The Toe River Food Security Network commissioned the Toe River Food Security Listening Project to document the experiences of food insecure communities and the available infrastructure to fight hunger in the rural, western North Carolina counties of Mitchell and Yancey. 

General About the Organization/Mission

The Toe River Food Security Network was founded with the goals of developing an inclusive, sustainable, and evidenced based food security plan for Mitchell and Yancey counties for the years of 2017-2019.

The Network will also serve as a platform for advancing the aims of the Appalachian Foodshed Project agenda for Western North Carolina, which include creating a more integrated and accessible food system, strengthening farm-to-fork avenues, and linking food security efforts to other available health and education resources.

The most recent figures, from a 2014 report from the UNC School of Government, report that 17% of residents in Mitchell County and 17% of residents in Yancey County are food insecure.

Basic Info

Issues of Focus

• Food Insecurity
• Food Access
• Strengthen Small Farmers
• Community Food Systems
• Wraparound Services 

History of Organization

The Toe River Food Security Project, formed in 2014, shares information and resources among non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and faith-based organizations working on issues related to food and agriculture in Yancey and Mitchell Counties, North Carolina.

 The Toe River Food Security Network of North Carolina won a $6,000 Community Enhancement grant from the Appalachian Foodshed Project in May of 2014 to create new opportunities for collaboration amongst existing stakeholders working to ensure healthy, accessible food through Yancey, Michell, and Avery counties. 

Programs and Projects 

Listening Project, an initiative of Rural Southern Voice for Peace, facilitates two types of grassroots organizing and community development processes, both of which are being used in the Toe River Listening Project to assess the state of food insecurity in Yancey and Mitchell Counties, as well as strengths and gaps in the local food system:

• Community Listening Projects, or CLPs, train listening teams to conduct  one-on-one “deep-listening interviews” in their communities. “Deep listening” is a method based in therapeutic listening and questioning, and interviewers are instructed to seek out often-unheard voices and new perspectives. Interviews are then analyzed to pinpoint community needs, problems, concerns, priorities and shared values, and these findings are used to develop creative grassroots solutions at the community level.
• Similar to CLPs, Facilitated Group Listening (FGL) provides opportunities to identify problems, priorities, and possible solutions to community problems through a grassroots listening project. However, FGL sessions are done as a group, and participants must sign a contract that protects all participants’ rights to be heard and respected. FGLs can be done instead of or in addition to CLPs.  

Partners and Frequent Collaborators

• Appalachian Foodshed Project
• Listening Project (Rural Southern Voice for Peace