Bartlett Yancey to Celebrate Food Day on October 24

Food Day is coming up on Thursday, Oct. 24 and Caswell County students will be joining the fun. According to the Food Day website, this day “is a nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably produced food and a grassroots campaign for better food policies.”

The goal of Food Day is to increase awareness of “eating real.” This means cutting back on processed and packaged foods and eating food that is grown fresh and locally. Across the nation, over 3,000 events will take place to gain support for more sustainable and healthier eating habits.

Here in Caswell County, Barlett Yancey High School will be celebrating all week through engaged learning activities that will introduce students to local farmers, encourage healthy eating habits and learn about eating locally.

Beginning Oct. 22, guest speakers will be presenting to classes about various topics that correlate with the current curriculum. Speakers include Sonya Patterson, agent with the Caswell Cooperative Extension, Penny Crumpton, dietician with Caswell County Medical Center, and Maribeth Howe, family and consumer teacher at Barlett Yancey. These speakers will instruct students on sustainable agriculture practices, using food as medicine, cooking demonstrations, bee caring, cheese making and much more.

The week’s highlight will be Food Day on Thursday, Oct. 24. Tables will be set up in the school’s senior station for three hours during the lunch period so students can interact one-on-one with guest speakers.

Food Day is a great day to appreciate all the local produce that is grown in Caswell County. Take some time on Oct. 24 to visit a local farm or make your own locally sourced meal to celebrate. For more information on Food Day, you can visit www.foodday.org.

Cedar Ridge Farmers’ Market Opening Soon in Yanceyville

Lucas Bernard, of Caswell County, knows firsthand the benefits of eating locally grown food. “I grew up on a cattle farm and we always had a big garden” said Bernard. “A majority of the food on our table came from the farm.”

At an early age, Bernard was able to tell the difference between the quality of locally grown and imported food. This love for local food eventually led him to developing a new farmers’ market in the county. 

“We decided to open a market two years ago when we saw concerns about food quality, freshness and contamination issues in the produce industry,” explained Bernard. “When you can get vegetables in season, from your neighbor, that means less hands have touched it, less time in storage and transportation, which equals higher quality produce.”

The new Cedar Ridge Farmers’ Market is set to open in July and will provide local residents with fresh-picked produce, baked goods and handmade crafts. The market will be set up under a 2,300 square feet shelter that has 17 tables along with handicap access and on-site parking. 

Bernard is excited for the market to open and says that he is seeing great support of locally grown products in Caswell. “Older generations know and younger ones are learning that freshness and ripeness count,” said Bernard.

Cedar Ridge Farmers’  Market will be open on July 13 and is located at 1773 Old Hwy 86 in Yanceyville. For more information call 336 - 694 - 1814. 

University Project Focuses on Caswell County Local Food

Starting this September, a team of students from UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health will be working on a project in Caswell County to increase access to local food. The students are in their second year of the Masters of Public Health program and are required to complete a year-long “Capstone” field training. This project helps the students to acquire important skills in researching, planning, developing, implementing and evaluating health programs. 

The team in Caswell will be partnering with the Community Transformation Grant Project (CTG Project) and the Community Nutrition Partnership (CNP) to develop a pilot program that will increase access to local food for all residents in Caswell County. “Despite the county’s rich agricultural history, there is an immense need and desire on the behalf of Caswell County residents to consume local healthy food,” said Annie Martinie, CTG Project employee. The developed program will work to make purchasing local food convenient and affordable, while also providing educational resources on the benefits of eating healthy foods and ways to prepare fresh produce. 

As part of the project, planning is underway to expand a CNP program called the Veggie Van. This program brings boxes of fresh North Carolina grown fruits and vegetables to communities that might not otherwise have access to enough healthy foods. It also provides cooking demonstrations, nutrition information and recipes to help people cook healthy meals with their produce. The UNC students will work with community members, city and county administration, local farmers and food advocates to customize the Veggie Van program to meet the unique challenges of Caswell County. 

The project will begin in September with a community assessment that will look at current opportunities to purchase healthy, local food. The Veggie Van model will then be changed to fit the county’s needs and marketing about the new program will take place. The Veggie-Van kick-off event is currently planned for next April.

“We are excited to be able to work with the Capstone team on this project,” said Martinie. “We are going to make sure that Caswell residents are kept informed on the progress and are able to assist us in increasing the access to county grown food.”

Yanceyville Farm and Flea Market - Healthy Living Celebration

Yanceyville Farm and Flea Market is hosting a Healthy Living Celebration! Come out to the market on Saturday, March 2, 2013 to support local farmers and celebrate the new smoke-free rule. 

Cooking demonstrations and taste testings at 11 am and noon

Reusable shopping bags and giveaways for the first 50 participants

All produce vendors will have a free table, tent and hanging scale

More information: 336 - 514 - 2622

Caswell County Farmers' Market

A new farmers' market will be opening this spring in Caswell County!

Cedar Ridge Farm and Landscaping will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be located in Yanceyville at 1773 Old Hwy 86. 

For more information on the market, please call 336 - 694 - 1814