As Wendell Berry notes, “eating is an agricultural act.” When we make choices about what we eat, we directly affect the landscape where we live. When we eat locally grown food, we vote for a local landscape that includes farms. Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) wants to make it easier for people concerned with the loss of local farms, and who want to eat the freshest and healthiest food, to find restaurants, grocers, and other sources of locally grown food. The ASAP Buy Appalachian program asks local businesses to purchase food from local farmers and to support local farmers by increasing their purchases whenever possible. All ASAP partners are listed in the Local Food Guide and on-line at www.BuyAppalachian.org. Businesses that make an exceptional effort to support local farms (while serving the freshest food!) will be profiled here. Become a Buy Appalachian Partner by visiting the website at www.BuyAppalachian.org.

“Our customers want food from local farms,” affirms Lamar Stribling, produce department coordinator for the Hendersonville Community Co-op. A sign over the lush and full produce section confirms the Co-op’s dedication to satisfying the demands of their customers for locally grown produce. “We are committed to making the connection between local farms and food,” says Stribling, “When you shop at the Hendersonville Co-op, you are supporting local farms and the local economy.” The Co-op now places special signs with the name and location of the farm over their produce that comes from local farms. The Co-op also supports local farms in its Blue Mountain Cafe. This organic cafe and juice bar serves vegetarian meals and hormone-free meats and goes out of its way to incorporate local and seasonal foods. They also provide a “grab and go” case for those in a hurry that is re-stocked daily. From salads to vegetable plates, the Cafe serves up fresh food from local farms Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm. This year, the Hendersonville Co-op is celebrating its twenty-year anniversary and twenty years of support for local farms. They currently buy food from the Henderson County farms Oliver Organics, Windy Ridge Farm, Blueberry Hill Farm, and other local farms like Good Earth Organics and from the grower-owned organic farm cooperative Carolina Organic Growers (COG).

The Hendersonville Community Co-op is open seven days a week and is located at 715 Old Spartanburg Hwy. in Hendersonville and can be reached at 828-693-0505 or visited online at www.hendersonville.coop.

Charlie Jackson is the Local Food Campaign Director of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. For more info on ASAP, contact him at 828-293-3262, Charlie@BuyAppalachian.org.

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