*LATEST: On March 12, SB207 passed the TN Senate! The House of Representatives will now be considering the bill over the last weeks of March* Last year Agriculture and Forestry contributed an estimated $103 billion to Tennessee’s $930+ billion economy. Of the10.8...
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Featured Chef: Zane of Slowbird gets grainy
Zane Abplanalp and Amy Wincek are the multi-talented entrepreneurs behind Slowbird Bread Company and Leftfield Urban Farm, which you can find at the Jonesborough Farmers Market this upcoming season. Slowbird Bread was one of the East Tennessee applications to the...

Farm Profile: Rain Crow Farm starts anew
Home is where the heart is, as the old adage goes. Usually one thinks of a farm as always being tied to one place. For farm operators Dylan Disque and Rachel Slaughter, their heart and home, and their farm, have moved with them in their travels. That's because...

Featured Chef: Spade & Spoon CSA Frittata
Spring is coming, which means it's time for farmers to open their CSA subscriptions for the 2025 season. A CSA is a chance for customers to invest in a local farm at the beginning of the season to help the farm with its upfront costs, in exchange for the promise of...

Farm Profile: Holly Knoll Farm Rebuilding for Resiliency
Ashlan Holland caught up with me to talk about Holly Knoll Farms in between fixing frozen pipes on the farm and her “day” job as the Soil Conservationist for NRCS in Newport. No matter the weather, farming is a 24/7 and 365 days a year labor of love. “My parents used...

Farm Profile: Grand Oak Farm: Planting seeds for the future
Grand Oak Farm - Dana Ensor and Family Grand Oak Farm was established on over 1,000 acres by the Hale Family on a Revolutionary War grant. Owner, Dana Ensor (married to Bob Ensor), is the 8th generation to farm the remaining 100 acres. "My grandson will be the 10th...

Featured Chef: Remembering summer’s flavors with James Allen of Blackthorn Club
Meet The Chef James Allen, Executive Chef at Blackthorn Club Chef James Allen graduated top of his class from Le Cordon Bleu in Minneapolis, Minnesota and continued his training at Chez Hans, a Michelin recognized restaurant in Cashel, Ireland. He grew up in...

Featured Chef: Aliceson Bales on why you can cook and love a whole chicken
Why do I support local? There are better, tastier, more nutritious and more sustainable ways to purchase meat and to enjoy meat. Pasture-raised chicken is the most delicious and nutritious chicken you can find. There is simply no comparison between pasture-raised...

Farm Profile: Creag Creek Farm Celebrates First Christmas
[Photo above: A family gets ready to take home their Creag Creek Farm Christmas Tree.]Andy and Joyce Brown of Creag Creek Farms Andy Brown was appointed Executive Director of the Appalachian RC&D Council in July, 2024. In addition to bringing decades of...

A Look at Our 30th Year with Andy Brown, Executive Director
Wow - what a year! We started off 2024 knowing we had much to do - and with your partnership, program participation, financial support and good will - we have delivered, making Northeast Tennessee’s local farm to food scene more prosperous, resilient and accessible...