The Tobacco Trust Fund Commission & the Local Food Movement
Do you eat local whenever you can? Are you restaurateur or chef who sources
products from local farms? Then you should care about the Tobacco Trust Fund
Commission. Here’s why: the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has funneled over $83
million into over 600 small farms and food businesses in 98 North Carolina counties since
2001 and the General Assembly is considering eliminating it even though it doesn’t
depend on taxpayer dollars. Farmers and food business owners have been speaking
out loudly in support of the program, and they need all of our help to convince the
General Assembly not to eliminate it.
Have you ever wondered why our urban areas—the Triangle, Triad, greater Asheville
and the metro Charlotte area—have such booming local food scenes? Why does
North Carolina have such an outstanding national reputation as a leader in supporting
local food producers? Well, part of the reason is North Carolina’s strong heritage of
small family farms, another factor is the creativity and business acumen of farmers and
chefs and retailers forming new alliances to serve their customers’ desires, but the rest of
the story is the funding support from the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. The Tobacco
Trust Fund Commission has strategically invested in innovative farm enterprises
throughout the state. The vast majority of these investments have come in grants of
$10,000 or less!
Have you heard of these businesses? Each of them can credit the Tobacco Trust Fund
Commission as an essential part of their success. Where would our local food scene be
without them?
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Eastern Carolina Organics
Farmhand Foods (don’t forget their Sausage Wagon)
The Harvest Moon Grille (both the food cart and the restaurant at the Dunhill)
New River Organic Growers
Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center
Check out this handy spreadsheet that shows over 600 projects:
http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/docs/TCRFMaster_List.pdf . You can search it to
see if any of the farmers you know are on the list. If they aren’t yet, let’s make sure this
program is around so they can take advantage of it in the future.
So, if you’re a locavore—an eater, a chef or a restaurant owner, or food retailer—and
you want to continue to have more local food options available, you need to contact
your Senator today and add your voice to the voices of the farmers who are fighting for
this vital program. If we want our farmers to continue growing the food we love, we
owe it to them to make sure they have the best tools available to innovate and grow
their farms.
See CFSA’s action alert http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/alert_NCBudget.shtml or
the Rural Advancement Foundation’s action alert
http://www.rafiusa.org/savethencttfc.html for more information about contacting your
legislators.
If you have questions about this important issue and would like to discuss how to show
your support, contact me at shivaugn@carolinafarmstewards.org.