What is Community-Grown?

Community-grown means raised with the intention of sustaining a community’s health, economy, and resources. Here at TRACTOR Food & Farms, that’s exactly what we source. We’re building a network of farmers, growers and producers who aren’t only skilled craftspeople, but want to feed their communities wholly and responsibly. We then help distribute that food in the same way, by establishing diverse markets designed to reach everyone in the place where that food was grown.

Food insecurity can embody a wide array of circumstances. It could be a retired grandmother who finds herself homebound after a surgery, a toddler out of daycare, a hardworking nurse who has just been laid off, a lawyer who has just incurred some unexpected medical bills, or, strangely enough, a farmer who works long hours in a remote community. Anyone who lacks access to the nutritious, fresh foods grown in their community, for whatever reason, is food insecure. You might not realize it, but you probably know someone who is. And what’s even more likely is that you care for them in some way already.

Anecdotally, an abundance of fresh food is something of the past in Appalachia. It’s a relic of people who were food rich and cash poor, when a family may not have had a bank account but were of critical value to their community as vegetable growers, fruit orchardists, raisers of grain, pork, poultry, and beef. When the value of a craft is extracted, it becomes a novelty. Truly fresh food is now, in a lot of cases, just an inconvenience and a great expense to many Appalachian people scrambling to make ends meet. Other major inconveniences and expenses soon follow, like compounding health issues and the exploitation of rural communities and their resources.

At TRACTOR, we prioritize environmentally, economically and socially non-extractive techniques for growing, procuring and distributing food. Our standard is to serve the same quality product to everyone, whether they are paying customers, a food pantry client, someone experiencing a diet-related illness, and so on. Our standard is to value people, health and happiness, not the dollar.

You deserve to eat the food that’s grown here. TRACTOR is here to make sure that happens.

Take a look at our 2024 Annual Report

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Meet the Team

Becca Smith, Administrative & Finance Manager

Becca grew up in Weaverville, North Carolina. She has been interested in local foods and agriculture since high school. She attended Appalachian State University where she earned a B.S. in Sustainable Development, focusing in Sustainable Agriculture. Becca loves meeting and working with the farmers at TRACTOR. She believes that they are hard working individuals and wants to help them any way she can. That is what she believes is the most rewarding part of working at TRACTOR.

Becca serves on the board of Partners Aligned Towards Health (PATH), the Yancey Extension Advisory Council and the Mountain Heritage FFA Alumni Committee.

Michael Graf, Associate Director (he/him)

Michael joined TRACTOR in September of 2017. What drew Michael to TRACTOR was the work that TRACTOR does to help local farmers connect to markets, and build healthier communities through connections to local food. His favorite fruits and vegetables are the ones that he either watched grow or knows who grew them.

Michael serves on the board of Care Reach.

Dru Zucchino, Executive Director

Hailing from the Old North State, Dru has over a decade of experience in North Carolina agriculture, ranging from conventional blueberry production in Pender County to biodynamic fruit orchards in Mitchell County. He holds a BA in English Literature and a BFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. He lives in Mitchell County, where he, his wife, Jessica and two children keep busy managing small fruit plots and orchards.

Dru serves on the board of Impact Health.

Sierra Bryant, Director of Operations

Sierra grew up in Bakersville, North Carolina. Her passion for agriculture began in high school through the FFA and spending her summers working on her uncle’s farm. She continues that passion by assisting on her husband’s 7th generation family farm. Sierra believes in commemorating Appalachian history through agriculture. She looks forward to agricultural growth within our community.

Sierra serves on the WNC Ag Options Steering Committee, the NC Farm Bureau Women’s Committee, and the NCFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee.

Paul Sherman, Program Team Lead (he/him)

Paul was born in Maine, grew up in Idaho, schooled in Tennessee, stationed in Germany before settling on Rock Creek in Yancey. He’s decided, he ain’t movin’ no more. Paul believes in TRACTOR’s Mission and realizes the best way for him to help the farmer is to drive the
TRACTOR.

Gretchen Ferrell, Farmer Services Coordinator

Gretchen is from northern Florida and has been a market gardener in the South Toe area of Yancey County since 2012. She has a degree in International Business with a focus on Latin American Studies, and was first introduced to agriculture while volunteering in Ecuador. In 2005, Gretchen created and directed a successful non-profit in her hometown, which focused on local food systems, including creating a local farmer’s market, community garden and children’s garden programs. She has been growing for TRACTOR for many years, and is excited to support farmers and our local food system from a new angle.

Callie Moffitt, Product & Logistics Coordinator

Callie was born and raised on a dairy farm in east TN. She has always had a love for all things agriculture. She was very involved with 4-H and FFA throughout school. She married into Tater Hill Farm, a 4th generation produce farm in Buladean, NC.

Sydney Lane (she/her), Community Health Coordinator

Sydney grew up in Eastern NC, where she spent her summers working at the NC Blueberry Festival for Blueberry Hill Farms, a 400-acre commercial farm owned by her family for 4 generations. She holds a BA in Mass Communication and a minor in Health and Wellness Promotion from UNC Asheville. After graduating, she served with AmeriCorps as Food Distribution Assistant for the Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP) until moving to Yancey County, where she became the Program Coordinator for Dig In! Yancey Community Garden. Sydney is passionate about promoting food security in rural communities and increasing access to healthy local foods. She is excited to continue this work through the HOP Program at TRACTOR.

Kevin Mackoul, Program Team Associate

Kevin is from Cape Cod, Massachusetts on the Coast of New England. Growing up he lived and worked with people in the fishing and shellfishing industry and has a deep appreciation for those who make a living off of the land and sea. He has lived in Mitchell county since 2018 and feels fortunate to call these mountains home. Kevin supports and appreciates contributing to TRACTORS mission to deliver nourishing food to our community while assisting the farmers who produce that food with so much effort and care.

Flo Grant, Development Coordinator

Flo lives in Spruce Pine, where she volunteers with local nonprofits and cooks up projects with friends. In addition to her work with TRACTOR, she is a historian, writer, and editor. She’s convinced that growing and sharing food are some of the best ways we have for building community.

Flo serves on the board of Mitchell Giving Gardens.

Our Board

Sara Runkel, Board Chair

George Moffitt, Vice Chair

Amanda North, Treasurer

Wendy Boone, Member at Large

Patricia Casey-Mondor, Member at Large

Molly Riddle, Member at Large

David Smiley, Member at Large

Annette Brock, Member at Large

Lauren Wilson, Member at Large

Travis Graff, Member at Large

Amanda North, Member at Large

Adam McCurry, Member at Large