Food-Based Business

Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project
ASAP “is a nonprofit organization that supports farmers and rural communities in the mountains of Western North Carolina and the Southern Appalachians by providing education, mentoring, promotion, web resources, and community and policy development.”

Blue Ridge Food Ventures
An industry-standard incubator kitchen facility, which supports entrepreneurs in getting their food- and agricultural-based goods and value-added products off the ground.

Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
Creating a regional food system that is profitable for the farmer and healthy and affordable for the consumer.

Creative Food Venture – Specialty Foods of the Mountains
Contact Carol Coulter or Rhonda Church at 336.982.5127; Incubator kitchen facility located in Ashe County, NC.

Food & Drug Administration Food Labeling Guide

Getting Started in a Food Business in North Carolina – A Decision Tree
Online questionnaire to help people assess their needs when considering a new product or business.

Local Harvest
Glossary of direct marketing avenues for food and products.

North Carolina Cooperative Extension
Provides access to resources and expertise of NC State University and NC A&T State University. Publishes educational opportunities for food-based businesses, supports entrepreneurs; stimulates community economic development—and more.

North Carolina State University’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Resource Guide for Farmers

The Organic Pages
The online presence for the Organic Trade Association, providing quick, easy t o use tools for finding certified organic products, producers, ingredients, supplies and services offered by OTA members and other suppliers.

Red Tomato
Non-profit marketer of family farm fruits and vegetables.

Rockingham Community Kitchen
An industry-standard incubator kitchen facility, located in the Piedmont Triad area to support entrepreneurs of food- and agricultural-based goods and value-added products.

Small Business Nutrition Labeling Exemption
Lists situations where businesses are NOT required to include nutrition labeling; Could make the difference for small business start-up costs.

Specialty Food Magazine
Published by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, which is composed of domestic and foreign manufacturers, importers, distributors, brokers, retailers, restaurateurs, caterers and others in the specialty foods business.

SPIN Farming
An exciting new business model that links lifestyle, agriculture, and social change! SPIN is a farming system that promotes methods of earning income from land under an acre in size.

North Carolina Business Development

Sustainable North Carolina
Helps organizations explore and implement practices that improve efficiency, reduce risk, enhance reputation and increase profitability while enhancing our state’s communities and natural systems.

The Babcock Demon Incubator
Wake Forest University’s Babcock Graduate School of Management business development program.

The Ben Craig Center
University of North Carolina’s Charlotte-based business development program.

Mountain BizWorks
Small business assistance provider in Western North Carolina.

NC Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services
State links to Farmers Markets, Ag Centers, and Marketing Centers.

North Carolina REAL Enterprises
Provides educational programs and supports entrepreneurial education for youth as well as online business courses and youth entrepreneurship camp.

General Business Development

SBA
Small Business Administration; Includes the Office of Small Business Development Centers Entrepreneurial Development links.

SBTDC
Small Business and Technology Development Center; provides management, counseling and educational services for a variety of industries.

Shorewood Packaging
A division of International Paper with packaging solutions and supplies for more marketable products and sustainable business.

Financial-Based Business

Fortune Group, Inc.
Publisher of customized financial planning materials for public education and client retention by non-profit organizations and financial professionals.

N.C. Center for Nonprofits
Serves the nonprofit sector and strengthen nonprofits' effectiveness as they improve North Carolina's quality of life.

Health-Based Business

NCCAM, National Institutes of Health
Website for NIH's National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine.

Health Care Without Harm
An international coalition of hospitals and health care systems, medical professionals, community groups, labor unions, environmental and environmental health organizations and religious groups.

LTP-Longevity Through Prevention
Provides turnkey solutions to the pharmaceutical and natural products industry. Includes an online presentation, Capturing the Healthcare Practitioner Market.

Social Change

Buy Appalachian
Supports the Buy Local movement with a list of North Carolina Tailgate Markets and CSA Listings.

Carolina Recycling Association
Advances waste reduction and recycling throughout the Carolinas.

Eat Local Challenge
A group of blogs written by authors who are interested in the benefits of eating good grown and produced in their local foodshed.

FoodRoutes
Where does YOUR FOOD come from? FoodRoutes is a national non-profit dedicated to reintroducing Americans to their food.

Free Soil
An international collaboration of artists, activists, researchers and gardeners who take a participatory role in the transformation of our environment.

Natural Resources Defense Council;
The Seasonality Page
Does Your Food Travel More Than You Do?

Organic Growers School
Non-profit organization supporting sustainable agriculture in the southern Appalachians through educational programs and outreach.

Piedmont Environmental Alliance
Facilitates environmental sustainability in the Piedmont Triad communities of NC through education, networking and exchange of information.

Project for Public Spaces
PPS has worked in 2,000 communities in 47 states and 26 countries to improve parks, markets, streets, transit stations, libraries and countless other places, deeply influencing the way cities and towns approach public space.

Slow Food International
“Slow Food promotes the pleasure of good food and the integrity of local cultures that grow it. It envisions a region with local markets, restaurants, and small farms overflowing with fresh food and food choices."

Slow Food Piedmont Triad
Includes links to Slow Food organizations across the state of North Carolina, as well as other related links and topics.

W.E.B. Dubois Community Development Corporation
Non-profit organization, which supports the creation of sustainable communities in North Carolina.

Cooperatives

Appalachian Spring Cooperative
Member-owned association of entrepreneurs creating quality, locally produced food and herbal self care products.

Equal Exchange
Worker owned co-op that pioneered fair trade food and beverages. Trading partners are from 18 developing countries.

Foothills Family Farms
A “collection of small family farms in the Foothills region of Western North Carolina;” Products available for distribution through this collective.

Ecology

Conservation Trust of North Carolina
Listing of North Carolina’s land trusts.

Green People
Directory of eco-friendly and holistic products.

Land For Tomorrow
A statewide partnership of conservationists, farmers, business leaders, local governments, health professionals, and community groups working to protect the North Carolina’s land, water, and special places before they are irreversibly lost.

Southern Environmental Law Center
Handles conservation initiatives to strengthen environmental protection laws and policies throughout the South.

News and Media

KCDesigns
Visual communications through interactive web development.

Swiftwater Media
Full service video production for broadcast, DVD and the web.

CSR Wire
The Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire

GreenBiz
News source for business and the environment; Publisher of GreenBuzz, a weekly e-newsletter.

Grist
Environmental News and Humor

NewsLink
Links to popular news media in North Carolina.

Raleigh Television Network
Public Access TV out of Raleigh, NC

The Business Journal
Serves the Greater Piedmont Triad, NC area

The People’s Channel
Public Access TV out of Chapel Hill, NC

URTV
Public Access TV out of Asheville, NC