The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) aims to support local farms, connect them with markets, and promote healthy communities through local food initiatives. Key programs include the Growing Minds farm-to-school initiative and a local food campaign that reported significant growth in direct sales and community engagement. ASAP also provides resources like mini-grants and training to integrate local food into educational settings.

1. Emily Jackson, ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project)

2. Our mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to
markets and supporters, and build healthy communities
through connections to local food.

3. Local
Food
Campaign
Growing
Minds
Local
Food
Research
PROGRAM
• Local Food Campaign – Business
of Farming conference, Local Food
Guide, Appalachian Grown™ local
certification program
• Growing Minds Farm to School
• Local Food Research Center
APPROACH
• Build capacity
• Make connections
• Assess
• Drive demand

4. Local Food Campaign

5. WESTERN NORTH
CAROLINA
THE REST OF
NORTH CAROLINA
UNITED STATES
Direct sales to consumers $8,311,000 $23,515,000 $1,309,287,000
Direct sales per capita $7.45 $2.72 $4.17
Direct sales: percentage change
+69% -3% +8%
2007 to 2012
CSA farms 2012 148 431 12,617
Population/CSA farm 2012 7,533 20,031 24,880
Farms marketing products
directly to retail outlets
678 2,201 49,043
Percentage of all farms
marketing directly to retail
6.21% 4.38% 2.33%
Or one farm per X number of
people
1,644 4,429 6,401
Farmer average age 57.3 58.9 58.3

7. What is Farm to School?
• School gardens
• Cooking in the
classroom
• Farm field trips
• Local food in the
cafeteria

9. Providing resources and support to
integrate farm to school into the
classroom, the cafeteria, and the
community through:
• Mini-grants
• Seeds in spring and fall
• Annual farm to school conference
• Lesson plans, lending library,
monthly e-news
• Cooking equipment
• Farmer connections
• Stickers, recipe cards, other
promotional materials
And more! Check out the
www.growing-minds.org

10. "This project has motivated me even more to continue this major and to incorporate farm to
school in my future classroom."
-WCU Undergraduate Student

11. Making an Impact
● 12,464 children had 40,704 Farm to
School experiences in 20
Appalachian Grown counties
● Farm to school training provided to
1109 teachers, school nutrition staff,
parents
ASAP serves as the SE Regional
Lead for the National Farm to
School Network
“She tasted some new things and
got very excited every time there
was a recipe. She even had us
make some of the recipes at home.
As a result, we’ve made her own
recipe notebook at home.”
- Elementary school parent

12. Thank you!
Emily Jackson
emily@asapconnections.org
828-236-1282 ext. 101
growing-minds.org