hosted two informational sessions for interested growers on February 21 in Raleigh and February 23 in Charlotte. Attendance was capped at 15 producers per site to allow growers plenty of opportunities to speak one-on-one with buyers. 

The tours attracted 36 produce and dairy farmers from across the state (see map below). NCGT and NC Cooperative Extension assisted in organizing the sessions, recruiting and vetting producers who met the distributor's requirements, including GAP certification (or willingness to become GAP-certified) and general liability insurance. 


Map shows the geographical location of farmers who attended the open houses.

Robin Smith of NCGT partner TRACTOR attended the Raleigh meeting. She had already talked with FreshPoint buyers and filled out their paperwork, and says that the meeting "solidified the initial contact and helped in getting to the final step of talking about specific products and quantities for delivery to their warehouse".  She appreciated the time that FreshPoint took in giving growers a tour of their warehouse and talking one-on-one with each of them.  "FreshPoint really showed their commitment to working with local farmers," she says.
 
Chris Woodring, General Manager of FreshPoint Raleigh, was happy with the sessions as well.  "We are all working towards the same goal and that is to increase the amount of food grown and consumed in North Carolina by North Carolina growers. Each of us plays a part in that process and understanding each other's role as well as any challenges that each of us face, will allow for us to be better connected and realize the synergies that we may have otherwise overlooked."

Fresh produce or dairy/cheese producers interested in distributing through FreshPoint can get on the mailing list for future warehouse information sessions by emailing NCGT Project Manager Rebecca Dunning at  rebecca_dunning@ncsu.edu . Producers interested in connecting directly to FreshPoint can review the company's new vendor inquiry packet  on the NCGT website. 

Spotlight on New Resources



NC Growing Together has released several new resources that will be of interest to producers, buyers, educators, and other audiences.

Resources for Small Business Centers and Small Business Technology Development Centers

On March 15, NCGT sponsored a Food & Farm Financing Summit for nearly 70 Small Business Center (SBC) counselors from across the state. The session included short presentations from six Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and lending agencies in North Carolina that offer specialized programs in food and farm financing. The highlight of the session was speed-networking between the lenders and business counselors. 

Participating lenders included 
AgCarolina Farm Credit ,  Carolina Small Business Development Fund ,  Natural Capital Investment Fund ,  North Carolina Rural Center 's Microenterprise Loan Program and USDA Farm Service Agency Loan Program, and  Self-Help Credit Union .

The session was part of the annual professional development conference for the North Carolina Small Business Center Network, hosted at North Carolina's 58 community colleges statewide.

The Farm and Food Business Resource Guide: Developed for the North Carolina Small Business Center and Small Business Technology Development Center Networks was designed to help small business developers across North Carolina who are working with food entrepreneurs and farms. It provides an overview of common issues and associated resources, as well as a guide to North Carolina Cooperative Extension and agricultural resources and an overview of grants, financing, and other capital programs that support farmers and food businesses.



Postharvest Handling Resources

NCGT has conducted eight postharvest handling workshops over the past 3 years, reaching more than 150 producers and extension agents. Resources developed for these workshops are available on the NCGT website, and are intended to support extension agents and others in holding their own postharvest handling workshops.

Postharvest Handling for Enhanced Shelf Life: This PowerPoint presentation can be used by Extension agents and others who host postharvest handling workshops for farmers in their local region.

This guide outlines the processes needed to host a successful postharvest handling workshop, as well as links to resources that can be used, including the Postharvest Handling PowerPoint presentation, a North Carolina-specific Wholesale Specifications Guide, and multiple resources for growers to learn more about postharvest handling and quality issues.


NC Seafood Resources


Distributors of NC Wild-Caught Seafood : Compiled by NC Catch and NC Growing Together, this document provides information on wholesale/retail companies that distribute locally caught North Carolina seafood throughout the state.

NCGT and NC Catch also collaborated on
Inland  and  Coastal Market Lists of where to find fresh local seafood throughout the state.


Local Food Marketing in Retail Settings
Hosting Local Food Events with Grocery Stores & Retailers: A Guide for Community Groups and Non-Profits Working with Local and Regional Retailers.   Research on consumer purchasing behavior finds that "grocery stores where people already shop" is the location where people are most likely to buy local food. Advocates and store owners can heighten consumer interest and sales in local food by holding "Meet the Farmer" or "Local Food" events in area grocery stores.   NCGT created this step-by-step guide for holding an in-store event based on the experiences of NCGT partner Lowes Foods.

Partner Profile: Piedmont Culinary Guild



NC Growing Together's newest partner is the Charlotte-based Piedmont Culinary Guild (PCG).  The PCG is working to connect the food chain in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina by providing a gathering place and hub for innovative chefs, farmers, food artisans, culinary educators, and other professionals committed to building a local food economy.
PCG's Food and Wine Symposium in March 2017.
"PCG and NCGT are a natural fit," says Laura Lauffer of NC Growing Together, who attended a recent PCG member event to explore connections between the two new partners.  Each group brings their unique connections to the table: NCGT provides a critical link to producers - including seafood producers through NCGT partner NC Catch, and meat producers through NCGT partner NC Choices - as well as a connection to NC Cooperative Extension.  Piedmont Culinary Guild provides a connection to the chef and restaurant community in Charlotte, an area where NCGT can provide business networking and capacity-building support for local producers.  "We have the same goals and working together we'll be twice as effective," says Lauffer.
NCGT is co-sponsoring Piedmont Culinary Guild's Producer-Buyer Connections event on April 30,  which will focus on making connections between meat/seafood/dairy producers and chefs/restaurants.  For more information, please visit the PCG website.  If you are a Charlotte-area producer, buyer, or chef and are interested in attending the event, please contact Laura Lauffer at  ldlauffe@ncat.edu or 919-444-1478.
Project Contact Information

Nancy Creamer,  Co-Director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, NC State University; and Project Director, NC Growing Together,  nancy_creamer@ncsu.edu , 919-515-9447

Rebecca Dunning, NCGT Project Manager, rebecca_dunning@ncsu.edu, 919-389-2220

Emily Edmonds, NCGT Extension and Outreach Program Manager,  emelders@ncsu.edu, 828-399-0297
  
Laura Lauffer , Project Coordinator, Local Farms and Food, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Cooperative Extension Program ldlauffe@ncat.edu , 336-285-4690  

JJ Richardson, NCGT Website and Communications Coordinator,  jj_richardson@ncsu.edu, 919-889-8219 


This project is supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grant no. 2013-68004-20363 of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. 
   USDA NIFA logo
© 2013-2017 NC Growing Together
www.ncgrowingtogether.org