This article was contributed by Angel Cruz and Becky Dobosy of North Carolina State University.
North Carolina’s Appalachian region boasts a strong tradition of supportive, close-knit communities in addition to its beauty and rich natural resources. Many communities, organizations, and churches in Western North Carolina (WNC) work daily to meet the basic needs and improve the quality of life for residents in their communities; placing a special emphasis on food security and healthy lifestyles for all residents in recent years.
In order to better understand both the unique assets and needs of the community, many groups are conducting food system assessments. Conducting assessments is an important first step in both beginning and furthering food system work because the resources and challenges to thriving food systems are different in every community. Assessments can vary in scope, ranging from one county to the entire state, and explore topics as diverse as production, economics, chronic disease, socio-demographics, and many others.
Uniting the efforts of nonprofits, government initiatives, churches and private individuals in the work towards greater food security will allow us to make the largest impact in the fight against food insecurity. Facilitating such collective impact is one goal of the Appalachian Foodshed Project. Sharing information, decreasing redundancy in work, and increasing cooperation between organizations allows these passionate groups and individuals to more effectively and efficiently impact our communities.
Below is a list of current and past WNC food assessments. If you want to know more about a particular assessment, click on the assessment name and you will be linked to their website.
Summary of Community and Food Assessments in NC
| Assessment | Counties | Indicators | Comments |
| Community Transformation Grant Project Region One | All counties eventually | Uninsured, Physicians, socio-demographics, obesity, diabetes, food deserts, tobacco usage, activity, | Focused on:Active Living and Healthy EatingTobacco Free Living
Prevention |
| WNC Food Policy Council | Cherokee CountyClay CountyGraham County
Haywood County Jackson County Macon County Swain County |
Ag Census DataAsset Mapping | |
| ASAP Food and Farm Assessment for Seeds of Change | Alleghany CountyAshe CountyWatauga County
Wilkes County |
Farming EconomyLocal EconomyFarmers Markets
Consumer Demand Local Production |
Focused on local food and small farmers |
| Asheville-Buncombe Food Policy Council | Buncombe County | undefined | |
| Center for Environmental Farming Systems | All counties eventually | Undefined | Working with local Food Policy Councils to do assessments |
| Community Readiness Assessment: Access to healthy foods | Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Henderson, Jackson, Orange, Rowan, Yancey Counties | Existing community efforts, community knowledge of efforts, leadership, community climate, community knowledge about the issue, resources related to the issue | Readiness toolkit available for other assessments of healthy food access and safe physical activity space. |
Know of an additional community or food assessment going on in your area? Whether it’s your organization’s or a group in your community, we’d love to hear about it. Send an email to afp@vt.edu with the name, counties, indicators being studied, and a short description of the project goals and we will add it to the blog and our website.
Angel Cruz and Becky Dobosy are part of the AFP Management Team. They are students at North Carolina State University.
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