Coastal Harvesters president Joanne Throne briefed Hatteras Island residents last week on progress the non-profit group has made in organizing a farmers’ market on the island.

“Our physical distance from most farms means that we need to develop a very creative plan that will attract the interest of farmers,” Throne said during the meeting at the Avon Volunteer Fire Station.

She said many farmers are reluctant to commit to participating in markets in remote coastal locations because of higher travel expenses and longer hours spent away from the farm.

Coastal Harvesters plans to find ways to overcome those obstacles with the help of a $29,000 grant from the Farmers Market Promotion Program at the United States Department of Agriculture.

“It may be that we’ll need to help farmers establish relationships with restaurants and other businesses on the island to help guarantee that their trips here are worthwhile,” explained Shelby Kinnaird, secretary for the non-profit.

The group will sponsor one market on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at the Fessenden Center in Buxton.  A full season of weekly markets at the same location will begin in April, 2010.

Market operations, including incentives for farmer participation, will be reviewed and used to develop a manual for developing successful markets in other coastal locations.

Farmers’ markets and other non-traditional marketing methods that provide farmers with opportunities to sell produce and other goods directly to consumers are gaining popularity as one way to help slow the loss of farmland in the nation.

North Carolina lost more than 600,000 acres of farmland from 2002 to 2007, according to the latest U.S. Census of Agriculture.  Hyde and Perquimans counties were among the counties leading the state in farmland loss, with each seeing decreases of more than 20,000 acres.

Coastal Harvesters is also working on locating land for a community garden on the island.

Throne said the garden could be set up several different ways.  One option would provide land for residents who might not have space or high-quality soil for a private garden.  Another option would offer produce from the garden for sale at the farmers’ market with proceeds funding the non-profit’s projects.

Coastal Harvesters is developing a Web site at www.coastalharvesters.org.  Organizers said they envision an interactive site where community members share gardening advice, recipes, and other information.

The group is also accepting entries in a logo design contest with a $300 award for the entry that best captures the spirit of the non-profit. Criteria that will be used to judge entries are posted on the Web site, and the deadline for submitting entries is Oct. 15.

Throne said while Coastal Harvesters is concentrating on the farmers’ market and community garden right now, the board expects their focus to expand to include other programs, such as solar energy projects, in the future.

“We’re ready to consider projects that make economic sense as well as health sense.  We want our community to be healthy and wealthy,” she said.

Coastal Harvesters was incorporated as a non-profit in April.  It is a membership-based organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life on Hatteras Island through direct marketing opportunities and education.