Add Comment Spring Renewal for Small Businesses : Free Agritourism Workshop Register Here Tuesday, April 23, 2013 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM - There is no charge for this event. Spring is here and it’s time for renewal! Does your tourism-related business need a new approach to attract tourists and locals? Join us in this interactive, unique seminar and discover ways to get creative with your time, resources and services. Together, we will identify how to build retention and revenue for your business this Spring and beyond! Speaker: Cortina Caldwell, Owner, Visit&Venture Location: JE Broyhill Civic Center, Lenoir NC Registration is still open for the 2nd Annual Food Business Conference, to be held on Friday, April 19, at the Burnsville Town Center. We have a great line up of speakers covering everything from improving your chances of getting financing to using social media to promote your food business. Special emphasis is on food safety, one of the hottest food trends in 2013. The registration form can be found here: http://www.ncagr.gov/markets/agribiz/food%20biz%20registration13.pdf The regitration fee includes breakfast, lunch, and materials. If you make and sell prepared food items, sauces, or baked goods, then come join us for a great opportunity to learn more about growing your food business and to network with other food entrepreneurs! Questions? Contact Annette Dunlap, Annette.dunlap@ncagr.gov or call 919.218.1049. Springhouse Farm, located in Vilas, NC is hiring a farm hand. Experience working on an organic produce farm is preferred but not necessary. Requirements include a strong work ethic and availability to work May- October. To inquire about the position, call Amy Fiedler at 828-719-6825 or email amy@springhousefarm.net 
NC CHOICES HOSTS WOMEN WORKING IN THE MEAT BUSINESS RETREAT: INTIMATE SETTING, HANDS-ON BUTCHERY, LADIES ONLY. Space is limited to 25 participants. Registration Information below NC Choices is hosting aWomen Working in the Meat Business Retreat May 20th – 22nd in Chapel Hill, NC. The retreat, sponsored by the Farm Credit Associations of North Carolina, is in response to the emerging role of female professionals within meat businesses. “Women are increasingly playing a leadership role in the meat sector, whether it’s as livestock producers, meat butchers, chefs or business owners,” says NC Choices’ Program Coordinator, Sarah Blacklin. “We’ve developed a unique retreat designed to address the challenges female professionals face in a male-dominated arena. The two-day, two-night retreat will focus on hands-on meat cutting, marketing, and merchandising. Both sessions will be facilitated by Master Butcher Kari Underly, author ofThe Art of Beef Cutting: A Meat Professional’s Guide to Butchering and Merchandising. The Farm Credit Associations of North Carolina are providing scholarships for female producers, meat processors, and food professionals located in North Carolina. “This is an important need and we are thrilled to be supporting NC Choices’ program,” said Maggie Hamm, SVP of Marketing for Carolina Farm Credit in Statesville, NC. “This event will be a superb opportunity for women who work in local and niche meat business to learn more about the important role they are playing in advancing the local meat industry.” A number of local business are also sponsoring the event, including Lantern Restaurant, which will provide space for participants to learn how to breakdown a beef and hog carcass, fabricate specialty cuts and create and prepare value-added products. The Chapel Hilltop Lodge, a unique agri-tourism lodge located on 46 acres and eight miles outside of Chapel Hill, will provide retreat accommodations. “We look forward to bringing our female leaders together to network and increase their technical skills,” says NC Choice’s Blacklin. ALL MEDIA INQUIRIES: Contact Sarah Blacklin, sarah@ncchoices.com FOR REGISTRATION AND SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION AS WELL AS SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Contact Meredith McKissick at meredith@ncchoices.com Retreat Package: $400 per participant. Includes overnight accommodations at The Chapel Hilltop Lodge eight miles outside Chapel. Lodge sits on 46 acres and features an organic garden, saltwater pool, extensive balconies, patios, pool table, exercise room and expansive common space in a beautiful agricultural setting. Meals include complimentary breakfast, lunch at the Carolina Brewery, cocktail social hour, and a special dinner at Lantern Restaurant, recognized by Gourmet Magazine as one of "America's Top 50 Restaurants" and "best farm-to-table restaurants". Participants will gain hands-on whole hog and beef butchery training from Kari Underly, a third generation meat cutter, inventor of the flat iron steak, and James Beard Award nominee. Participants will improve their understanding of how to market and merchandise meat products with increased proficiency, communication, and confidence in an intimate environment with top industry professionals. Participants will learn how to make specialty sausages and leave the retreat