Partner Spotlight: TRACTOR Food Hub

TRACTOR Food & Farms in Spruce Pine is a food hub, which emphasizes fresh produce and local products purchased directly from Appalachian farmers. They aim to fight food insecurity by starting right here at home—asking not just how they can get more food into the hands of people who need it, but how they can do so while supporting local agriculture, local economies, and a healthy environment.

TRACTOR sells produce boxes but has also spent the last few years working with the Healthy Opportunities Pilot Program (HOP) to deliver free, fresh produce to Medicaid recipients. HOP was a state program that aimed to reduce Medicaid spending by providing recipients with other resources that contribute to a healthy lifestyle, such as safer housing, transportation access, and fresh produce.

Executive Director Dru Zucchino explains, “If you give people fresh, healthy food that was produced in their community, the benefits are tenfold. Social, economic, health—it’s a holistic approach.”

HOP significantly reduced healthcare costs per person, even after accounting for the program cost. Last month, however, it was discontinued due to a lack of state funding support. On the day we visited, the TRACTOR team packed some of the last HOP boxes they would be able to send out.

But Dru is not discouraged. “Unfortunately, this has impacted a lot of smaller farmers. But farmers are used to unknowns. That’s the mentality and resilience that food hubs have as well, that we’re going to work hard and do whatever we can to distribute that product as fairly and equitably as possible… We’ll make it happen.”

Visit TRACTOR’s website to learn more about their important work!