It is a bitter pill to swallow, yet a necessary one: Some of our food is fake. The “Extra Virgin Olive Oil” you drizzle on your salad might be colored sunflower oil. Some people dilute tha...
A Peaceful Foreboding It crackles. Have you ever heard the sound of a wintry mix falling in the Appalachians? It sounds a bit like rain with its steady, calming rhythm, and a bit like hail, drumming t...
Registration is open now for the annual event for professional and aspiring farmers. ASHEVILLE, NC (Jan. 14, 2026)—The 23rd annual Business of Farming Conference, presented by ASAP (Appalachian Sustai...
Ten years ago, the local food calendar in the Appalachian Highlands had a hard stop. Come November, the bright greens and reds of the farmers market changed into gray, and the region’s small pro...
VIRGINIA By Kathryn Jacobson She has an old type of beauty. I’m not quite sure why she feels that way; old. I suppose God put the dirt here at the same time he put the dirt everywhere else. It&#...
In the Appalachian Highlands, a barn has never been merely a structure. It is a survival machine. Driving through the ridges of East Tennessee, the hollows of Southwest Virginia, or the rolling hills ...
Why cattle producers are seeing a golden period, while row crop farmers face a perfect storm of low prices and elevated expenses. If you stand at the sale barn in Wytheville on a Thursday, you might t...
We’re launching a nonprofit newsroom to preserve Appalachian Highlands heritage and support its future. The Appalachian Highlands, spanning Asheville to Wytheville and beyond, are linked by resi...
In Northeast Tennessee, our rivers are more than beautiful landmarks; they fuel our farms, shape our childhoods, and drive our economy. But as any farmer on the Nolichucky or Watauga knows, these wate...
Drive through the back roads of Washington or Smyth County in Winter, and the landscape tells you a clear story: Nothing is happening here. The pastures are brown, the corn stubble is gray, and the so...
