Carolina Farm Trust Opens Phase One of New Community Food Market to Improve Access to Healthy Food from Carolina-region Farms
CHARLOTTE—Carolina Farm Trust (CFT), a non-profit dedicated to localizing community food systems in rural and urban regions to increase access to healthy foods, announced today the opening of phase one of the new 25,000-square-foot CFT Market in West Charlotte. After three years of design and construction, phase one of the CFT Market will center on CFT’s expanding food production in the community and greater Charlotte region.
Led by Executive Chef Ryan Forte and Executive Pastry Chef Leressa Rucker, the new state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, located in the center of CFT Market, will prepare meals, baked goods and other culinary creations from fresh, nutrient-dense ingredients grown by regional farms for CFT’s catering services, pop up markets, CFT Bistro food truck and local restaurants. In addition, the CFT Market culinary team will work with farmers across North and South Carolina to design recipes and food products to sell on their farms to improve access to healthy meals for rural residents, too.
“The opening of the CFT Market represents a scalable vision of creating a regional food system that supports itself,” said Zack Wyatt, CEO of Carolina Farm Trust. “We are excited to continue serving our community through the CFT Market by creating new opportunities for our farmers, enhancing food access for our community, and fostering a resilient and sustainable local food
system.”
The $12 million development for phase one was made possible through support from the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Cannon Foundation, Trane Technologies. and private donations. “The market is the realization of a vision for the delivery and access of fresh healthy foods for Mecklenburg County, especially for our residents who need the most support,” said Dena R.
Diorio, Mecklenburg County Manager. “One’s zip code should not be the barrier to access to fresh fruits and vegetables and we are proud of the partnership with Carolina Farm Trust to bring the food market to life.”
CFT Market opens at an important time. North Carolina has the 10th highest rate of food insecurity in the nation and the state is set to lose nearly 1.2 million acres of farmland by 2040 – both are devastating to communities, the economy, and most importantly, access to healthy local food. “I’m particularly proud of the $4 million dollars we secured for the Carolina Farm Trust’s
Local Foods Production Distribution Center,” said Congresswoman Adams (NC-12). “They’ve been an active partner in my Adams Hunger Initiative and I’m excited to see what they have done with the facility since my last visit. I know it’s going to do great things for food security right here in Charlotte.”
With phase one complete, CFT is now embarking on a capital campaign to raise $17 million for phase two, which will include a retail food market, teaching kitchen, community event space, and meat processing facility.
To learn more about the new CFT Market, visit carolinafarmtrust.org.
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About Carolina Farm Trust
Carolina Farm Trust (CFT) is a nonprofit championing the growing movement to localize food supply chains. We restore the vital connections between agriculture, chefs, and consumers and develop the right private while developing the right public partnerships to create resilient community food systems. CFT is a holistic solution for growing city regions, like Charlotte, N.C., to reframe agriculture as a way to provide a benefit to urban and rural populations, address many of the underlying inequalities as well as social and environmental issues associated with current food supply chains, and, ultimately, regain control of their food supply chains. Learn more at https://carolinafarmtrust.org/.
