Day 3- Food

Morning Location: Warren Wilson College, Canon Lounge in the Gladfelter Student Union

701 Warren Wilson Rd, Swannanoa, NC 28778

Updated Directions and Reserved Parking for Attendees

Warren Wilson College's physical address is 701 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa, NC 28778.

Driving via I-40 from areas west of Asheville, take Exit 55 (East Asheville). Turn left and go under the interstate. Go to the first traffic light (at the intersection with US-70/Tunnel Road), and turn right onto US-70. On US-70, go 1.5 miles until you reach the next traffic light and turn left onto Warren Wilson Road. Travel about 1.5 miles until you reach the campus. Turn right at the North Entrance (just past the pedestrian bridge). Take another right and continue down Upper College Road. Reserved parking will be available along the row of parking spots on the left. If these spots are full, take the first right after the pedestrian bridge and continue toward the gravel parking lot, where additional spots will be reserved.

Click here for campus map with parking instructions

Afternoon Location: MANNA FoodBank, Laurel Kitchen

627 Swannanoa River Rd, Asheville, NC 28805

Click here for parking map (park in Volunteer Parking area)

LAS36- 3-FoodDay

Presenter Bios

Dr. Dave Ellum is the Dean of Land Resources at Warren Wilson College. A Forester by training, his work focuses on the development of agroforestry and non-timber forest products as economic tools for land conservation in the Southern Appalachian region. As Dean of Land Resources, Dave oversees the College's Land and Sustainability operations within the context of applied learning, research and community outreach. He has been at Warren Wilson College for 16 years.

Steve Duckett - Buncombe County Extension Director, NC Cooperative Extension Steve Duckett was appointed County Extension Director in Buncombe County in May 2009. Prior to that he was County Extension Director in Rutherford County from July 2005 until May 2009. Duckett is no stranger to Buncombe County. Prior to becoming Rutherford County Extension Director, he was an Extension agent in Buncombe County from January 1997 to July 2005 covering livestock and row crop programming. He also served as an associate Extension agent for 4-H youth development in Macon County from 1992 to 1996.

Duckett holds a master’s degree in human resource development from Western Carolina University and a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Berea College. He is a Buncombe County native who grew up on a small farm in the Big Sandy Mush Community.

Anna Marie Greenberger is a Local Food Campaign Program Coordinator for ASAP. Her focus lies in assisting farmers with branding and marketing efforts, connecting buyers to local products and providing technical support to local farms. She helps to implement aspects of ASAP’s Appalachian Grown Certification program, assists in updating the Local Food Guide and helps plan for workshops, trainings and events including Business of Farming Conference and the annual Farm Tour.

Leah McGrath has been the Corporate Dietitian for Ingles markets for just over 20 years. She is a registered and licensed dietitian who has served as an officer and dietitian in the US Army and worked as a WIC and Nutrition Director in Public Health for SC. Leah is closely involved with local food entrepreneurs and farmers and communicating with Ingles shoppers how how food is grown, raised and produced.

Elizabeth Button, Social Entrepreneur - Click here for bio

Ramona Young has a passion for the food that was taught to her by her late fiancés' Mother, sisters, aunties and his Liberian community.

Chef Ramona wanted to continue this love affair and passion for West African food and his memory by expanding her business to also include catering, community efforts to teach and feed kids healthy meals and now in 2022 Kente Kitchen has transformed into Kente Kitchen Market an E-Commerce grocery store of West African food products for you to recreate and create West African culinary master pieces at home

Flori Pate is co-founder/creative director of Dig Local (DigLocal.com) a mobile app that tells you where to eat, shop, stay and play every day in Asheville, NC. She is also the Co-founder and Leader of Community Engagement for the nonprofit Food Connection (Food-Connection.org) a service that rescues surplus freshly prepared meals from restaurants, catered events, and institutions, and delivers them to our neighbors in need in order to reduce food waste and ease hunger.

Flori was voted WLOS ABC News 13's "2018 Person of the Year" for her innovative work with Food Connection. Flori lives in Asheville with her husband, two teenage sons, and chocolate Labs Ruby and MoJo.

Claire Neal serves as the CEO for MANNA Foodbank, an organization dedicated to ending hunger in Western North Carolina. At MANNA, she works to equitably address hunger for people facing food insecurity today while also working to ensure fewer people face hunger tomorrow. Claire has over 20 years of experience in the development and delivery of innovative health programs in the non-profit, healthcare and government sectors. She received her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, her MPH from Tulane’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and her undergraduate degree in Psychosocial Aspects of Health and Health Care Systems from Duke University.

Leah Yetter is the Associate Director of the Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP) at MANNA FoodBank. Before joining the HOP team, Leah managed the MANNA Food Helpline team, a resource center for SNAP applications and resources in NC. Leah’s professional experience includes: public health, health education and clinical leadership. Leah’s passion for public health started when she worked as a clinical assistant providing medical services and health resources to immigrant and uninsured women. When she is not at work, Leah can be found hanging out in her garden or with her very spoiled dogs.

Carrie Wagner is the Community Collaboration and Impact Manager at MANNA FoodBank. In this role, Carrie guides and facilitates cross-sector collaboratives and root cause initiatives across MANNA’s 16-county service area. A NC native, Carrie came to MANNA in 2018, as a next step in her career that has focused on building cross-cultural bridges. An author, speaker, trainer and photographer with 20 years of international experience, including 12 years with Habitat for Humanity International, Carrie integrates her passion for social justice into all endeavors. Carrie’s other passions include the great outdoors, yoga, and art. She shares her recent empty nest with her wonderful husband Bob, and best dog in the world, Pisco.

Panelists from selected organizations in MANNA’s network of partner agencies:

Paula Sellars is Interim Executive Director of Bounty & Soul, a food and health equity organization whose mission is providing access to fresh produce and wellness education for everyone. At Bounty & Soul, she directs the logistics and operations of a small but mighty team, plus 450 volunteers that makes their Produce to the People, Farmers Alliance and Rooted in Health programs possible. Paula has 15 years’ experience as an adolescent and family therapist, and 20 years’ experience in public health education. She is the creator of an internationally award-winning public health training methodology called Docutraining® and she brings a deep understanding of systems, large and small, to her work with Bounty & Soul.

Hilary Kalisch is the Food Pantry Manager, Volunteer Coordinator, and Business Admin for Catholic Charities in Asheville. Catholic Charities (Diocese of Charlotte) is a Christian ministry of charity, service and justice dedicated to providing help to those in need, hope to those in despair, and inspiration for others to follow. Hilary enjoys working alongside volunteers, local partners, and community members to support families in WNC. She is continually seeking to find ways to improve programs and better serve individuals and families.

Christine Brown is a resident health care worker, employed by Land of Sky Regional Council, at Asheville Terrace Apartments (ATA). ATA is a low-income apartment complex for seniors, with 248 units, managed by the Asheville Housing Authority. Christine, a real people-person, focuses on helping connect residents to the resources and services they need to live a healthy life. She coordinates a bi-weekly food pantry at ATA supported by MANNA, Trader Joe’s, and a group of OLLI volunteers. She also helps implement a weekly Community Engagement Market hosted by Buncombe County Community Engagement Department. She has first-hand insights into how residents of Asheville Terrace navigated the challenges of getting adequate healthy food during the pandemic.