
{"id":23815,"date":"2012-02-16T10:26:25","date_gmt":"2012-02-16T15:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=23815"},"modified":"2012-02-15T17:30:53","modified_gmt":"2012-02-15T22:30:53","slug":"farming-community-celebrates-gains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2012\/02\/16\/farming-community-celebrates-gains\/","title":{"rendered":"Farming community celebrates gains"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Rose Laudicina<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Despite the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s struggling economy, Orange County has seen tremendous growth in a major industry in the area in recent years. That industry is agriculture. <\/p>\n<p>At the Orange County Agricultural Summit on Monday, a group of about 70 farmers gathered at the Big Barn Convention Center in Hillsborough to hear about changing agricultural polices, share ideas and learn about new services. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is one of the only districts in the country that has more farmers now than it did 10 years ago,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Rep. David Price said. <\/p>\n<p>In its 14th year, the summit draws farmers from all over the county who specialize in different types of agriculture. <\/p>\n<p>The summit gives the county\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growing community of farmers a place to come together alongside county and state officials not only to learn about the new trends in local agriculture but also to celebrate its place in Orange County. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This summit is as relevant today as it was 14 years ago, when it was started,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Bernadette Pelissier, chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is something where all of us come to learn the trends of local agriculture.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest trends discussed at the summit was the increasing demand for locally produced food.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The community is driving the demand for locally grown food,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Pelissier said, noting how people are realizing that buying local helps both the local economy and the environment. <\/p>\n<p>Price also discussed the growing national trend of restaurants promoting the use of local ingredients and how farmers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 markets are increasing in popularity and profitability. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is no longer just a Carrboro thing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Price said about interest in locally grown food. <\/p>\n<p>Jack Tapp, founder of Busy Bee Apiaries, also spoke to the group about the demand for locally produced products while telling the story of his business. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am a living example of the American dream,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tapp said, explaining how he started beekeeping as a hobby, but it turned into a profitable business. <\/p>\n<p>In addition to selling his line of Vintage Bee Creamed Honey both nationally and internationally, he sells and ships bees to help farms with pollination. <\/p>\n<p>Tapp said the key to the success of his business was finding a niche in the market, thinking creatively and focusing on marketing his product, which he feels is the weakest part of the agricultural industry. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thinking outside the box and staying local is the name of the game,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Matthew Roybal, manager of the new Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center in Hillsborough, believes his center can help local farmers market their product and make connections. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We hope to bridge the gap between growers and retail producers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Roybal said some companies, such as Amy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, which makes organic vegetarian frozen meals, have approached him to inquire about getting local produce. <\/p>\n<p>Through the center, Roybal said he hopes he can help increase demand for farmers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 products, thereby helping the local economy. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We all win when agriculture thrives,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Price said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s struggling economy, Orange County has seen tremendous growth in a major industry in the area in recent years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23815"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23842,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23815\/revisions\/23842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}