Throughout the summer of 2022, ASAP will present a series of on-farm symposiums for healthcare professionals in Western North Carolina to highlight the principles of Farm Fresh for Health. Farm Fresh for Health addresses the real and perceived barriers that influence what we eat and determine health outcomes. ASAP and community partners are using strategies and initiatives built around:
- Produce Prescriptions
- Nutrition Security
- Workplace Wellness
- Wrap-Around Clinical Health Services
- Cooking Classes
- Farm to School
- Social Determinants of Health
Each symposium will introduce key strategies and highlight examples from ASAP and the community, including projects from ASAP’s Community in Action initiative. Attendees will take part in farm tours, hands-on activities, and facilitated discussion about how they can use Farm Fresh for Health tools in their own practices to improve health outcomes. A seasonally focused farm-to-table meal (lunch or dinner) will be provided by a local food partner. Space is limited at each symposium. A $20 registration fee offsets the cost of meals and materials.
DINNER
Catered by Luis Martinez of Tequio Foods.
KEY STRATEGIES
Wrap-around clinical health services, local food and nutrition security programs, cooking classes in the community, social determinants of health
PRESENTERS
KT Taylor is a nurse at Mission Hospital and the farmer and owner of KT’s Orchard and Apiary, where she grows a variety of apples, peaches, nectarines, raspberries, pears, and local honey.
Marianne Martinez is the executive director of Vecinos. Valeria Barrera Vizcarra manages the organization’s Farmworker Health Program. Vecinos is on a mission to provide culturally appropriate health and wellness services for the uninsured Latinx community. Agricultural work is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country and workers face many barriers when it comes to accessing care. Vecinos aims to break down health care barriers by bringing services directly to the community through out-patient clinics and mobile medical clinics.
Jenna Kranz is the founder and executive director of Uncomplicated Kitchen. Uncomplicated Kitchen teaches community members how to plan meals, shop for ingredients, and cook healthy, simple, and affordable recipes. The organization seeks to bridge the gap between the food people have access to and the tools and knowledge they have to prepare nutritious meals for themselves and their families.
Nilofer Couture is a Registered Dietician and the Clinical Nutrition Manager at Cherokee Indian Hospital in Cherokee, NC. She also serves on the board for both Uncomplicated Kitchen and ASAP. She’s dedicated her career to helping people make better food choices and her work with Uncomplicated Kitchen fits right in with her passion for nutritious eating.
David Smiley is the program manager of ASAP’s Local Food Campaign. During the pandemic, he developed and implemented ASAP’s Appalachian Farms Feeding Families program, which connected farms with feeding sites across the region.
Mike McCreary is ASAP’s farmers market program manager and has developed ASAP’s SNAP incentive programs. Under Mike’s management, in 2009 Asheville City Market was the first market in Western North Carolina to accept SNAP/EBT.
Sarah Hart is ASAP’s communications manager. She coordinated Healthy Eating in Practice, a national conference for physicians and healthcare professionals to better support healthy eating, presented by ASAP in 2018.