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Plan to attend these upcoming Events

14th Annual Franklin County Horse Farm Tour
 Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 from 7:30am-2:00pm
 Visit four horse farms in the county with educational programming at each site.
 $10 per person to attend, catered lunch. Must call 919-496-3344 to pre-register.
DOWNLOAD EVENT BROCHURE.

To learn more about the year-round calendar of Horse activities
sponsored by the Franklin County Extension Horse Advisory Committee
DOWNLOAD COMMITTEE BROCHURE.
 

5th Annual Franklin County Farm, Foods & Crafts Tour
Farm Life Photography Contest Award Ceremony

 ** Louisburg Auditorium Photo Contest Awards Ceremony & Reception **
 Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 from 2:00-4:00pm
 Announce Overall Show $200, $150 and $100 Cash Prize Winners

Louisburg Auditorium Photo Contest Display - August 2nd - August 31st, 2008
Age and Category 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Ribbon Winners

 Use the following links to download the details:
 Farm Life Photography Contest Overview Document (1 page PDF)
        Photo Contest Rules Document (1 page PDF)
        Photo Application/Submission Form Document (1 page PDF)

 

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

Recent Website Additions - updated June 17, 2008

Franklin County 2008 Hay Directory

We have expanded the website with new Menu Tabs for "Crafts" and "Ag Board". The "Crafts" Tab will function like the "Farms" Tab and complement the objectives of the Annual Farm Foods and Crafts Tour. The "Ag Board" or Franklin County Agricultural Advisory Board Tab will provide contact information by Township for everyone to direct their agricultural issues or concerns so they may be discussed by the Ag Board at their monthly meeting (normally the 3rd Tuesday of each month) at the Extension Service Meeting Room. Check out these new Menu Tabs.

Franklin County "Farms & Crafts" Outreach Continues

This year we will initiate an 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 farm property, 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.

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

This site is presently under development

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.

 

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