Help open WNC Farm to Table to the public

Hi. I'm Lisa McBride. Founder of WNC Farm to Table in Jackson County, NC. 

 

I have lived here for the last 5 1/2 years and knew pretty instantly that this amazing community was home to me and my children. For 3 1/2 years, I managed Jackson County Farmers Market. From that work, WNC Farm to Table began. I knew I wanted to find ways to support farmers more and get fresh, affordable local food to a greater audience, so I started looking into successful models, include Boone's High Country Food Hub, which is a project of Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, considering how best it would fit our area.

 

In August of '20, I made the jump into only focusing on developing this venture and in October 2020, I began delivering local food to a few restaurants in Jackson County. In 2021, gross wholesale sales have topped $80k. For the full story & why, click here.

 

I'd rather give you the simple details.

WNC Farm to Table is a developing non-profit with a very diverse board of members of our community. We have recently secured a convenient, brick and mortar location on Mill Street in Sylva so that we can open to the public and better serve our restaurant partners, plus work with Vacationer Supported Agriculture as the representative for Jackson County. But there's a lot of work to do in getting it ready to open its doors.

 

 

Why is WNC F2T a non-profit?

Well, there are lots of reasons, but the primary is to keep the markup on local food low. To make affordable, fresh local food available to anyone in Jackson County that wants it.

 

WNC Farm to Table is for everyone's table.

 

EBT and eventually Double Up Food Bucks will be an integral aspect of making local food accessible to our neighbors in the community.

 

We need your help.

We do have grants coming in, like the Farmland Preservation grant from NC State, totaling $22,500.00 for cold storage (freezers and refrigerator) and for computers. We have also been supported by the NCDA Farmers Market & Food Hub grant in 2019, plus a grant from the Nantahala Health Foundation for support with gas and maintenance due to so much travel last year, and a Distinguished Business mini grant from Amber Grants. However, the bulk of the operating costs for 2020 were out of the founder's pocket and the first 3 months of moving into a brick & mortar are going to be key, as the 501(c)(3) is established.

 

 

The $7K for the 2 projects is important because that is one of the key values and goals of WNC F2T... Supporting farmers and producers. Y'all all love the fresh baked bread found in many locations around town. Well, the incredible humans that are the creators of that amazing bread, have baked so much that they have worn out their ovens. This will help them a great deal. For those of you that have dined at Ilda, the lamb is delicious. Well, raising them is a lot of hard work and a new grain bin and other equipment to streamline the care of the sheep, which will allow the farmers to increase the numbers they are able to raise. Plus, these products will be made available to the public through the online ordering website.

 

Risks & Challenges

There are always risks and challenges with getting a business off the ground. I have spent the last 16 months working to prove that we do have the ability to support local farmers, increase their incomes and show them that they have a larger local market, plus supply affordable local food to our area.

 

One challenge is that there are already local food sources, including online options. What sets us apart is the fact that the online ordering will be supported by the nonprofit, which means that the markup is not as high as normal retail channels. Remember, it's for everyone's table.

 

An issue we have already dealt with is supply of product. It's great when a farmer or producer sells out of a product. The benefit of having a central ordering system is that we can source from other producers, so there will be multiple producers of many products. In ordering for restaurants, this challenge has been overcome a number of times in regards to products like pork, lamb, eggs, various vegetables, even flowers.

 

Nonprofits always seem "scary" because they are run off of grant funding. WNC Farm to Table will actually work to not depend solely on grant funding by focusing on donors and events, such as the farm to table events.

 

Thank you.

Truly, by donating to WNC Farm to Table, you are committing to a future of food grown by WNC farmers for our beautiful community.

 

WNC Farm to Table is for everyone's table.