Innovative agriculture connects farmers to urban centers

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The Sandhills AGInnovation Center works to nurture rural farmers in Richmond and Montgomery counties, while connecting them to urban markets.

Davon Goodwin, manager of Sandhills AGInnovation Center , fixes a broken irrigation hose. Photo: Nancy Pierce
Davon Goodwin is manager of Sandhills AGInnovation Center in Ellerbee, NC Behind him is a hemp cover crop. Photo: Nancy Pierce
Richmond County Extension Director & Extension Agent Paige Burns discusses bok choy with Mandy Davis, co-director of Sandhills Farm-to-Table (pink hat). Photo: Nancy Pierce.
Volunteers for Sandhills Farm-to-Table, subscription-based community supported agriculture (CSA) and online food store pack just-picked local produce into delivery boxes at Sandhills AGInnovation Center. Photo: Nancy Pierce
Davon Goodwin, manager of Sandhills AGInnovation Center in Ellerbee, NC, inspects crops. Photo: Nancy Pierce
Davon Goodwin, manager of Sandhills AGInnovation Center in Ellerbee, NC, looks out over the fields. Photo: Nancy Pierce
Davon Goodwin, manager of Sandhills AGInnovation Center in Ellerbee, NC, inspecting fields being irrigated. Photo: Nancy Pierce
From left: Volunteer Beth Whitman packs produce boxes, Mandy Davis, co-director of Sandhills Farm-to-Table, and Mireia Brunner, owner of Aberdeen Bakehouse. Sandhills Farm-to-Table subscribers can order bread and pastry from Mireia's shop online for delivery. Photo: Nancy Pierce
Michael Douglas of Moore Home Services packs produce boxes which he will deliver to people's homes for Sandhills Farm-to-Table, subscription-based community supported agriculture and online food store that rents space at Sandhills AGInnovation Center. Photo: Nancy Pierce
Blue Thumb Farms is a state-of-the art hydroponic farm in Zebulon, NC started by two young women who met in graduate school at NC State. The farm supplied organic pesticide-free greens to grocery stores and to Sandhills Farm-to-Table, a subscription-based community-supported agriculture and online food store that rents space at Sandhills AGInnovation Center. Photo: Nancy Pierce
AG Innovation Center Manager Davon Goodwin, and God's Garden Manager David Clark. The AG Innovation Center's demonstration farm's high tunnel greenhouse produce supplies God's Garden, a hunger-relief non-profit in Richmond County. They are harvesting bok choy. Photo: Nancy Pierce
God's Garden farm manager David Clark harvests watermelons with volunteers at the July 2019 watermelon harvest in Candor, NC. Annually, God's Garden grows nearly 70,000 lbs of produce on an average of 8 acres in Richmond and Montgomery Counties. All produce is donated to the Sandhills Food Bank and other area food pantries in order to increase access to fresh, local produce for families experiencing food insecurity. Photo courtesy Resourceful Communities/The Conservation Fund

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Angelique Gaines is a Social Research Specialist at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, who runs the City Walks program and studies topics from youth development to the racial wealth gap. "What I find rewarding is the ability to serve the community. Bringing about a more equitable and socially just society is what motivates me to do the work that I do," says Gaines.
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