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15th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour
Hugely Successful!
Over 3,000 people made 11,000 farm visits to raise over $25,000!
Triangle families and locavores, along with aspiring farmers from across the nation, again showed why the North Carolina Piedmont is ground zero for the local organic food revolution by celebrating the 15th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour. The Piedmont Farm Tour is the largest consumer farm tour in the United States, and is co-sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) and Weaver Street Market cooperative grocery. CFSA is the largest and oldest organic farming organization, and Weaver Street Market is the largest cooperative grocer in the Southeast.
Tour visitors saw how local organic agriculture has helped North Carolina rural communities transition away from tobacco and benefit from the growing interest in healthy local food. Farms like Capt. J.S. Pope Farm, Walters Unlimited and Cohen Farm gave consumers lessons in how humane animal husbandry practices create healthier, tastier meats and eggs. Places such as Four Leaf Farm, Eco Farm and Ayrshire Farm showcased intensive organic production of fruits and vegetables that cares for people and soils, while producing everything from broccoli to shiitake mushrooms, and leeks to blueberries.
The tour is both an educational event and a fundraiser for CFSA, a 31-year old non-profit organization that educates, inspires and organizes farmers and consumers to build a sustainable food system for the Carolinas. Weaver Street Market has been an essential partner in building the Piedmont Farm Tour into a Triangle institution. Consumers can find local sustainable farms anywhere in the Carolinas by searching CFSA’s online database at www.carolinalocalfood.org.
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