In an excerpt from her new book, ‘Under the Henfluence,’ Tove Danovich discusses her ongoing fascination with chickens and the challenge of reconciling the backyard trend with today’s industrial practices.
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April 26, 2010
The South is a traditional and friendly culture. Albeit folks down here are known for being set in our ways, but we would do anything for our neighbors and we definitely love our college basketball. I’m from the South and have also lived in the Northeast and California where I fell in love with the locavore culture in San Francisco and Sonoma county. However, after moving back to North Carolina recently, I have found the Triangle area to be quite a gem for a locavore lover.
Our southern regional culture may not be as progressive as San Francisco’s, but the South should not be excluded from the progressive food movement. To clarify, the terms “local food supporters; organic; sustainable agriculture; heirloom; free-range; locavore; and small farm” are a growing part of the dialogue here in NC. And it’s not a challenge at all to be a foodie and sustainable agriculture advocate in Tar Heel country.
Sure we are known for our tobacco and giant hog industry (thanks Smithfield Farms), but we also have hundreds of amazing small sustainable farmers, local food restaurants, foodie and farm advocates and organizations, and many local products that are doing a great deal of good.
The Triangle, or known as the Piedmont region, includes three main cities, Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. It also includes several wonderful small towns, like Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Pittsboro. Famous for the Research Triangle Park, the area is home base for IBM, SAS, Bayer, Glaxo Smith Kline, RTI, Burts Bees, as well as three outstanding colleges, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and North Carolina State. The area has one of the highest rates of PhDs in the nation and our public school system is nationally known for diversity and excellence. This region is educated, progressive, accepting of change, and the beautiful rural country is right at our elbows.
It is easy to find a local farm, visit a farmers market, join a local CSA, and eat out at incredible restaurants that buy form the local producers. There are more than 120 small farms within a 50-mile radius of Chapel Hill alone and over 200 restaurants in the Triangle that buy from local farms. In fact, in October 2008, Bon Appetit named Durham-Chapel Hill America’s Foodiest Small Town. Andrew Knowlton, the article’s author, was so pleased that he was tempted to leave New York City for the laidback culture of the Triangle.
A few of my favorite restaurants that are notorious for buying local include: Chapel Hill’s Lantern and Weathervane, 18 Seaboard and Zely & Ritz both in Raleigh; Heron’s at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, and Durham’s Watt’s Grocery and Four Square.
Zely & Ritz is extra special on my list because over 50% of their ingredients come from their own farm, Coon Rock Farm, a sustainable family farm in Hillsborough, NC. The farm provides the restaurant with organically grown heirloom vegetables and heritage breed pasture-raised meat and eggs. They believe that “good food is important and that where you eat and what you eat is a choice that affects not only your personal well-being but also that of the planet.”
Where did this locavore culture come from in North Carolina? Farming has always been a significant vocation in NC, but similar to all other agricultural regions across the US, big agricultural businesses have taken over in the past 50 years which put small farms out of business. However, in the past 10 years, there has been an emergence of young farmers and more small organic farms. The Crop Mob young farmer movement that North Carolina’s own Trace Ramsey reported on for Civil Eats started here, and it is definitely proving to be a powerful force sweeping the nation.
As one local writer, Molly Dougherty, states in her article The Triangle: A locavore’s oasis, “a recent emergence of hip, young farmers in combination with numerous venues and events that build strong bonds between those farmers and the rest of the community, are making North Carolina’s Triangle area a locavore’s oasis.”
Speaking of these strong community bonds, there are two spring events that capture the Triangle’s locavore culture. This past weekend the Carolina Farm Tour hosted by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) based in Pittsboro, North Carolina hosted its 15th annual farm tour — the biggest farm tour in the southeast. There were over 40 participating Piedmont farms this year and hundreds of people in attendance.
On May 23rd, the local Triangle Slow Food chapter and the Carolina Environmental Farming Systems organization are putting together a farmer, restaurant, and patron picnic. The Farm to Fork Picnic event will highlight local Piedmont farmers and cooks.
Over the next few months, I will meet local farmers, artisans and advocates and attend events in order to capture the Triangle locavore and sustainable agriculture stories and share them with you. Stay tuned for more from the locavore gem of the south.
March 30, 2023
In an excerpt from her new book, ‘Under the Henfluence,’ Tove Danovich discusses her ongoing fascination with chickens and the challenge of reconciling the backyard trend with today’s industrial practices.
March 20, 2023
Yes, I was a bit bummed that the NYTimes published before me..but I'm very happy this area is getting great press.
-M
Glad to see Bon Appetit, the New York Times (twice in the last week) and now Civil Eats, thanks to you, praising the sustainable food scene in the Triangle. While many refer to Bon Appetit's estimate that there are 100 farms within 50 miles of Chapel Hill, it's actually more than twice that number now, I've counted them. There are 250 small-scale sustainable farms supplying farmer's markets in the greater Triangle area.
No wonder we love our local food and the farmers who grow it.
I believe our sustainable food prosperity is linked to a series of "change agents" including the Carrboro Farmer's Market, Central Carolina Community College (first two-year sust ag program in the nation), Weaver Street Cafe and the community food enterprises it has influenced, our own intrepid sustainagle ag agent Debbie Roos, a network of amazing chefs (starting with the late Bill Neal) and several activist organizations dedicated to preserving and enhancing it all.
Thanks for writing about it. You can read more about our amazing foodshed at Sustainable Grub http://sustainablegrub.wordpress.com
Best wishes,
Dee
Pittsboro NC
Thanks for your great article! I would love to talk with you about how Cooperative Extension has been working for many years to support small farmers in the region (thanks Dee - one of my favorite bloggers - for the plug in your comment above!). Extension agents in Triangle area counties provide technical assistance to area farmers. My educational programs in Chatham County include farmer workshops on topics such as marketing through social media; organic pest management; pastured poultry; community supported agriculture; cover crops; and much more. I also have a big website - www.growingsmallfarms.org - which includes lots of info and resources for farmers and maintain several farmer listservs which facilitate farmer-to-farmer networking. It is a joy and a privilege to work with such a fantastic community of creative, self-motivated, and dedicated individuals. Thanks for your role in highlighting this community.
This is a great article, and you're a natural writer!