Federal funds will help local farmers provide healthy meals for North Carolina students

 

DURHAM, NC – October 11, 2022 – On October 11^th, Governor Cooper signed an agreement to provide funding to purchase food from North Carolina’s underserved farmers and producers and to distribute it to local communities and schools. The agreement was between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Mae Wu, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Chief Deputy Commissioner David Smith announced the agreement in Durham, N.C.

Deputy Under Secretary Wu said that the “USDA is excited to partner with North Carolina to promote economic opportunities for farmers and producers and to increase access to locally sourced, fresh, healthy, and nutritious food in underserved communities and in schools.”

The federal government will allocate over $5.6 million for schools to purchase food from disadvantaged farmers and ranchers for the benefit of students and communities. Serving local foods in North Carolina schools will further support the state’s Farm to School program. This will help North Carolina’s schools improve child nutrition through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. Funding for the agreement comes from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (also known as the COVID-19 Stimulation Package) and from the Commodity Credit Corporation (a US government corporation that was created in 1933 to support farm income and prices).

Governor Roy Cooper said that “It’s great to see this collaboration between state and federal government connecting farmers with schools to get students the healthy meals they need.”

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

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ASHEVILLE, NC – November 9, 2022 – The CDC reports that the community level for Buncombe County is low for the week ending October 31^st. Most of the counties in North Carolina are low and no counties are at a high transmission level. Most of the counties in the U.S. are at a low level with less than 3% of the counties at a high level. For a community at a low community level, the CDC recommends:

• You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask indoors in public and take additional precautions.

The Buncombe County COVID-19 metrics are on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard. Data from the week ending on October 29^th indicate:

• There have been 91 cases per 100,000 residents in the last 7 days up 21% from 75 the previous week.
• 67% of the total population have received their primary vaccination series. Unchanged over the past 12 weeks.
• 21% of people with their primary vaccination series have had the new bivalent booster up from 18% from last week.
• The seven-day daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 41 and has decreased by 2 since last week, and of ICU patients is 5 and has decreased by 1 from the previous week.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
• People with any COVID symptoms should get tested
• People who are positive for COVID-19 or do not feel well should stay home

Vaccination sites and testing sites can be located through the North Carolina and Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services.

An updated COVID-19 booster is now available for eligible persons 5 years and older. This new booster targets 2 versions of the COVID virus, the original virus and the new dominant BA.4 and BA.5 variants. It will replace the previous booster shot that had targeted only the original version of the virus. Eligible persons must be at least 2 months after any prior COVID-19 shots and have had the primary vaccination series. The CDC advises that people who recently had COVID consider delaying their boosters until 3 months after their symptoms started or after a positive COVID test if they were asymptomatic. Booster shots are available at the Department of Public Health Coxe Avenue vaccination clinic, pharmacies, community health centers and rural health clinics.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour