THROUGH its Emerging
Farmers Program, Local
Motive Mobile Farmers
Markets, Food Hub Distri-bution,
Farm-to-Fork Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA) Boxes,
and Farmer Support Economic
Development Initiatives, Feast
Down East takes a pragmatic, multi-pronged
approach to help struggling
farmers deliver quality, locally grown
food to their communities.
“For years, we tried to figure out
how to support the farmers’ busi-nesses,”
executive director Cara
Stretch says. “Eventually, we opened
the Food Hub in 2011, which was
a way for us to get local, farm-fresh
products out into the community.
We tried to bridge the gap between
the rural farmer and the urban
consumer. It’s a wholesale price set by
the farmer, which is unique because
most of the time they’re negotiated
down so low that they can’t make
enough of a profit to sustain their
business. We actually allow them
to set the price, then we sell the
produce to restaurants, Whole Foods,
UNCW and more.”
Feast Down East has had its share of
struggles with leadership changes and
lack of engagement since its founding
but, as the farm-to-table movement
began to take off, the sourcing of local
produce and meats drew renewed
attention to the organization.
Top and bottom left: Robert Wick-lund
delivers produce from Cottle
Organics to Feast Down East’s Food
Hub, located at Burgaw’s historic
train depot, in January. Bottom right:
Morgan Milne of Red Beard Farms
brings his sweet potatoes to the Food
Hub.
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