Local Food Marketing
Connecting Consumers with Producers: Helping the farm find the table!
Working Groups
Working Group Goal
We’re helping connect North Carolinians to locally grown and sourced food.
North Carolina is a leader among states in cultivating local food. Our state’s foodways reflect our cultural and environmental heritage — from ingredients like creasy greens and ramps in the mountains to soft-shelled crab and hush puppies on the coast. North Carolina’s food specialties have become standard in farm-to-table restaurants across the state.
There are many ways to connect to the local food supply, be it via farmer’s markets, local food stores, or direct sales off the farm. Our goal is to help local food producers reach more consumers like you through marketing initiatives in order to build a stronger local food economy. North Carolina has one of the greatest bounties of local foods available anywhere, thanks to our state’s farms and fishermen. As we seek to focus on the familiar and create memories for our children, invite a North Carolina farmer or fisherman to dinner by sharing a family meal made with locally sourced ingredients.
Local Food Marketing Promotions
Local Producers’
Social Media Toolkit
Roughly 70% of people in United States use some form of social media, making it a crucial tool for local businesses to reach hundreds, even thousands, of potential customers with relatively little financial investment. However, many farmers and fishers have trouble utilizing social media to its full marketing potential due to long working hours and potentially limited internet, in addition to the fact that social media for businesses is different from that of personal use.
In light of these challenges, the North Carolina Local Food Council (NCLFC) have created this social media toolkit, which will serve as a brief guide and resource hub to empower producers to connect with markets through social media. Click below to start building your following today!
Past Promotions
Sweetpotatoes | Blueberries |Shrimp | Strawberries | Oysters
Resources
Assisting Expansion:
NCDA’s Visit NC Farms App
Download the app to find local farms near you!
Check out this map to see if your county can be found on the app!
Learn more about the Visit NC Farms app in this webinar from the Carteret Local Food Network.
“People want experiences on farms. This app will increase potential customers down the revenue streams for farmers.”
- Annie Bagget
Agritourism Marketing Specialist, NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Find Local Foods
Cooking at home? Read this article from NC Sea Grant to learn how to incorporate local foods into your meals.
Learn what’s in season from the NC 10% Campaign.
Find local meats using MeatSuite.
Use Got to be NC Find Local to find local products.
Discover your nearest retail location that carries NC seafood with Got to be NC Seafood.
“The crack of peanut shells at the ballpark. The smell of summer peaches churned into fresh ice cream. The sights, sounds, and smells of local products are part of life in North Carolina.”
- Got to be NC
Where Do Americans’ Food Dollars Go?
How much of our money goes to the farm? Where else does it go?
Read this article by Patrick Canning of the USDA to learn where your food dollars go.
“In 2017, consumers in the United States spent $1.2 trillion on U.S.-produced food. Nearly all food starts out on a farm, but did you ever wonder how the value-added from processing, packaging, transporting and marketing agricultural food products factors into the costs?”
- Patrick Canning
US Department of Agriculture, Food Economics Division, Economic Research Service