In this Issue of Hey Cherokee County…

✅ A Missing Link in Local Food Has Arrived in Andrews

✅ Murphy Mayor to Proclaim Sept. 25 as Dolly Parton Day

Cherokee County Events

September 4th

September 9th

September 10th

September 14th

September 16th-19th

September 26th

October 24th

October 31st

October 31st

November 21st

There's a quiet problem that's been undermining farmers markets for years, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the food. It's a trap most small agricultural communities fall into without realizing it. Farmers stop going to markets because there aren't enough customers. Customers stop going because there aren't enough farmers, and not enough farmers means not enough variety. Round and round it goes, and eventually the market withers, along with any chance the small farmer had of making their operation worth the effort.

In Cherokee and Clay counties, a group of people got tired of watching it happen. The result is the Cherokee Clay Food Alliance (CCFA) — and its newest weapon against that cycle: a Local Food Hub that just opened in downtown Andrews.

For a couple years, the CCFA, a non-profit organization, has been helping farmers across the region sell their produce at local outdoor markets when farmers can't be there themselves. The Local Food Hub in Andrews is the next step: a retail space and a processing operation, all under one roof. 

"It's a piece of the puzzle for food distribution that's missing in a lot of places," says CCFA Executive Director Megan Lambert, who spent 16 years teaching culinary arts, baking and pastry, and nutrition at Johnson & Wales University. "We have this really big industrial food system that is real good at moving a lot of food a very long way to get to us. But it also kind of cuts out our small local farmers because they're too small — they don't have the kind of inventory that a big grocery store is looking for." 

Walk into the Local Food Hub today and you'll find coolers stocked with fresh local vegetables, canned goods from local producers, and a retail space that's still growing into itself. There is even a bar on site, though you won't find beer behind it.

“We are planning on having some really great local sodas on tap,” Lambert said. “We’ll probably have some bar snacks made with all local produce.”

Two kitchens are nearly ready to open. One will turn out grab-and-go items such as soups, cooking stocks, frozen entrées, breads, and baked goods. The other will handle processing: turning farm-fresh vegetables into jams, pickles, sauces, and preserved goods that stretch the harvest long past its season. The CCFA also recently purchased a smoker to cook trout and other meats produced locally. 

Lambert said one of her goals is for the Local Food Hub to also serve as a commissary kitchen, giving food truck operators and small local food producers a certified place to develop and make their products without having to invest in a kitchen of their own. 

“We've got a little classroom space as well where we plan to offer different workshops on cooking techniques, gardening, and homesteading,” Lambert said.

Done right, Lambert says, a stronger local food system means better health, better economic growth for Andrews and the surrounding counties, and another way to preserve the food culture of Southern Appalachia that people here and visitors alike keep coming back for.

“I think people will notice a difference if they purchase products and use products that are really local and really fresh,” Lambert said. “The more that people can use of the local products, I think the better off our whole local food system will be.”  

Murphy Mayor Tim Radford plans to sign a proclamation Monday, Aug. 31, declaring Sept. 25, 2026, as Dolly Parton Day in the Town of Murphy and challenging residents to mark the occasion by doing something good for someone else.

The date, written as 9/25, was chosen as a nod to Parton’s hit song and film, “9 to 5.”

“My main reason for announcing it early is to get people thinking and organizing,” Radford told Hey Cherokee County. 

On Sept. 25, Radford is asking everyone in Murphy to perform at least one “Dolly Good Deed,” which could include helping a neighbor, volunteering, giving a child a book, supporting a local nonprofit, encouraging someone, or simply making an effort to treat others with kindness and respect.

“It doesn’t have to be big. It doesn’t have to cost anything,” Radford wrote in an online announcement about the effort. “Just do something good for somebody else.”

The proclamation also encourages local businesses, schools, places of worship, nonprofits, and civic organizations to develop their own ways to participate, such as collecting books or donations, supporting a local cause, or recognizing acts of kindness.

The proclamation highlights Parton’s Appalachian roots and philanthropy, including her work promoting childhood literacy through the Imagination Library, supporting medical research, and assisting communities recovering from disasters.

Radford said the day is intended to honor Parton not only by recognizing her accomplishments, but by putting the values associated with her life into practice locally.

“If every person in Murphy does one good thing for someone else, imagine the difference one day can make,” Radford wrote.  

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