The 10% Campaign receives $5,000 gift from Carolina Farm Credit

Media Contact: Teisha Wymore, tlwymore@ncsu.edu or 919.515.0244

Carolina Farm Credit, based in Statesville, has given $5,000 to support the 10% Campaign, a North Carolina initiative designed to encourage consumers to spend 10 percent of their food budget on locally produced foods.

The 10% Campaign was launched in 2010 by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, a partnership of N.C. State University, N.C. A&T State University and the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. In 18 months, the campaign’s website has recorded more than $12 million in sales by both individual consumers and businesses.

Carolina Farm Credit’s contribution will be used to further the campaign’s education efforts, said Teisha Wymore, coordinator of the 10% Campaign. “We really appreciate Carolina Farm Credit’s commitment to local foods in North Carolina,” Wymore said. “The company was among the first businesses to join our campaign and has continued to support it.”

“As a long-time supporter of North Carolina agriculture, Carolina Farm Credit is pleased to provide this gift in hopes that the 10% Campaign will continue to bring success to our local farms,” said Maggie Hamm, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Carolina Farm Credit and a CEFS board member.

Supporters of the 10% Campaign make their purchase pledges on the campaign’s website – www.nc10percent.com. Weekly email reminders prompt them to record their dollars spent on local food. The campaign is also supported by N.C. Cooperative Extension, which provides local food coordinators in each county center to support the campaign. Economic development is the idea behind the 10% Campaign. If all North Carolinians spent just 10 percent of their food dollars on local foods, $3.5 billion would be available in the state’s economy.

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems develops and promotes food and farming systems that protect the environment, strengthen local communities and provide economic opportunities in North Carolina and beyond.

Carolina Farm Credit is a stockholder-owned cooperative providing short, intermediate and
long-term financing to full and part-time farmers and agricultural-related businesses and also provides financing for the construction and purchase of homes in North Carolina’s westernmost 54 counties through 36 service centers. Other financial services available are credit life insurance, crop insurance, appraisal services, leasing programs and financial planning. Carolina Farm Credit serves over 8,900 members with loans outstanding totaling more than $1.28 billion.

-Written by Natalie Hampton, Natalie_hampton@ncsu.edu or 919.513.3128