KANNAPOLIS ó Think about a state-supported network of “local food systems” in which local farmers would partner to supply local markets and restaurants.
The farmers get the income they need; other businesses get the fresh food they need, and consumers enjoy getting fresh produce grown near them, supporting local businesses and helping the environment by cutting transportation of products great distances.
That’s one of the ideas the Agricultural Advancement Consortium is spearheading and may discuss Thursday when its members visit N.C. State University’s Program for Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture located at the new N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.
Among its many efforts, the Value-Added team supports the development of a local foods system.
The Agricultural Advancement Consortium operates under the auspices of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center and its 23-member board includes large and small farmers, representatives of other agribusinesses and leaders of state and local government and almost every major agricultural group in the state.
The legislature created the consortium in 2000 and charged it with developing “a shared vision for farming in North Carolina” and coordinating efforts to “improve farming’s long-term vitality.”
Billy Guillet, the consortium’s director, said members are looking forward to hearing about research and initiatives supported by the Program for Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture. The program and N.C. State’s Plants for Human Health Institute are part of the larger research venture between Dole Food Co. owner David Murdock, the University of North Carolina System, Duke University and a growing number of private companies.
Dr. Blake Brown, Value-Added director, also serves on the Agricultural Advancement Consortium and invited the group to visit the Research Campus.
Brown said he welcomes the opportunity “to showcase our programs, to show what N.C. State is doing to help farmers.”
Brown also credited the consortium with providing several important grants to N.C. State, including:
– $12,000 to help start the Value-Added program in Kannapolis.
– $150,000 for research to strengthen production and breeding of strawberries and blueberries in North Carolina.
– $24,000 to build prototype portable hand-washing facilities. This initiative, led by Rod Gurganus of the N.C. State Value-Added Program, will support the efforts of the N.C. Fresh Produce Safety Task Force.
Guillet credited Brown and his Value-Added team with “looking for and opening up opportunities” for new markets and new products to take the place of practices that don’t work as well now. Guillet said the Value-Added program is “giving farmers alternatives.”
While gathered in Kannapolis, consortium members will discuss critical issues facing farmers this year.
With last year’s drought affecting all parts of the state, water will prompt much discussion this year at the General Assembly, Guillet said.
The consortium will closely monitor any legislation this session that would further restrict farmers’ access to needed water.
Legislative proposals would regulate the number of wells a farmer can drill and catch ponds they use to support irrigation. Another proposal would require farmers to measure and report their water use.
“Agriculture is the biggest industry in the state and provides a safe, affordable and nutritious source of food,” Guillet said. “Any legislation that will increase the cost of production or the time farmers spend to comply with regulatory reporting requirements will affect their productivity, their ability to stay in business and ultimately the price consumers pay at the grocery store.”
The consortium already administers a cost-sharing initiative to help farmers statewide recover from the drought.
The N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund provided most of the funding with a $6 million grant, and the legislature contributed another $1.5 million.
Read more about the Program for Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture at www.ncvalueadded.org.