There were 25+ farmers in attendance last evening at our local foods meeting. It is hard for me to express the level of excitement felt by the group. Tim Will the Executive Director of Foothills Connect provided the group with a 35 minute presentation on his Rutherford County based project. It has taken him three plus years to get to this stage in the process but the level of commitment, his passion for helping local small businesses (that is what he calls farmers) and the technology involved is impressive. After his presentation, the group asked question for an additional 30 minutes. Tim never shied away from difficult questions and was patient and thorough in his explanations.
Michael Hylton, the head of the Stokes County Cooperative Extension program then introduced Brenda Sutton, head of the Rockingham County Coop Extension program. Brenda provided what I thought was tremendous news, the Rockingham County local foods group will be ready to start taking orders for food and delivering it to customers in March of 2010. Even better, the group welcomes the participation of Stokes County's farmers with open arms. In other words, thanks to Tim Will, his Foothills Connect group, the use of their web site and the willingness of the Rockingham County farmers, we don't have to recreate the three years of effort that Tim has been through. We can sign up our farmers and start selling produce within three months.
To find out more about this project go to http://www.foothillsconnect.com/aboutus.html and look up the fresh market page. Tim Will has won national acclaim for this project and this is just the beginning.
Michael Hylton, the head of the Stokes County Cooperative Extension program then introduced Brenda Sutton, head of the Rockingham County Coop Extension program. Brenda provided what I thought was tremendous news, the Rockingham County local foods group will be ready to start taking orders for food and delivering it to customers in March of 2010. Even better, the group welcomes the participation of Stokes County's farmers with open arms. In other words, thanks to Tim Will, his Foothills Connect group, the use of their web site and the willingness of the Rockingham County farmers, we don't have to recreate the three years of effort that Tim has been through. We can sign up our farmers and start selling produce within three months.
To find out more about this project go to http://www.foothillsconnect.com/aboutus.html and look up the fresh market page. Tim Will has won national acclaim for this project and this is just the beginning.
Awesome! I hope the good people of Stokes County are as proud of you as I am.
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