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n r. <br />lJ L <br />DRAFT MINUTES <br />Joint Meeting of the <br />AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION BOARD and <br />ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION <br />September 27, 2000 <br />PRESENT: APB: Whit Morrow, Nancy Goodwin, Tony Kleese, Marty Mandell, Noah <br />Ranells, Rodney Recor, Elizabeth Walters, Louise Tate, David Stancil, <br />Tina Moon, Carol Crawford. <br />EDC: Jim Gibson, Bob Hall, Diane Reid, Yvonne Scarlett. <br />Guests: Commissioner Barry Jacobs <br />ITEM #1: CALL TO ORDER <br />In absence of APB Vice -Chair Strayhorn, Stancil called the meeting to <br />order at 5:30 p.m. <br />ITEM #2: INTRODUCTIONS <br />Stancil asked everyone to introduce themselves and say which board they <br />serve on, and then described the group's mutual interests in Agricultural <br />Preservation. The goal of the evening was to talk about three Orange <br />County topics, which impact economic development and agricultural <br />preservation. A joint meeting was held last year to discuss ways for the <br />two commissions to work together to build a more viable local agricultural <br />economy, to enhance local markets, and to pursue other ways to maintain <br />agriculture's important role -in Orange County's economy. A follow -up <br />item from last year's meeting was to build local markets for agricultural <br />products. It takes a lot of important players to create and maintain a local <br />market system, the folks who provide products at the farmers market, the <br />tobacco farmers who diversify into other fields, the middle men or brokers <br />who link the two together. <br />ITEM #3: UPDATE ON LOCAL MARKETS FOR AGRICULTURE <br />PRODUCTS <br />Barber gave review of on -going work on this project and thanked <br />Commissioner Jacobs for his interest. Barber reported that they had met <br />with representatives from the University, Orange County and Chapel Hill <br />Schools to see if they would be interested in buying local produce. There <br />are currently four local grower /producers that could supply the quantities <br />necessary for schools and university. More local farms would be needed <br />to produce larger quantities to provide the needs of schools and hospitals. <br />One commission member suggested surveying producers at the farmers <br />