| In a state where small farmers account for a sizeable chunk of North Carolina’s $79 billion agricultural industry, the 30th Annual Small Farms Week observance is using that farm expertise to put food on the table of hungry residents statewide.
Sponsored by The Cooperative Extension Program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Small Farms Week will be celebrated March 20-26 with workshops, tours, farming demonstrations and other events.
This year’s observance has an extra focus: employ the statewide reach of Cooperative Extension to rally donations of nonperishable food. One in four North Carolina counties—from Columbus county in the East to Haywood and Yancey counties in the West—is conducting food drives at local County Cooperative Extension centers to feed local food-insecure residents.
Each participating county is encouraged to collect a minimum of 125 items in solidarity with the 125th anniversary of N.C. A&T’s founding. All donated food will remain in the respective counties to stock food pantries.
The annual celebration of small-scale agriculture and the farmers that produce it kicks off with tours and discussion March 21, in Vance County, home of the 2015 N.C. Small Farmers of the Year. The observance continues March 22-23, at A&T, with educational workshops, demonstrations and a March 23, luncheon where the Small Farmer of the Year for 2016 will be announced. On-campus participants, including faculty and staff, are also asked to donate canned goods that will go to a Greensboro-area food bank.
Participating counties, thus far, in the food drive are: Alexander, Anson, Bladen, Burke, Cleveland, Columbus, Cumberland, Davie, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Guilford, Haywood, Martin, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Nash, Onslow, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Stokes, Vance, Yadkin and Yancey.
For more information about the 30th Annual Small Farms Week, please visit the School of Agriculture and click on Cooperative Extension. |
