Before you go …
If you like what you are reading and believe in independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism like ours—journalism the way it should be—please contribute to keep us going. Reporting like this isn’t free to produce and we cannot do this alone. Thank you!
Welcome to The Kicker from Carolina Public Press, a North Carolina news show bringing you conversations with journalists, sources and newsmakers from across the state. This is a special edition of The Kicker, in conjunction with CPP’s ongoing series Faces of Hunger.
Jen Nathan Orris, a contributing reporter for Carolina Public Press, talks with Yancey County residents involved with TRACTOR Food and Farms, which coordinates efforts to bring fresh local farm produce to local people, including those who cannot afford to pay for it, as a means to combat food insecurity for much of the year.
By writing people a prescription for healthy food regardless of their income, the program avoids stigmatizing individuals who go to pick up locally grown produce for free even as others pick up the same bags of food that they’ve paid for in advance. TRACTOR also contributes produce to local food banks.
Organizers hope that the Burnsville operation can be expanded and adopted in other locations.
About The Kicker
The Kicker is a production of Carolina Public Press. It also airs weekly at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on WPVM radio 103.7 FM in Asheville. Send an email to thekicker@carolinapublicpress.org if you would like to contact the staff of Carolina Public Press about The Kicker.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may republish our stories for free, online or in print. Simply copy and paste the article contents from the box below. Note, some images and interactive features may not be included here.
