Tailgate Markets and Fresh Strawberries!

This is a very exciting weekend for local produce growers and lovers! Many local tailgate markets opened this week or will open this weekend. Check out this article in the Hendersonville Times-News about the markets in the Hendersonville area, Tailgate Markets Open for Business.

If you aren't in the Hendersonville area, check out ASAP's listing of opening dates and locations of markets all over WNC and beyond: 2011 Market Opening Dates

The strawberry season is in full swing. The crop looks great this year and the berries taste great (trust me!). Though we had some cold weather this week that caused a frost situation in some areas of WNC, the crop looks great and berries are abundant. Check out the Hendersonville Times-News article about the strawberry crop in Henderson County, Plentiful Crop has Henderson Growers Smiling.

Looking for strawberries near you? Visit ASAP's On-line Local Food Guide or check out the NC Strawberry Growers Association website for more information on strawberries in NC.

Speaking of ASAP's Local Food Guide, it's the guide's 10th Anniversary! To celebrate there will be a Local Food Guide Release Party tomorrow, May 7 at Highland Brewery from 4-8pm. There will be music buy Uncle Mountain (from 6-8 pm)and food from Tupelo Honey Cafe.
More details.

WNC Tailgate Market Video

The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) has created a great commercial for our local tailgate markets that are members of the Mountain Tailgate Market Association (MTMA). The purpose is to introduce our local tailgate markets to new clients. The commercial is visually stunning and features a local grower.

The commercial will run on cable channels (it will not run on Direct TV or Dish) in all counties where there is a market that is a member of the MTMA. The 30 second commercial began running this Wednesday. The commercial will also air in the Spring.

WNC Tailgate Markets are encouraged to embed this commercial to their websites, blogs or Facebook pages.



To view the commercial in YouTube visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYUBiOxwHf0

To learn more about the MTMA or to sign-up your tailgate market to become a member, visit the MTMA website for details.

Farmers Markets: There's an App for That

GrowingProduce.com just reported on a new app that Apple iTunes store has just launched for smartphones that is designed for food lovers to locate farmers markets in their area.

Unfortunately, the "Farmers Market Finder" app will only help market lovers in California, Massachusetts, Florida, Delaware, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington D.C, Georgia, Maryland and New York.

We need this in North Carolina!

Below are some of the features of this neat new app (from the GrowingProduce.com article "Smartphones and Farmers Markets"):

"Apptika’s Farmers Market Finder apps provide a comprehensive listing of farmers markets, farms/farmstands and CSAs with:

• Address and Location Description
• Amenities (i.e. fruit, veggies, meat, bakery, prepared foods, etc)
• Months/days/hours of operation
• Website, phone and/or email contact information, if available
• Special information, when available, such as parking, winter hours, and“rain or shine” info
• Ability to save to Favorites.

The app has a built-in interactive map that utilizes geolocation to:

• Locate the farmers markets to your location
• Browse an entire state, county or metropolitan area
• Get turn-by-turn directions"

The 10% Campaign: Pledge to Buy Local

There are some pretty exciting things going on in NC in the world of local food.

Have you heard about the 10% Campaign? The 10% campaign was created by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) and is a partnership between the NC Cooperative Extension Service and the Compass Group, the world's largest food service company.

The goal of the10% campaign is to challenge individuals, businesses and communities to pledge that they will spend 10% of their food dollars on locally grown and produced foods. We spend $35 billion dollars per year on food. If we pledge to spend 10% on local products, that would mean $3.5 billion dollars would be available to our local economy!


To learn more about the 10% Campaign, to see who has already pledged or to make a pledge yourself to "Make a choice. Make a difference. Make it Local", visit www.nc10percent.com.


Read about the NC State University Dining's comittment to buying local and joining the 10% Campaign. University Dining has pledged that 10% of the food served will be locally grown and produced by 2012.

Read about the NC State University's Campus Farmers Market in Raleigh.

Exciting event: Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project's Local Food Institute on October 13-14 in Asheville. This two-day program is designed to share information and strategies on ASAP’s innovative approach to creating environments where local food economies thrive.

To see more information including the conference agenda and speaker bios and to register go to http://www.asapconnections.org/localfoodinstitute.html.