On a recent WNC tour to highlight Healthy Opportunities, Governor Cooper made a stop in Asheville to volunteer and spend some time with local nonprofit Equal Plates Project.
The Equal Plates Project mission is to support local farmers in Western North Carolina and build community through scratch-made meals. They purchase food and ingredients from local farms and turn it into healthy, nourishing meals for residents facing complex access barriers to food.
Equal Plates Project is the recipient of two grants from Buncombe County; an Isaac Coleman Grant totaling $50,000 and has been awarded $160,000 of the County's State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds allocation.
Governor Cooper gave a short speech and discussed the important work the organization is doing in the area and how their innovative program reflects the kind of smart investments the state will be looking to make in the future with Medicaid expansion. After the Governor's remarks, Buncombe County staff joined Cooper as he got to work in the kitchen helping the chefs and staff to plate meals that would be distributed later that day.