Carolinas keep growing in the cities and the country

Eighty people per day are moving into the Triangle area of North Carolina, said Ronnie Best, market manager at the Raleigh Farmers Market in North Carolina.

Bordered by Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh, the Triangle boasts a temperate climate, exceptional medical services, and prestigious universities—plus a two- to three-hour drive either to the mountains or to sandy beaches.

“You can be rural or urban,” Best said. “The cost of living is lower, but it’s being driven up. It’s a wonderful place to live so the more, the merrier.”

Both types of people—city or country—like to know where their food comes from, so it makes less of a carbon footprint. Best believes food cultivated as close to buyers as possible will always taste better, be fresher, and cost less.

Fortunately, the Carolinas enjoy an ideal climate (barring sever weather) and rich soil for a broad array of crops. In North Carolina, in and around Raleigh, the growing season runs from mid-April to mid-November.

This is an excerpt from the most recent Produce Blueprints quarterly journal. Click here to read the full version.