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19 May, 2025

Farming as Healing: How Land-Based Work Supports Mental and Physical Health

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-05-19T20:59:55+00:00May 19, 2025|Food Equity|0 Comments

The simple act of putting your hands in the soil has never felt more radical—or more necessary.

For centuries, farming has been about survival. But for many, especially in communities burdened by historical trauma and systemic oppression, it’s also been a path to healing. From improved mental health to a sense of spiritual grounding, reconnecting with the land offers more than food. It offers restoration.

At Carolina Farm Trust (CFT), we believe that land is medicine. That farming is not just about production, but transformation. And that the future of food justice must also be about healing justice as well.

The Mind-Soil Connection: How Nature Regulates the Nervous System

Research is clear: spending time in nature significantly reduces symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD. A 2020 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that even brief interactions with green spaces

5 May, 2025

Farmers, Not Factories: Why We Must Break the Corporate Monopoly on Food

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-05-05T15:49:55+00:00May 5, 2025|Food Equity, Sustainable Agriculture|0 Comments

In America today, four corporations control more than 80% of the beef market, four companies dominate 70% of the pork industry, and just a handful of conglomerates manage most of the nation’s grain processing, seed production, and food distribution. This is not a coincidence—it’s a deliberate design that favors profit over people, scale over sustainability, and monoculture over community.

At Carolina Farm Trust, we believe food should come from farmers—not factories. And we’re actively building a food system that reflects that belief.

How Corporate Consolidation Took Over Our Plates

The corporate grip on agriculture didn’t happen overnight. Over the past 50 years, policies have shifted in favor of vertical integration—where large companies own every step of the process, from seed to supermarket shelf. This gives them near-total control over pricing, production, and availability.

Meanwhile, small farmers have been squeezed out:

8 Apr, 2025

The Future of Farming: Regenerative Agriculture and Its Impact

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-04-08T14:00:34+00:00April 8, 2025|Sustainable Agriculture|0 Comments

The way we produce food today is unsustainable. Industrial farming depletes soil nutrients, pollutes waterways, and contributes to climate change. But there’s a better way: regenerative agriculture. More than just sustainability, regenerative farming actively restores ecosystems, strengthens food security, and improves livelihoods.

What Is Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to farming that prioritizes soil health, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Unlike conventional industrial farming, which relies on chemical inputs and monocropping, regenerative farming works in harmony with nature to restore the land. Core principles include:

Building Soil Health: Using cover crops, compost, and reduced tilling to increase organic matter and retain nutrients.
Enhancing Biodiversity: Integrating diverse crops and livestock to create resilient ecosystems.
Water Conservation: Implementing techniques like rotational grazing and agroforestry to improve water retention.
Carbon

28 Mar, 2025

The Power of Local Food Markets: How CFT Market is Changing the Game

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-03-28T17:32:35+00:00March 28, 2025|Food Equity, Sustainability|0 Comments

Across the country, access to fresh, locally grown food remains a challenge for many communities. Food deserts—areas without easy access to grocery stores or fresh produce—are a growing issue, particularly in urban and low-income neighborhoods. Carolina Farm Trust (CFT) is working to change that. Through CFT Market, we’re building a local food system that supports farmers, strengthens communities, and ensures that fresh, nutritious food is accessible to everyone.

Why Local Food Markets Matter

Large-scale food distribution is broken. The current system prioritizes efficiency and cost-cutting, often at the expense of farmers and consumers. Small and mid-sized farmers struggle to compete with industrial agriculture, while consumers are left with limited choices, rising prices, and food that has traveled thousands of miles before reaching store shelves.

CFT Market is a response to this broken system. It’s more than a grocery store or food hub—it’s a community-driven

10 Mar, 2025

The Role of Urban Farms in Healing Communities

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-03-10T13:37:25+00:00March 10, 2025|Food Equity, Sustainability|0 Comments

In cities across the country, neighborhoods are transforming vacant lots into thriving urban farms. These spaces do more than just grow food—they bring communities together, provide economic opportunities, and create green spaces that improve public health. Urban farming is a powerful tool for tackling food insecurity and revitalizing communities, and Carolina Farm Trust’s Urban Farm Network is leading the charge in North Carolina.

Why Urban Farms Matter

Food Access in Underserved Communities

Food deserts—neighborhoods with little to no access to fresh, affordable food—affect millions of Americans. The USDA estimates that over 40 million people in the U.S. live in food deserts, where convenience stores and fast food chains dominate, offering highly processed, unhealthy options. Urban farms break this cycle by growing fresh, nutritious produce right in the heart of these communities.

Economic Empowerment and Job Creation

Urban farms

4 Mar, 2025

The True Cost of Cheap Food: Who Pays the Price?

