This project aims to strengthen the local food system and economy in the Appalachian region of North Carolina. Over the next 5 years, it seeks to increase access to healthy local food, diversify livelihoods, and develop a financially sustainable regional food network. In year one, activities will include expanding season extension programs, aggregating and distributing local foods, establishing institutional buyers, providing business support, and growing a coalition of partners. Securing additional funding and technical assistance would allow the project to serve more farmers and communities across the Appalachian region.

1. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
Startup Appalachia aims to (1) identify promising efforts that could produce larger results for the
economic transition of Central Appalachia, (2) encourage direct organizing by foundations to fund
around the most promising work in the region, (3) leverage additional resources to scale projects,
and (4) offer funders insight on how to capitalize on the investments they have made to date.
Section I: Project Identification
Project Title:High Country Seeds of Change
Identify the name, contact number and email address of the following Startup Actors:
 Supportive Coach: Ray Daffner- rdaffner@arc.gov - 202/884-7777
 Nominator: Jeffrey Scott – jeffrey.scott@heifer.org – 828-263-2546
 Project Leader: Jeffrey Scott
Section II: To be completed by the Nominator
1. Please provide a short summary of your motivations for funding this project and what you hope to
gain out of participating in Startup Appalachia.
Through Heifer USA’s Seeds of Change Initiative, the Heifer International is tackling hunger and
poverty at a systemic and more sustainable scale. Heifer is re-launching its domestic program in
communities of persistent poverty within two of America’s poorest regions—Arkansas and Central
Appalachia. The goal is healthy regional food systems; profitable small scale farmers and food
entrepreneurs; and healthy, food secure communities. Working with regional and community
partners, Heifer will strengthen limited resources food and farm enterprises and connect them to a
growing consumer base through diverse markets. Establishing the necessary value chains will enable
communities to better feed themselves, and will enable small scale sustainable agricultural farmers
and food entrepreneurs to be economically viable.
To make this work possible, Heifer is working to organize key stakeholders in communities--laying
the groundwork for diverse actors to work together and invest together in persistent poverty
communities. These partners will work together across multiple food system value chains to create an
enabling environment for improved livelihood and food security, environmental stewardship and
improved social equity. With the proper investments and support, Seeds of Change is striving to
create production systems and diverse markets to support a greater number of food and farm
enterprises and to enable these producers to feed a greater number of people-especially the alarming
and growing numbers of community members who are food insecure.Organizing and strengthening
social capital along with the accompanying increases in income and opportunity and will help create
durable, sustainable communities in Arkansas and Appalachia where opportunities have long been
scarce.
Heifer International wants to partner not only with community and regional leaders to find solutions
to these challenging issues but to work closely and strategically with other funders whose mission is
aligned with ours and are interested in making long term investments to create sustainable impact
and economic transition for those most in need.

2. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
Section III: To be completed by the Project Leader
1. Clarify the short-term and long-term results of the project.
The long-term vision of Seeds of Change Appalachia (SOCA) is to end poverty, grow jobs, and
improve health while caring for the environment in Appalachia through the incredible power of
locally grown food. This vision will be accomplished by strengthening the local economy and
creating jobs and opportunities in all aspects of agriculture and food production. In turn, this
will boost nutrition by improving access to healthy, locally produced foods, especially for low
income families, and improve the environment by supporting responsible agricultural
practices. The Heifer USA domains of change are the cornerstones that SOCA is using to establish
the 4 year goals for this region.
The guiding Heifer goals and measures include:
1. Food Security Goal: Low income and food insecure individuals have access to nutritious
healthy food. In order for individuals to thrive, they must have access to and be consuming healthy
nutritious food. Awareness and understanding of the connection between food and health is critical
to addressing issues of hunger and diet related disease. Impact indicators include: number of families
(a) receiving or having access to healthy food, (b) having or participating in gardens, (c) participating
in food processing, e.g., canning/freezing etc.
2. Livelihood Security Goal: Low income and food insecure individuals have diversified
livelihood security strategies. Resilience and diversified income strategies are critical to lifting
communities and individuals out of poverty. The skills and ability to access living wage jobs and
business ownership opportunities build healthy local economies and distribute wealth within
communities and among low income and food insecure populations. Impact indicators include:
percentage increase of impact households with wage income from formal sector work (i.e., living
wage job).
3. Natural Resources: Natural resources are equitably accessible and responsibly used for a
healthy living environment. The environment and its natural capital such as land, water, air and
biodiversity are essential to the health of communities. Equitable access and ownership to and
responsible stewardship of natural resources lead to healthier communities and greater economic
development. Impact indicator: percentage increase of acres being transitioned from conventional to
sustainable or organic forms of production and/or percentage increase of acres brought back into
agriculture production.
4. Social Equity Goal: Low income and food insecure individuals share in equitable
distribution of power and resources. Social equity is the objective of all the strategies
implemented in the communities where Heifer works. Social equity ensures fair access, ownership,
and leadership that allow individuals to participate fully within their communities and within the
larger society. Impact indicators include: percentage increase in business ownership by racial and
ethnic minorities, women and other disadvantaged populations.
The short term goals (Five Years) related to the Seeds of Change Initiative in the High Country
Region are two-fold:
High Country Region Goal 1: Develop a regional system for self-reliance that increases
access to healthy, locally grown food and diversifies opportunities for household income for
Genuine Need Population (GNP).

3. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
The primary strategy to meet this goal currently being implemented through the Seeds of Change
Appalachia is:
Develop a system of education, networking and training to build the knowledge, connections
and skills necessary to (1) increase the amount of sustainably produced food by our Genuine
Need Population and for others that are the low income food insecure but not able to farm; and
(2) create targeted and attainable opportunities for the diversification and/or household income
of our Genuine Need Population.
Objective 1. By 2016, 6,200 low income food insecure households (families) in the SOCA
region will have access to fresh local food for consumption. Activities for year one:
o Community gardens are established and monitored by coalition partners
o Families receive plants, tools and training in gardening
o Local farmers, farmers markets, farm stands provide surplus or gleaned produce to food
pantries or processing sites
o Women and families receive training on preserving seasonally abundant produce for year
around use
Objective 2. By 2016, 4,000 low income food insecure families have diversified or
increased household income. Activities for year one:
o Expand growing season with and provide training on the use of high tunnels and
sustainable gardening/agriculture methods
o Provide on the job training in P.A.D and shared use facilities and commercial kitchens
o Develop a business and entrepreneur development support network
o Provide training business training
High Country Region Project Goal 2: Develop and maintain a financially viable regional food
system that creates living wage jobs, establishes local ownership, and increases diverse
markets for locally sustainably grown food.
The strategies currently being implemented through the High Country Seeds of Change initiative to
meet Goal 2 are:
Increase Sustainable Ag Production, Develop Critical ―Missing‖ Infrastructure, and a Diversity
of Markets. Limited resource farmers need long term (1) sustainable agriculture technical
assistance and entrepreneurship skills; (2) access to a diversity of community capital and markets;
3) and access to viable and regionally based and processing, aggregation and distribution
enterprises. The coalition will work to develop a coordinated system of technical assistance and
access to agriculture equipment investment to increase production and profits of sustainably
grown products for the limited resource farmer.
Developing critical business development and planning capacity. The core team and steering
committee will set up a food systems task force to review existing infrastructure assessments for
the region.
Objective 1: By 2016, 750 limited resource farmers and food entrepreneurs are operating
viable food and farm enterprises and are generating a diversity of income at the household
level. Activities for year one:
o Develop cross sector program partners and design and implement programs

4. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
o Expand growing season with and provide training on the use of high tunnels and
sustainable gardening/agriculture methods
o Provide on the job training in P.A.D and shared use facilities and commercial kitchens
o Develop a business and entrepreneur development support network
o Provide training business training
Objective 2: By 2016, at least 5 financially viable community-owned food system enterprises
that represent targeted food system infrastructure (P.A.D) are developed and launched in the
High Country Region. Activities for year one:
o Organize existing community capital resources for social enterprise based infrastructure
for regional food systems
o Develop a regional training and support program for professional business development
and workforce training including workshops, classes and mentor networks related to
social enterprise based infrastructure in the food system
o Organize existing business development support resources in the region for enterprise
based infrastructure business planning and development
o Develop a system of sustainable agriculture specialty crop workshops to train limited
resources farmers on targeted production for enterprise based infrastructure connected
to specific markets.
2. Please provide a detailed description of howthis project couldbe expanded.
This is the first year of development in the High Country Region and as with most projects of this
size there are many areas for targeted development and expansion. For this first year of
implementation Heifer is investing approximately $500K in three primary areas Food Access, Value
Chain Development and Collective Impact (organizational development of community coalition).
More specifically the High Country Region has chosen five thematic areas for investment to begin
building a solid footing for regional development and expansion of the food system. These include:
• Season extension
• Aggregation, distribution, processing and rural/urban connections
• Institutional buying
• Enterprise development support (entrepreneurship technical assistance and access to capital)
• Network growth and strengthening
Investment of resources in these thematic areas will greatly increase the development and expansion
of the project.
Heifer USA will expand the Seeds of Change Initiative into other sub-regions of Central Appalachia.
To make this expansion, Heifer USA will first and foremost, need this initial round of investment in
High Country Region to start showing positive trends of impact for Food and Livelihood Security as
well as our meeting its Natural Resource and Social Equity goals (described above). Secondly
Heifer USA will need committed funding partners for its own programmatic costs, to leverage its
investments in the region, and to co-develop strategies with them and the communities on the
ground.
3. What resources are needed to assist in this expansion?
1) Technical assistance for sustainable agriculture production, value chain development,
entrepreneurship development and organizational development. 2) Agricultural and commercial

5. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
kitchen equipment including greenhouses, high tunnels, drip irrigation, fencing, tractors, tools, trucks,
flash freezers, dehydrators, cold storage, etc. 3) Seeds, seedlings, livestock (cows, goats, pigs, poultry,
sheep) bees, fish and others 4) professional programmatic/operations staffing for Heifer USA and the
partner intermediary organizations working in the regional coalition network to deliver
implementation strategies.
4. Please list the specific activities that will lead to this expansion. (Provide a timeline for these
activities.)
1) Season Extension
Committee partners and activity leads: Cooperative Extension; Appalachian State University’s
Sustainable Agriculture Program; High Country Grown; Circles’ Sustainable Ag Program; Giving
Table; Outgrow Hunger; Maverick Farm’s Farmer Incubator and Grower Program (FIG);
USDA/NRCS, Rural SCALE
Fall (2012)
• Requests for High Tunnels/Hoop Houses from USDA’s NRCS
• Curriculum developed for High Tunnel/Hoop House & season extension training
• Market Study for Direct Markets and Shared Value Wholesale Markets
• Convening of limited resource farmers wanting season extension
Winter (2012-2013)
• Identification & Selection of core products to be grown
• Market Development and Market Relationships built
• Workshop for limited resource farmers participating in growing season
• Master List ordered for seeds, equipment and tools necessary for production
Spring (2013)
• Workshops for limited resource farmers participating in growing season
• Ongoing Training and Support
• Ongoing Market Development and Relationship building
• Work plan Preparation for FY2014
2) Aggregation, Distribution, Processing and Rural/Urban Connections
Committee partners and activity leads: Appalachian Regional Commission; Alleghany Food Hub;
Giving Table; Cooperative Extension; Creative Food Ventures; PHARMIN; Johnson County High
School’s Vocational Agriculture Program; alt.Consulting; ACEnet
Fall (2012)
• Market Development and market relationships built in both local and export markets
• Assessment of P.A.D. assets, capacity and market linkages and prioritize early opportunities
• Develop specific scope of work and TA necessary for each P.A.D. including feasibility and
business planning
Winter (2012-2013)

6. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
• Convene participating small scale farmers and food entrepreneurs to better understand
production capacity
• Convene intermediary value chain partners for specific P.A.D. and address Roles and Gaps
• Identify funding partners and build relationships
Spring (2013)
• Based on feasibility/business plans; develop joint work plans for both direct partners and
indirect partners for P.A.D capitalization, development and launch
• Continue to build markets and market relationships
• Continue to build network of participating farmers and food entrepreneurs
3) Institutional Buyers
Committee partners and activity leads: Appalachian State University’s Department of Food Services;
Creative Food Ventures; Giving Table; Johnson County High School’s Vocational Ag Program;
Alleghany Food Hub; Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project; ACEnet, Appalachian Regional
Healthcare
Fall (2012)
• Develop preliminary work plan with one institutional buyer
• Identify 3-5 crops that the institution will purchase and that can produced, processed and
distributed in region
Winter (2012-2013)
• Convene participating small scale farmers in a series of facilitated meetings to discuss
pricing, contracts, quantity, quality, aggregation and distribution
• Negotiate terms with institutional buyer and small scale producers
• Develop production plan with participating small scale farmers
Spring (2013)
• Provide sustainable agriculture production technical assistance
• Convene P.A.D partners to develop value chain linkage plan to institutional buyer
• Prepare work plan for FY14
4) Enterprise Development Support (Entrepreneurship TA & Access to Capital)
Committee partners and activity leads: High Country Entrepreneurship Support Network (12 local
and regional agencies and organizations providing business development support); Appalachian State
University Sustainable MBA Program; alt.Consulting; ACEnet
Fall (2012)
• Convene High Country Entrepreneurship Support Network to continue work plan
development for streamlining and improving services
• Develop business support services for Creative Food Ventures as pilot
• Build technology platform (website & blog) for bridging entrepreneurs and support services

7. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
Winter (2012-2013)
• Develop work plan for accessing capital for participating food and farm enterprises
• Convene six community food entrepreneurs and develop plan for piloting support services
• Convene six small scale farm entrepreneurs and develop plan pilot support services
• Alpha test technology platform for farm and food entrepreneurs
Spring (2013)
• Prepare launch of Community Farm & Food Entrepreneurship Support Network
• Continue supporting 12 community food and farm entrepreneurs utilizing technology
platform as beta test
• Develop work plan for FY2014
5) Network Growth and Strengthening – coalition building
Committee partners and activity leads:Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, Appalachian District
Health Department, Resourceful Communities, Heifer USA, Considine & Associates,
Appalachian State University and intermediate governance team of coalition
Fall & Winter (2012/2013)
Continue development of common vision and agenda of coalition
Establish common measurements and baseline for coalition strategies
Continue developing the capacity of backbone organization
Continue to develop governance structure
Complete feasibility phase of fundraising campaign
Winter (2013)
Planning for Regional Food Summit in Spring 2013
Continuation of coalition development through recruitment, technical workshops and
facilitation
Governance of coalition selected and trained
Silent phase of fundraising and planning for campaign launch
Public relations and outreach plan developed and started
Spring (2013)
Regional Food Summit
Public fundraising campaign launched
Proposal writing for Heifer USA implementation YR 2
PR and outreach expanded

8. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
Also listed are eight (8) specific activities chosen by the coalition and the representative lead
intermediaries helping to coordinate activities this first implementation round and include:
1) Circles of Watauga, Susan Jones, Nancy Reigal, (http://www.circlescampaign.org/, Wilkes
Circles of Care http://prographicsinc.com/index.html) and the Hospitality House, Tina Krause,
Todd Carter, http://hospitalityhouseofboone.org/
Hospitality House and Circles of Watauga are working together to address poverty and food
insecurity and the systemic barriers associated with their elimination in the community. This
coalition of faith-based and secular organizations seeks to develop and implement a model,
innovative intervention, integrating the national Circles program with a sustainable
agriculture initiative to support personal and family growth, encourage healthy living through
producing and preparing fresh foods, promote healthy lifestyles and food security through
community gardening, develop awareness of agriculture and its many facets as a means to
economic stability, provide job and business development skills to those interested in
pursuing agriculture positions or creating their own agriculture enterprises as part of the
local and/or regional food system. In tandem, this initiative will build the capacity for year-
round community gardening and expand direct markets for produce and products developed
through the initiative.
2) Giving Table, LLC, Alan Rice, Dwight Smith, http://www.thegivingtableusa.org/ (Sub-contract
to RFD CDC, Alan Rice, http://www.rfdcdc.org)
The Giving Table, LLC, seeks to promote sustainable economic development and
agriculture production in northwestern North Carolina and to provide a source of protein
for those in need of food assistance through a program of purchasing locally grown select
beef stock; raising cattle to slaughter weight using an innovative, hydroponic fodder system
on a local free-range feed farm(s); processing through a local abattoir and cold storage
aggregation and distribution facility; distributing high-value, grass-fed beef products to local,
regional, and extra-regional markets; and using a percentage of the proceeds to provide beef
products to area food banks.
3) High Country Grown: A Marketing Strategy of High Country Local First, Jim Hamilton,
http://highcountrygrown.org/, http://www.highcountrylocalfirst.org/
High Country Local First, (HCLF) along with its partner organizations will work with
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) to create a co-marketing strategy for
High Country Grown and Appalachian Grown so that the varied work of both groups will
be clearer to the consumer. HCLF will expand the High Country Grown brand and offer a
curriculum of training to limited resource farmers and locally owned restaurants to help
develop and strengthen direct markets in Watauga and Ashe Counties as a pilot program for
the initial phase in a coordinated approach with ASAP. Building this identity for locally
grown products is also important for consumer awareness that ―local‖ means high quality,
good taste, fresh and grown in the High Country. Specialized workshops and training will be
offered to farmers along with financial assistance for livestock, seed and/or infrastructure to
help genuine need farmers to meet the needs of the direct markets.

9. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
4) ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project), Charlie Jackson,
http://www.asapconnections.org/
ASAP, in working with HCLF, will build capacity and increase market opportunities for limited
resource farmers and develop a regional identity for food grown in the High Country. In
addition to the co-marketing and direct market building strategies described above, ASAP will
build farmer capacity to increase income through direct markets, facilitate the connections
between farmers and buyers, and increase the competitiveness and visibility of locally grown
food.
Within a longer time frame, forming sustainable business relationships that clearly and accurately
distinguish locally grown food in the marketplace will be crucial to the continued development of
the local food system in the High Country. In four years, more farmers in the High Country will
be able to meet the requirements of distinct market segments (i.e., restaurants, institutional
cafeterias, grocery stores). More food buyers will be able identify and source locally grown food
from qualified farmers. Locally grown food will be available across more local food outlets in the
region. Certification and branding will maintain the integrity and meaning of locally grown
food, and High Country farms will benefit from even greater demand for locally grown food.
5) Shared Use/Incubation Community Kitchen, Carol Coulter,
http://mountaintimes.com/columns-serves-you-right/articles/Lets-Get-Creative-id-022567
The Creative Food Ventures shared use facility will attract and grow food entrepreneurs for
the kitchen rental program and develop and implement a robust business development
support program over the first nine months of implementation. This will include the re-
launch of a marketing campaign to attract new food entrepreneurs in the region. A part-
time kitchen manager will bring needed coordination and leadership to the programs and will
also help direct a newly committed project task force that may become a new board of
directors for Creative Food Ventures. Relationships with Appalachian State University Food
Services with the help of students will also be developed. In four years, the facility will be
fully integrated into the regional food system and will be able to provide food systems
training, serve as an incubator for new ventures, and will have the potential for serving as an
aggregation and distribution site.
6) Alleghany Co. Food Hub Workgroup, Colette Nester
The four year goal of this workgroup is to develop a viable sub-regional local food hub
model that connects and strengthens small scale production, aggregation, processing and
distribution to a diversity of markets in and out of the region. In the first year, workshops
and educational programs on production and purchasing systems on and for the variety of
buyers will initiate linkages between producers and points of sale. Assessing buyers’ needs
and connecting and leveraging the opportunities in the existing distribution systems and
P.A.D. facilities will strengthen the opportunities to set up market systems. The proposed
farmer/worker owned Appalachian Meat Processing Facility in Alleghany will conduct
market feasibility and business planning to set the stage for capitalization and development
in Year 2. Lessons learned and already established needs for this sub–regional hub will be an
important contribution to the rest of the SOCA initiative and developing a regional
approach to value added processing chains.

10. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
7) Outgrow Hunger, Travis Birdsell
Out Grow Hunger is a program designed to join communities together through growing and
giving. The program is uniting commercial producers, home gardeners, churches,
community organizations, and local governments, to create a community wide effort to
eliminate food insecurity, address child nutrition and empower the poor. They distribute
fresh local produce through a developing network food pantries, use it in cooking for our
community meals and mobile meals, and process it into soups or stews frozen in family sized
portions and ready give away and eat through a developing network of community kitchens
The program also providestechnical assistance for home food production by growing a
garden at residences, while providing classes for gardening skills, cooking, and preserving.
The goal is that those who hunger, especially each child, has food to eat and knows that the
same holds true for tomorrow. Focus continues on 1) expansion of networked commercial,
church and household growers, 2) processing, storage and efficient distribution of locally
grown food 3) development of networked commercial kitchens and food pantries.
8) Farmer Incubator and Grower Program (FIG) Maverick Farms, Hillary Wilson
The purposeof the FIG program is to strengthen the rural economy of the High Country.
The goal is to promote local food production, processing, and consumption as an engine for
economic development in the High Country. The FIG program trains, supports and grows
new farm based enterprises on a shared use farm utilizing a graduated tier system model for
each participant. Up to 30 farmers will be utilizing the program in the next five
years.Maverick Farms has also established a Shared Cost CSA as part of its multi-farm CSA
to help gain access for young pregnant moms in need of healthy nutritious food.
Section IV: To be completed by the Nominator and Project Leader
1. How does this project contribute to the economic transition of Central Appalachia?
This project contributes to the economic transition of Central Appalachia by investing significantly
and longer and deeper impact of the region and by testing regional-scale community development
impact models in the local food sector to help create a more sustainable economy and healthier,
more resilient communities. This model dovetails with much of the collaborative work taking place
already in Central Appalachia and described in these measures by Anthony Flaccavento:
Uses ―asset-based‖ strategies, building and adding value to the ecological, cultural and
human strengths of the region;
Improves community food security through market-based initiatives to solve food deserts, as
well as helping food insecure families produce the food they need for their own
consumption needs through backyard, school and community garden.
Cultivates self-reliance, for producers and the broader community;
Builds cooperative networks that help overcome isolation, estrangement and problems of
scale; and
Restores and builds community wealth in multiple forms.
2. Provide a 1-paragraph summary of your project to share on the Appalachia Funders Network
website.

11. Startup Appalachia
Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Economies in Appalachia
Project Narrative
Heifer International has relaunched its work domestically in the US to tackle systemic poverty and
hunger and has committed $1.3M over four years through Heifer USA’s Seeds of Change Initiative
to help strengthen the regional food system of the High Country Region in western NC and eastern
TN. Through increased healthy food access, community collaboration and value chain development
this newinitiative willgrow jobs, improve health, and create community self-reliance to help end
hunger and poverty through the extraordinary potential of locally produced food. Successive rounds
of investment will take place in other sub-regions of Central Appalachia to catalyze, strengthen and
gain a critical foothold in the transition of the region as a whole.
Section V: Conditions for Participation
Due to the educational nature of this initiative, your participation in Startup Appalachia confirms
your willingness topublically share and encourage the use of the ideas and strategies behind your
organization’s project.