Charitable organizations, food pantries and community gardens are working hard to combat hunger in WNC. And at the heart of those efforts, are hundreds of committed volunteers.
![](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/MANNAvolunteer_group1-330x220.jpg)
Charitable organizations, food pantries and community gardens are working hard to combat hunger in WNC. And at the heart of those efforts, are hundreds of committed volunteers.
U Grow, a partnership between Bounty & Soul and Eat Smart Black Mountain, offers a hand-to-mouth approach to food security by encouraging families and individuals to grow their own food.
From the Get It! Guide: According to MANNA FoodBank’s 2014 Map the Meal Gap study, food insecurity affects 15.3 percent of Western North Carolina. But several local efforts are looking to stop hunger in WNC, bringing the battle to the fields, the pantries, the neighborhoods and even city hall.
Gardeners from across the state assembled for the third annual N.C. Community Garden Partners annual conference on Oct. 25, in the Sherrill Center at UNC Asheville. This year’s conference focused on “Growing Garden Connections” with panels centered on creating opportunities for collaboration and partnerships between gardens as well as community organizations.
The long summer is behind us, but for many growers in Western North Carolina, the spring-summer growing season is only half the story. Commercial growers, donation gardens and garden-based education programs are all finding ways to make local food and food security a hallmark of WNC, year-round.
You may think the end of summer means a well-earned break from the fields and farms. But for community gardeners, both from WNC and across the state, autumn will be a time to share ideas and dream up innovations as they assemble for the N.C. Community Garden Partners conference, taking place on Saturday, Oct. 25, at UNC Asheville.
Feeding America estimates that 100,000 people in Western North Carolina are experiencing food insecurity. Winter heating bills, new restrictions to food stamp eligibility and rising medical costs may be increasing situational poverty. But if a lack of access to food is a growing problem, some across the region are working on a growing solution. Read more in part two of our series looking at how community gardens are fighting hunger — from the ground up.
Each year, area food assistance programs seek out locally grown produce in their fight against food insecurity. But as some services struggle to provide enough food, some growers face an overabundance of certain crops — which may end up in a compost pile or rotting on the stock. Part one of our two-part series on community gardens looks at how growers are working together to eliminate food waste — and fighting hunger from the ground up.
Gardens that give A half-acre doesn’t sound like a lot of land, but it’s more than enough for The Lord’s Acre. This volunteer-based garden in Fairview grew more than 34 tons of organic produce in its first four years, which is quite a feat for a small, community-minded garden with a philanthropic mission. The […]