|
| | 
UPCOMING EVENTS
2009 Franklin
County Farm Tour and Festival
Saturday May 16th and
Sunday
May 17th
Farm Tour Details
Photography Contest
Saturday Events
Sunday Events
Tour brochure cover artwork is "New Beginnings" by Beth Smith. Beth's
artwork has been featured in Southern Living.
Limited edition of this
work are available at the Hospitality Tent at
historic Person Place and will
be available throughout the
weekend, May 16 & 17.
Four County Junior Livestock Show & Sale
Friday,
April 24, 2009: Double D Farm, Franklin County, Louisburg, NC
Gates Open @ 10:30 a.m.
Registration, Check In & Weigh In @ 11:00 a.m.
Shows begins at 1:00 p.m. Sale at 6:30pm.
DOWNLOAD ENTRY FORM
DOWNLOAD RULES &
REGULATIONS
For more information, call 919-496-3344
REMINDERS
Interested in
Beekeeping?
Join the Franklin County
Beekeepers' Association
Checkout our Website
Franklin County "Farms &
Crafts" Outreach Continues
This year we will
continue our
outreach program to identify and help all farmers and crafters in Franklin
County who
produces retail products and services for sale to establish an internet web
presence. Every Crafter and Horse Farm, whether you have internet access or not, can
have a home web page and be listed on this portal website for FREE. Simply
contact us by email, or call Martha Mobley, Franklin County Extension Agent at
919-496-3344 for details.
The Mission of "Franklin
County Farm Fresh" is to . .
. . entice the
broader community to "Buy Fresh - Buy
Local"
. . link Consumers
with Local Farm Producers in Franklin County, NC
. . encourage the support of Local Farm and Craft Events
. . promote Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Stewardship
. . enrich the Life Experiences of Adults and Children
Food for Thought - Why You Should "Buy
Fresh, Buy Local" . . . .
 | Buy Local
from a Family Farm . . . .
Data from the USDA
indicate 90 percent of all U.S. farms are considered small
family farms, with sales of less than $250,000. These farms
account for 68 percent of all farm assets and produce 25
percent of the agricultural production. Small family farmers
own 61 percent of farm land. With an average farm size in
2007 of 449 acres, it is clear that industrial farms
continue to increase in size dramatically through
consolidation..
|
| Buy Local,
Save a Farm . . . . North Carolina lost 1,000
farms during 2005, tying Florida and Tennessee for first
place in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. These latest numbers continue a trend in North
Carolina, which lost 3,000 farms in 2004, also tops in the
nation. "North Carolina is a leading agricultural state, but
losing farms is one category where I don’t want us to be No.
1", said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. "Farm
loss has become a chronic problem here. We’ve lost more than
6,000 farms and 300,000 acres of farmland since 2002".
|
| Buy Local, Get Farm-Fresh Taste . . . .
A USDA funded survey
found in a response to several questions about their meat
purchasing habits, the consumers surveyed ranked price
as the 7th most important attribute. Food safety,
quality of meat, USDA inspection, tenderness, juiciness and
farm-fresh taste all ranked ahead of price. (Find
complete survey results at
www.farmprofitability.org)
|
| Buy
Local, Get Better Nutritional Value . . . .
A University of Texas
study reports that since the 1950's, commercially grown
produce has declined 6% in protein, 9% in phosphorus, 15% in
iron, 16% in calcium, 20% in vitamin C, and 38% in
riboflavin.
|
| Buy Local, Know your
Farmer,
Trust Your Food . . . . The United States last
year imported about $10 billion more in food, feed and
beverages than it exported, according to Census figures.
Even as imports grow in volume and diversity, the number of
FDA inspections is shrinking: agency inspectors physically
examined just 1.3 percent of food imports last year (2006), about
three-quarters as much as in 2003 -
inspectors
sampled just 20,662 shipments out of more than 8.9 million
that arrived at American ports.
|
|
Buy Local, Save Food Miles (the distance food travels from
farm to plate) . . . .
According to
ATTRA, the food industry in the United States accounts for
10% of our fossil fuel use - of this 20% goes towards
production and the remaining 80% is consumed for processing,
transport, home refrigeration and preparation. Download the
complete article at
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/foodmiles.pdf
|
|
Buy Local-Artisanal vs. Industrial-Products . . . .
According to Allan Nation (Stockman Grass Farmer), "Artisan
(small-scale) agriculture seeks to satisfy the passionate
minority, while Industrial agriculture simply seeks out ever
bigger markets."
Buy
Local, Small Farms Are Not Subsidized
. . . . According to USDA, 77%
of all farmers and ranchers do not collect government
subsidy payments in North Carolina. Among subsidy
recipients, ten percent collected 91 percent of all
subsidies amounting to $2.54 billion over 11 years. The
bottom 80% the recipients saw only $85 on average per year.
(Find details at
www.ewg.org/farm).
Footnote: Recently, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Byron
Dorgan (D-ND) introduced an amendment that would place a
limit of $250,000 on the amount of farm payments an
individual can receive. Grassley said, "This proposal has
always been popular and the reality is that with 72% of the
payments going to 10% of farmers, we've got a serious
problem on our hands."
|
| Buy Local,
Wait For COOL . . . .
Country-Of-Origin Labeling
will eventually be implemented in the USA, but industrial
agriculture will continue to lobby hard against such
regulation. According to the
consumer advocacy group Food and Water Watch, 82% of
Americans want country-of-origin labeling for both food
safety and family health reasons. Consumers Union found even
stronger sentiment: 92% of those surveyed said imported-food
labels should identify the country of origin.
|
|
For 14 Reasons "Why You Should Buy
Fresh, Buy Local", download a "Buy Local"
.pdf
|
|
Try these
Hyperlinks for more details about Franklin County:
wikipedia.org,
epodunk.com,
city-data.com
|
Contact Information
Direct all
additions, corrections, suggestions via e-Mail to the
Webmaster:
webmaster@FranklinCountyFarmFresh.com
Fair Use Notice
The material on this site is provided for
informational and educational purposes. It may contain copyrighted
material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized
by the copyright owner. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair
use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of
the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who
have an interest in using the included information for
educational and research purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this
site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain
permission from the copyright owner. Franklin County Farm Fresh Advocates is the copyright owner
of all website photographs, unless credited
otherwise.
Disclaimer
This
website was created to provide a forum for sharing information among farmers, researchers, educators, and consumers. The opinions
expressed on this website do not represent the views of North Carolina State
University or North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
Copyright © 2007
FranklinCountyFarmFresh Advocates You
are Visitor
|