This is an edited summary of an interview with Jonathon Smith, County Extension Director, Dr. Mike Ortosky, Extension Agent for Community & Rural Development, and John Nicholson, local food system advocate and activist, which aired live on WCOM 103.5 on May 4. You can listen to the recording here.
Why was the Orange County Food System Baseline Assessment commissioned, and what does it cover?
Jonathan Smith (JS): The first Orange County Food System Baseline Assessment was done in 2016, commissioned by the Orange County Food Council and funded through an interlocal agreement between Orange County and local municipalities. It was the first serious attempt to dig into: demographics of agriculture; production and access to food; food sales and markets; waste diversion.
Community members and UNC–Chapel Hill students were involved in that original work. A lot has changed since then—two USDA agricultural censuses, shifting markets, and evolving community needs. When I started as a food security agent in 2025, I wanted to update the assessment with new data to give county commissioners, community leaders, and residents a clear snapshot of agricultural production and the broader food system and its many components. I also wanted to highlight shifting dynamics, challenges, and new opportunities across the system.
What are the main components and sectors of the local food system?
JS: The framework is adapted from Christie Shi’s “Discovering the Food System: A Primer on Community Food Systems” (Cornell). The report looks at seven key sectors:
- Production
- Distribution
- Aggregation
- Processing
- Marketing
- Purchasing & Consumption
- Resource recovery (including waste diversion)
To make it more approachable, the assessment organizes these into five major functional areas:
- Growing food (local production)
- Preparing food
- Selling food
- Accessing food
- Food waste diversion
These threads run throughout the OC Food System Assessment report.
What is unique about Orange County’s context—economically and agriculturally?
JS: Orange County is part of the Triangle and combines urban and suburban areas (especially around Chapel Hill/Carrboro) and a significant rural area, especially north of I‑40.
Key contextual points:
- North Carolina is a top agricultural state, with diverse production from coast to mountains.
- Orange County ranks:
- 2nd in the state for per capita income
- 3rd for average weekly wage (~114% of the state average)
- Despite affluence, about 13% of residents are food insecure.
There’s a stark contrast:
- High incomes and strong resources (especially around childcare and housing infrastructure)
- Persistent pockets of poverty and food insecurity
- Rising development pressure that threatens farmland, especially in peri‑urban/rural edges.
The report uses this context to show:
- How development directly affects farmland and local production
- How cost of living, food prices, and income inequality shape access to food
- How beginning and small farmers struggle to find stable, profitable markets in a rapidly changing landscape.
What actionable steps can government take to support local farmers and the food system?
JS: Yes. The report highlights: support for beginning and part‑time farmers; Orange County Agricultural Grant Program; Piedmont Food Processing Center (PFPC); WC Breeze Farm Incubator
These programs for farmers depend heavily on ongoing public support and funding from county and municipal government.
Why is local food sometimes more expensive, and what can be done about it?
Mike Ortosky (MO):
Local food often isn’t cheaper due to:
- Scale differences:
- Large farms (e.g., 500 acres of sweet corn) can sell wholesale at low prices.
- Small local farms have higher per‑unit costs and no large-scale price supports.
- Market channels:
- Direct sales (farmers’ markets, CSAs) allow farmers to receive retail prices, but volume is limited.
- Wholesale markets require large, consistent volume and lower prices, which small farms struggle to meet.
Government and community contributions include: agriculture grant programs for farmers and potential aggregation and distribution infrastructure.
What about consumer education and perceived value?
MO: Consumers often don’t realize they’re paying the true cost of production for local items, versus subsidized or scaled prices. Education matters:
- Explaining why local costs more (scale, labor, quality)
- Emphasizing freshness, flavor, and community impact (e.g., “Orange County sweet corn vs. California corn”)
Demand is driven by values. If people value local, quality, and nutrition, they’ll often pay a small premium but price sensitivity remains real for many households.
The report mentions an expenditure gap—residents spend hundreds of millions on food, but only a small fraction goes to local producers. What does the local direct‑to‑consumer market look like?
JS: Direct‑to‑consumer baseline sales are about $2.9 million. When you factor in local multipliers (money re‑spent locally on inputs, marketing, etc.), the total value of direct‑to‑consumer markets in Orange County is about $4.5 million (2022).
This shows:
- Strong public support for local food and farmers’ markets.
- Restaurants and retailers like Weaver Street Market place a heavy emphasis on local sourcing, largely because their customers expect and demand it.
- Many restaurants are willing to pay higher prices for local products, recognizing that:
- They are investing in the local economy.
- Their customers value locally sourced menus.
Does Orange County need its own food hub or more mid‑scale infrastructure?
