What it does
Mcdowell lfac is a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to connect, coordinate, and strengthen the local food system in mcdowell county, north carolina. The organization's goal is to improve the health, income and livelihoods of all community members through building a complete food network of producers, businesses, agencies and not-for-profit organizations. Lfac does this through developing and implementing programs, special projects and supportive food system infrastructure in mcdowell.
In 2024, mcdowell local food advisory council, through foothills food hub and the marion tailgate market, advanced a more equitable and resilient local food system for mcdowell county. The organization aggregated and distributed food in partnership with a network of farmers, producers, community organizations, and volunteers while promoting healthy food choices and youth engagement. Lfac invested nearly $500,000 in local farms in 2024 through local food purchases and distributed nearly 16,000 healthy food boxes plus 1,200 produce prescriptions to families enrolled in the healthy opportunities pilot program through medicaid. Lfac also coordinated nearly 9,200 instances of additional household food assistance through food access and relief services and supplied 4,600 food bags to outreach partners serving vulnerable populations with higher barriers to food access, stable housing, and medical treatment. The marion tailgate market grew as a market opportunity for small farms, and increased customer attendance by 90% across 26 market events, in just the second year of lfac operating the market. Volunteers contributed at least 2,870 hours of service towards the organizations mission to ensure healthy food is accessible and local farming is viable. Partnerships with community organizations and schools allowed for youth engagement in culinary and nutrition education.
Foothills food hub: the foothills food hub (ffh) is the largest program of the mcdowell lfac. Construction was complete in november of 2022. The foothills food hub is located at 263 barnes rd in marion and consists of three components: (1) a teaching kitchen that will eventually host culinary classes in partnership with our local community college, healthy eating classes, and food preservation instruction. (2) a pantry component, complete with a large freezer and cooler storage, for both shelf stable and perishable donated and purchased food for ongoing food distributions. (3) an increased focus on farmer support and food includes storage and process shifts to ensure more local food enters the pantry support system. There will also be a wash line available for farmers' use.
Healthy opportunities pilot (hop) program: the hop program is a true pilot in that only 3 regions in nc participate and the 18 western nc counties and qualla boundary are one of them. The mcdowell lfac / foothills food hub, in partnership with impact health and medicaid, provides fresh and shelf stable food to those who qualify for various medicaid programs. During 2023-2024 the program has grown, and will later require additional staff to support the work. Processes and procedures were developed, as well as farmer relationships, to ensure that local food is available to support the growth of the hop program.