Farmers in Western NC Featured in Films from NC State Extension

The Fork to Farmer team at NC State Extension is proud to share two films that show the innovation and resiliency of farmers and local food vendors who pivoted quickly to stave off financial ruin and other loss in 2020. The Jackson County Fork to Farmer film features Guadalupe Cafe’s partnership with the Worley Farm of Haywood County. The Macon County film rewrites the story of Yonder who, despite its restaurant closure, continues to sell produce and other local food through a new retail outlet.

In the midst of North Carolina’s thriving farm-to-fork movement, a recent graduate alumnus developed a series of videos that focus on the farmers behind some of the state’s best known local chefs. Bruno Ferreira, who earned his Ph.D. in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM), wanted to raise awareness about the farmers behind the chefs, in hopes of helping the farmers expand their businesses. He was attracted to PRTM after learning about the People First Tourism program, which includes both a research component and a commercial component.

Ferreira, who is originally from Portugal, didn’t realize when he first discovered People First Tourism that he and the program’s director Duarte Morais, Associate Professor of Equitable and Sustainable Tourism, also from Portugal, had attended the same college back home. The two connected while Ferreira was working for a community development program in Brazil, where he became interested in tourism as a tool for rural economic development. He invited Morais to Brazil, and Morais helped Ferreira develop two networks of tourism microentrepreneurs offering local experiences through People First Tourism.

Morais leads a cross country participatory action research initiative focused on understanding and enabling tourism microentrepreneurship. In collaboration with Becky Bowen, Susan Jakes and Hannah Dankar from NC State Extension, Morais and team received the USDA-funded grant called Fork to Farmer.

Through a 2016 pilot of Fork to Farmer, NC State University engaged high-profile chefs with video-production and social media efforts, obtained financial support for video production from participating counties, and partnered with a tourism retailer to sell farm experiences by participating farmers.

One year remains on the Fork to Farmer project, and the team hopes to create at least ten more films that demonstrate the intimate relationships between farm to table chefs and the farmers who supply them. The team is now positioned to use the resources afforded by this project to build on the concept and develop partnerships, processes, and materials to scale-up across the North Carolina and to other States.

You can learn more about the Fork to Farmer program by contacting Becky Bowen at blbowen@ncsu.edu for more information.