Communities across North Carolina have been pushing for change in our food system all along, and continue to do so every day. This work would not be possible without the community-led, grassroots work that has drawn attention to problems and built momentum around promising solutions.
Almost a decade ago, the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) presented From Farm to Fork: A Guide to Building North Carolina’s Sustainable Local Food Economy. That report pulled together food system players from across NC to identify game-changer ideas to improve food systems in NC, many of which have been accomplished since. Including:
North Carolina has made strides since the publication of the report, but at the same time, much more work needs to be done. Progress has been difficult to track because food system players do not coordinate to collect, analyze, or act on shared metrics. Now, CEFS and others have committed to continuing to moving the work forward. Led by the stories of communities, we will collaborate to identify metrics and develop more big ideas to take action on.