Annual Mother's Day Campaign
Mother’s Day in the mountains signals our summer growing season as we sow beans and begin to harvest more and more from our gardens. There is so much power in this time of the year as we look forward.
We know the power of local food. It holds our community together. When the pandemic laid bare the disparities in our food and economic systems, we saw how local food invests in our communities and provides for the health of our people.
This is the work that Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture does.
We know the power of local food. It holds our community together. When the pandemic laid bare the disparities in our food and economic systems, we saw how local food invests in our communities and provides for the health of our people.
This is the work that Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture does.
We also know that we have to work hard to access local food. Greater access for everyone is our challenge and our present work.
This Mother’s Day, we are asking for your support so that we can continue to lead our community towards a resilient tomorrow. Over the next year Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture will launch innovative and important programs that will radically change the way that our community accesses local food. |
This begins with Satellite Pick-up Locations for the High Country Food Hub.
Thanks to support from the Golden LEAF Foundation and Resourceful Communities, customers will soon be able to pick up their local food at workplaces, churches, and community centers throughout the High Country.
Funding for this project will have additional impacts. It will enable the High Country Food Hub much-needed additional capacity to store fresh fruits and vegetables and to deliver them to food pantries, restaurants, and other food hubs within our region. This will significantly increase the revenue of our community’s farms and food businesses.
Further, this project complements Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture’s food equity programs. Satellite Pick-up Locations will be Double Up Food Bucks sites and additional cold storage and distribution networks will support the continuation of FarmsSHARE.
Below, BRWIA's Operations Director Liz Whiteman speaks to the challenges of accessing local food and the 2021 strategies that BRWIA is taking to ensure that more community members can access it.
Thanks to support from the Golden LEAF Foundation and Resourceful Communities, customers will soon be able to pick up their local food at workplaces, churches, and community centers throughout the High Country.
Funding for this project will have additional impacts. It will enable the High Country Food Hub much-needed additional capacity to store fresh fruits and vegetables and to deliver them to food pantries, restaurants, and other food hubs within our region. This will significantly increase the revenue of our community’s farms and food businesses.
Further, this project complements Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture’s food equity programs. Satellite Pick-up Locations will be Double Up Food Bucks sites and additional cold storage and distribution networks will support the continuation of FarmsSHARE.
Below, BRWIA's Operations Director Liz Whiteman speaks to the challenges of accessing local food and the 2021 strategies that BRWIA is taking to ensure that more community members can access it.
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The Power of Local Food
Over the last year our programs responded in extraordinary ways, including:
Over the last year our programs responded in extraordinary ways, including:
The Double Up program matched $23,759 — more local food dollars than 2017-2019 combined, impacting 228+ families.
The Food Hub facilitated $865,675 in local food sales for 83 producers. Driven by 1,353 new customers, this represented 4.2x the economic impact of 2019. Through the end of June 2021, the FarmsSHARE program will have connected 6,500+ pounds of food with hundreds of families and provided $50,000 to local farmers. |
To read more about our community's visions for a just, vibrant local food system please keep scrolling.
Our system is fragile. Its disparities are so clear — from shortages last spring at the grocery store to families lining up outside of schools so that their kids have food to eat. But, it doesn’t have to be that way, and we have seen how Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture’s work makes our community and world more resilient and just.
For the future, we envision a place where:
Our system is fragile. Its disparities are so clear — from shortages last spring at the grocery store to families lining up outside of schools so that their kids have food to eat. But, it doesn’t have to be that way, and we have seen how Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture’s work makes our community and world more resilient and just.
For the future, we envision a place where:
Producers are thriving. Farmers are able to invest in their soil and save for their retirement. They are able to pay employees a good wage to work the land. They are able to afford healthcare and not stress about cloudy days that threaten farmers’ market attendance and what that means for the future of their farms.
Local food is accessible to all. Everyone has the opportunity to eat good, healthy local food no matter how much it costs because our community has many different ways for them to access it whether it’s through the Double Up Food Bucks program, a childcare or senior center, food pantry, or at a pay-what-you can restaurant. |
This Mother’s Day, we ask that you join our movement to strengthen our food system. COVID-19 has shown us that our community needs local food. Now is the time to put in place:
- Good salaries and benefits for BRWIA employees
- Training programs for future growers and stipends for current growers to attend educational conferences
- Paid-internships for food system leaders, interning with BRWIA
- Funding for local food taste tests and farmer visits at schools and senior centers
- Grants for farmers to scale their enterprises and try innovative techniques that extend the season, restore the soil, and add value to their products
- Marketing and educational programs that let more of our neighbors know about the Double Up Food Bucks program and why farmers’ markets matter.