Topics Related to Food Assistance
Even as the year winds down and the holidays approach, Davis Farms Sandy Creek in Warrenton is busy as ever harvesting frost-hardy greens like kale and bok choy, while planting cover crops to help prepare the soil for the next season. Turn back the clock 100 years and you might see a similar scene, as well as Larry Davis’s ancestors.“Farming is in my blood,” says Davis, owner and operator of Davis Farms Sandy Creek. “Everything that I am is because of the things that I learned on the farm, as far as responsibility, commitment, and patience.”
As unemployment and uncertainty soared early in the pandemic, so did the demand for food assistance. North Carolina’s regional food banks quickly rose to meet this unprecedented need by sourcing, storing, and supplying food to their networks in all 100 counties. Now the State is investing $40 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to ensure food banks can afford to continue their mission, even as they face new COVID-era challenges like supply chain disruptions, inflation, and decreased donations.