JS and MO: Orange County already works closely with Farmer Foodshare in Durham County, a regional food hub used by local farmers and food security organizations (e.g., PORCH). The food hub function (aggregation and distribution) exists regionally, but there’s untapped potential in processing and manufacturing.
MO: A regional food innovation campus could:
- Provide shared cold storage
- Offer graduated, flexible production space as businesses scale
- Operate in a hub‑and‑spoke model, serving the region rather than stopping at county lines
- This would allow large buyers (e.g., UNC, big groceries, co‑ops) to:
- Order from local suppliers exactly as they do from big distribution centers:
- Click to order
- Receive deliveries within ~36 hours
- Get standardized temperatures, packaging, and logistics
- Order from local suppliers exactly as they do from big distribution centers:
The main bottleneck is aggregation and distribution of products from many small farms into a form that big buyers can dependably use.
How do findings on food deserts shape Extension programs and food access efforts?
JS: Cooperative Extension’s mission is to serve all county residents, often through multi‑county regional programs. Extension manages a community garden grant program to build infrastructure and support gardens. They don’t dictate locations, but provide education, technical support, small grants to strengthen gardens wherever communities organize them.
Extension partners with organizations like TABLE, PORCH Chapel Hill–Carrboro, PORCH Hillsborough, and others. I am leading a food security action planning process with stakeholders who live or work in the county. Key barriers under study: transportation (especially for homebound individuals); medical limitations; nutrition and financial literacy; and other structural barriers affecting how people access the food system.
The goal is to identify gaps and advise county and town governments, as well as interested partners, on how to increase accessibility and equity in the food system.
We’ve been in a drought. How does the report account for climate volatility, and how does Extension support farmers in managing these risks?
JS and MO: In the report, the main emphasis is on food waste diversion as a climate strategy:
- Reducing food going to landfills lowers greenhouse gas emissions.
- Increasing composting and diversion helps:
- Feed more people with existing supply
- Decrease the climate footprint of food waste.
Water and soil management: the Extension (through agent Mark Baumgartner) teaches drip irrigation setup and management and use of pressure regulators, etc. Drip irrigation delivers water directly to plant roots; uses far less water than overhead systems; and reduces evaporation and waste. Raising organic carbon improves water‑holding capacity and resilience.
Agrivoltaics at Breeze Farm (proposed): MO and colleagues are seeking funding for a 1.5‑acre agrivoltaics project at Breeze Farm, in partnership with the county’s Office of Sustainability. The concept is to install solar panels that coexist with crop production (not replacing farmland), using vertical bifacial or adjustable panels to balance light and shade. Early research (Europe, Rutgers, Cornell, NC State) suggests this lowers soil temperatures, reduces evaporation, and leads to higher soil carbon and, for certain crops, equal or higher yields under partial shade, with water savings.
The Extension’s role is to demonstrate these practices and help farmers adopt climate‑resilient methods.
How is Orange County tackling food waste, and what role can communities play?
JS: Key initiatives include:
--Share tables at farmers’ markets--All three county farmers’ markets have share tables. Customers and farmers can donate excess product. Organizations like PORCH Hillsborough collect and redistribute food through their networks.
--School share table program, developed through a partnership between Extension (food security agent), Office of Sustainability, and school nutrition directors in both school systems. Selected schools (currently five) have:
- Clearly defined lists of items students can place on share tables (per state policy).
- Students can take extra food during lunch if they are still hungry.
- Remaining items go to central locations where staff can distribute to students during the day and backpack programs to send food home.
Outcomes: Reduces landfill waste from schools and increases access to healthy food for food‑insecure students.
--County composting programs: Orange County provides free composting services to eligible restaurants, schools, and daycares. The county contracts with a private compost producer/hauler to offer cost‑free curbside collection of organic waste. For residents, there are compost drop‑off sites (historically at places like Eubanks Road). The county has been working to expand composting access at convenience centers to make drop‑off easier.
--Demonstration gardens and public education: At the Bonnie B. Davis Center in Hillsborough, Extension and Master Gardeners maintain demonstration gardens, including food gardens. They showcase composting systems so residents can see how to compost and reuse organic material in their own landscapes.
John Nicholson underscored that community organizations are ready to do more: recover food from restaurants, grocery stores, and markets and turn surplus into meals for community distribution. But there are still policy and logistical barriers, especially around grocery store participation and handling of “unsellable” but edible food.
Can technology help reduce food waste and connect surplus with demand?
MO: Yes, there’s potential: a business at the Piedmont Food Processing Center focused on aggregating surplus food (possibly using tech tools, though details were limited). And there are models like “ugly produce” programs which use online platforms to connect surplus or cosmetically imperfect produce with customers or processors.
Otter.ai was used to create this edited summary of the radio interview transcript.