Couple prepares to conquer the Pacific Crest Trail to raise money for MANNA FoodBank. Plus, farmers markets open for the season; Pop Bubble Tea highlights Asian culture; and more.

Couple prepares to conquer the Pacific Crest Trail to raise money for MANNA FoodBank. Plus, farmers markets open for the season; Pop Bubble Tea highlights Asian culture; and more.
The program, explains communications coordinator Sarah Hart, allows the market to make a 100 percent match on dollars spent through SNAP. “People swipe their SNAP card for $5 and get $10 in tokens to shop the market,” she says.
After more than 30 years writing about Nashville’s dining scene, Kay West reflects on some culinary highlights of her first year in Asheville.
The market, which is open daily, comprises 14 buildings spread over 36 acres.
Deep bonds forged between local farmers and chefs at area markets feed Asheville’s culinary creativity.
“In designing food systems, the foods that need to be freshest when we eat them, the quick-turnaround crops, should be placed close to where we live,” Patel says. “I didn’t really think the farm would be as broad and idealistic as it turned out to be, but I’m pretty idealistic, so it has naturally turned into that.”
Asheville-area initiatives are seeking to connect food-insecure communities with fresh, locally grown food while also supporting WNC farmers.
(Go to the bottom of this article for a listing of local tailgate markets) When the springtime flowers start popping up in the mountains, the tailgate markets are never far behind. Though the full harvest is still around the corner, many markets have already begun selling fresh, local foods in outdoor locations around the region […]
(Go to the bottom of this article for a listing of local tailgate markets) With springtime and warmer weather finally underway here in the mountains comes the opportunity to head outdoors to our local tailgate markets. While some of them won’t set up their tents until mid-May, most tailgate markets have already begun their season. […]
From the Get It! Guide: Community tailgate markets are a labor of love that offer communities a place to gather while also providing access to fresh, local foods. If you’re thinking about organizing a market in your neighborhood, here’s some steps to consider.
From the Get It! Guide: It was midwinter of 2012, and most Asheville residents hadn’t yet turned their thoughts to ripe tomatoes and summer squash. But Essie Silvers and a handful of her neighbors had a mission to bring a farmers market to their food-insecure East Asheville community.
In 1790, 90 percent of Americans were farmers. Today that figure boils down to less than 1 percent. The change is particularly noticeable in the South, which up until the 1950s, was a largely agrarian society. Now, some are calling for a rebuilding and supporting of a locally-focused food system — which used to be prevalent in Appalachia.
Our Farm & Garden section has returned to the pages of MX and will run from March to October. As in our inaugural year, we will be bringing you a weekly feature, as well as our gardening calendar that will provide a run-down of area events. But this year, we want to do more, and we’d like your help.
With French Broad Electric Membership Corporation set to apply herbicides to the power-line corridor in Madison County, organic farmers in Spring Creek are asking why there isn’t more public input on the way the utility manages the rights-of-way through their farms and near local streams.
They sell everything from beets to beans to bowls at the North Asheville Tailgate Market every Saturday; just one of many local markets in the area each week. And its all fresh.
While local-food advocates have conditioned eaters to “buy local,” they haven’t yet persuaded them to “splurge local.” Market insiders, who admit they still haven’t fully deciphered consumer behavior, fret that tailgate markets’ hard-earned reputation as friendly meet-and-greet spots flush with local color may ultimately spell trouble for their commercial success.
It’s tailgate-market time in WNC.