McDowell Local Food Advisory Council

McDowell Local Food Advisory Council is one of several WNC HOP organizations working hard to ensure community members can access fresh local food. This focus aligns perfectly with HOP, which aims to build a sustainable network of human service organizations providing equitable access to healthy food, reliable transportation, affordable and safe housing, and interpersonal safety services.

McDowell LFAC was excited to join the pilot because it offered a new way to support their local food system and those who have difficulty accessing it. “If we don’t have our local farmers growing and the ability to buy from them, we don’t have food,” explained Linda Hamrick, HSO supervisor at McDowell LFAC. “HOP allows us to strengthen relationships we already have and create new ones.” This past year alone, the organization spent $95,000 to purchase fresh produce from local farmers for distribution to community members in need. McDowell LFAC currently provides healthy food boxes and fruit and vegetable prescriptions to more than 40 HOP participants every week – neighbors like John who recently experienced a heart attack that left him weak and in need of a pacemaker.

“When I first met John, he could barely walk and his heart was operating at only 10% of its capacity,” Linda shared. During her initial home visit, she discovered John also needed a wheelchair ramp and a cooktop, both of which she helped him obtain.