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State receives $7.6M to expand program connecting farmers with consumers

The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association FarmsSHARE program began in 2020. (Adobe stock photo)

The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association FarmsSHARE program began in 2020. (Adobe stock photo)

A statewide food assistance program has just received a federal grant of over $7 million. The funding will help expand the program, which connects small farmers and businesses with underserved communities.

The FarmsSHARE program is run by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA). It began in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the local food ecosystem, closing restaurants and disrupting food distribution channels.

The program was created to increase access to healthy, locally grown food, particularly for those in need. To date, over $3 million has been invested in local farms, food hub partners, and community-based organizations.

A new federal grant provides $7.6 million to CFSA, which will allow for the expansion of the program statewide.

Beth Farrell is a program specialist with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which helped secure the funding.

She points to a food hub in the High Country as an example of the program’s success.

"That group has been a founding partner with CFSA, and has been able to distribute over 21,000 pounds of locally sourced produce, protein, and dairy products for community partners in serving Ashe and Watauga counties," says Farrell. 

Farrell urges any farmers or community organizations who would like to partner with CFSA to contact them directly.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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