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-03-04T14:58:08+00:00March 4, 2025|Food Equity, Sustainability|0 Comments

Walk into any grocery store, and you’ll find shelves stocked with inexpensive processed foods, bulk meats, and cheap produce. On the surface, this seems like a win—low prices mean more people can afford to eat, right? But the reality is much more complex. The true cost of cheap food goes far beyond what we see on our grocery receipts. The hidden costs—healthcare expenses, environmental destruction, and economic inequities—are devastating, and we are all paying the price.

Industrialized food systems prioritize efficiency and profit over sustainability, public health, and community resilience. At Carolina Farm Trust, we believe there’s a better way: investing in local food systems that nourish both people and the planet.

The Hidden Costs of Cheap Food

1. The Health Crisis: Processed and Industrialized Diets are Making Us Sick

Ultra-processed, mass-produced foods have led to a global health crisis. Diet-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and

25 Feb, 2025

The Intersection of Climate Change and Food Access: Why Local Food Systems Matter

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-02-25T13:14:05+00:00February 25, 2025|Food Equity, Sustainability|0 Comments

Food security is no longer just about economic access—it’s about climate resilience. The way we grow, distribute, and consume food is deeply impacted by climate change. Rising temperatures, extreme weather, and soil degradation are making it harder for communities—especially those already marginalized—to access fresh, nutritious food.

But there’s a solution: strengthening regional food networks. By investing in local farms and sustainable food systems, we can create a more resilient, climate-adaptive future.

How Climate Change is Disrupting Food Access

Rising Temperatures & Crop Failure
Global temperatures are increasing, with 2023 marking one of the hottest years on record. Higher temperatures reduce crop yields, affecting staple foods like wheat, corn, and rice. Some studies predict that without intervention, corn yields could drop by 24% by 2030 due to extreme heat and drought conditions.

18 Feb, 2025

Rebuilding Food Sovereignty: How Local Farms Can Lead the Way

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-02-18T18:44:08+00:00February 18, 2025|Food Equity, Mental Health, Sustainability|0 Comments

For too long, large-scale industrial agriculture has dominated the food landscape—prioritizing mass production, corporate profit, and monoculture farming at the expense of health, environment, and food security. But communities around the world are reclaiming their right to control their own food systems, a movement known as food sovereignty.

Food sovereignty is more than just access to food—it’s about who controls the land, the resources, and the decision-making process. It ensures that food is produced by and for the people in a way that is sustainable, culturally relevant, and economically fair. At Carolina Farm Trust (CFT), we are dedicated to rebuilding a farmer-driven, community-led food system that prioritizes people over profit.

What Is Food Sovereignty?

The term food sovereignty was first introduced by La Vía Campesina, an international movement of farmers, in 1996. Unlike food security, which focuses on

11 Feb, 2025

The Hidden Wounds of Hunger: Understanding Food Trauma Amidst Food Insecurity

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-02-11T17:20:43+00:00February 11, 2025|Food Equity, Mental Health|0 Comments

When we think of food insecurity, the immediate image that comes to mind is physical hunger—the gnawing emptiness of an empty stomach. However, the repercussions of not having consistent access to adequate food extend far beyond physical discomfort. Food insecurity can inflict deep psychological wounds, leading to what experts term “food trauma.”

Defining Food Trauma

Food trauma refers to the psychological distress and adverse emotional responses resulting from experiences related to food scarcity, forced eating, or other negative food-related events. Individuals who have faced prolonged periods of hunger or uncertainty about their next meal often develop anxieties and fears surrounding food. This trauma can manifest as heightened stress, anxiety, depression, and even disordered eating patterns.

A report by the Adur & Worthing Food Network highlights that individuals experiencing food insecurity often endure feelings of shame, guilt,

7 Feb, 2025

Beyond Hunger: The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity

By Siobhan Norbeck|2025-02-07T14:27:29+00:00February 7, 2025|Advocacy, economic burden, Food Equity, Food Systems, Health Impacts, Hunger, Mental Health, Sustainability|0 Comments

Food insecurity is a global crisis that reaches far beyond the empty stomachs it creates. It’s about the trauma of uncertainty—parents not knowing if they can provide dinner for their children, seniors rationing their meals to make ends meet, and individuals facing long-term physical and emotional harm. In 2023, the USDA reported that 47 million people in the U.S., including 14 million children, lived in food-insecure households. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that 864 million people face hunger.

The effects of food insecurity ripple through every aspect of life, influencing health, mental well-being, and financial stability. Let’s dig deeper into the profound impacts of this crisis and explore the steps needed to create a fairer, healthier food system.

Health Impacts: Chronic Conditions and Poor Nutrition

Food insecurity doesn’t just mean fewer meals; it often means eating the

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