with meat to take home for their families. Butchery classes will be located in “Lantern Table”, Lantern restaurant’s new community kitchen and private dining room on Franklin St. in downtown Chapel Hill. Space is Limited to 25 participants and registration occurs on a first come first serve basis. For more information on the Farm Credit Associations of North Carolina please visit: www.carolinafarmcredit.com www.agcarolina.com www.capefearfarmcredit.com Local health departments across the state of North Carolina have been awarded Community Transformation Grant (CTG) Project funding to implement policy, systems and environmental changes that support tobacco-free living, active living and healthy eating to reduce chronic disease and support healthier lifestyles. The healthy eating strategy includes supporting Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs through expanding existing or establishing new CSA programs. Through a mini-grant process, the Appalachian District Health Department will fund no more than five CSA programs within Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga County up to the amount of $1,000.00 each to further support CSA programs by way of supplies and/or advertising. AT LEAST ONE of the following must be accomplished:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CSA_Minigrant_Form Date set for 7th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference! The National Farm to School Network is excited to announce that the 7th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference will take place April 15 - 18, 2014 in Austin, Texas! The conference, held every-other year, brings together local food systems advocates, food service professionals, farmers, educators, policy makers, representatives from government agencies and nonprofits, entrepreneurs, students and others who are breaking down barriers and expanding the impact of the Farm to Cafeteria movement across the country. Short courses and field trips will be offered April 15 and the general program will take place April 16-18. Information regarding the conference program, registration, lodging and more will be posted in the coming months on farmtocafeteriaconference.org. Explore the website now to learn more about last year's great speakers, workshops and special events. You won't want to miss Austin in 2014!
Agenda
10-minute break
Wrap up REGISTER HERE: http://2013piedmontgrownmtg.eventbrite.com/ For information about “Innovative Approaches to Local Foods Markets” (no fee) (agenda below), contact debbie.hamrick@ncfb.org Organized by the North Carolina Local Sustainable Foods Advisory Council Subcommittee on Economic Development & Infrastructure in cooperation with the NCSU Agricultural and Resource Economics Department and NCSU/NCA&T Cooperative Extension. There is no charge to attend “Innovative Approaches to Local Foods Markets.” Farm to School Grant Program CDFA #: 10.575 Farm to School Grant Program USDA Announces Request for Applications for FY 2014 Farm to School Grants FY 2014 Request for Applications (pdf) FY 2014 Request for Applications (doc) Program Description The purpose of the USDA Farm to School Grant Program is to assist eligible entities in implementing farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools. On an annual basis, USDA awards up to $5 million in competitive grants for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs. In this funding round, USDA is soliciting applications for three types of grants: 1. Planning grants are intended for school districts or schools just starting to incorporate farm to school program elements into their operations. 2. Implementation grants are intended for school districts or schools to help scale or further develop existing farm to school initiatives. 3. Support Service grants are intended for state and local agencies, Indian tribal organizations, agricultural producers or groups of agricultural producers, and non-profit entities working with school districts or schools to further develop existing farm to school initiatives and to provide broad reaching support services to farm to school initiatives. Proposals are due at midnight EST, April 24, 2013. In all cases, a 25% cash or in-kind match of the total project cost is required. Important Dates and Deadlines
To assist eligible entities in preparing proposals, USDA will host a series of webinars related to the application process:
Sample Proposals To assist applicants in preparing their grant submissions, USDA has shared winning proposals from the FY2013 round of funding. Each grant application will be unique to the applicant and the community it is intended to serve; the samples below should not be considered as templates or guides. They are illustrative only.
You can access a list of FY 2013 USDA Farm to School Grant recipients here. Contact Us For all questions pertaining to the USDA Farm to School Grant Program, please contact us via email at farmtoschool@fns.usda.gov. And to receive information and updates about USDA’s Farm to School Program, please sign up for our Farm to School E-letter. 
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