Background
Foothills Connect Business and Technology Center has been working to further economic development in rural Appalachia since 2006. After years of failed attempts to reinvigorate the traditional manufacturing economy of the region, Foothills Connect recognizes that it is time to search for more innovative answers: we need to utilize the valuable human and natural resources that are so abundant in the Appalachian Mountains.
In 2007, Foothills Connect launched its nationally recognized Farmers Fresh Market Program. Through this initiative, local farmers learned to use the Internet to sell their produce to untapped urban markets, receiving 80 cents for each dollar sold, as opposed to the 19 cents a farmer receives from a traditional packing house. Urban restaurants and residents, meanwhile, were able to receive fresh, just-in-time delivery of healthy, locally grown produce and farm products. You can download our testimonial brochure here.
But this is not enough: the Farmland Preservation Trust estimates that the US needs 13 million new acres of vegetable cultivation just to meet today’s USDA minimum daily requirements for the nation. In order to achieve such demand, farmers will need to be re-taught how to sustainably regenerate the soil, grow in high-density, sustainable, poly-cropping environments, and make use of multiple growing mediums–water, compost, forests, etc.
Future Forward
Foothills Connect is taking a decisive step in this effort to create jobs and promote the growth of healthy, sustainable foods through a partnership with internationally renown Growing Power Inc. In May 2010, Foothills Connect was named a Growing Power Regional Outreach Training Center, one of only a handful across the country. The mission of the 
Training Center is “to provide Growing Power’s technical training support at the local level as an expansion of Our Vision: Inspiring communities to build sustainable food systems that are equitable and ecologically sound, creating a just world, one food-secure community at a time. A Regional Outreach Training Center, or ROTC, will be able to host Growing Power, ‘From the Ground Up’ type workshops for the region and will receive technical support to plan and develop a Community Food Systems project inspired by Growing Power’s Community Food Center and Projects.”
The weekend of April 30th/May 1st, Foothills Connect will celebrate the dedication of the Regional Outreach Training Center in Rutherford County. Will Allen and Growing Power representatives will be on-hand to teach workshops on vermiculture, aquaponics, high-intensity horticulture, composting, bee keeping, and more. Register here!
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