DURHAM, N.C. – In North Carolina, there's no shortage of craft breweries, with dozens sprouting up every year across the state.

But brewers have a tough time keeping all of their ingredients local, and that need is what caused Sebastian Wolfrum of Durham to have what you might call an epiphany two years ago.

Wolfrum wanted to open a large scale craft malter to provide malt to brewers. After having trouble selling banks on the idea, and reluctant to offer up a share of his business to an investor, Wolfrum received a loan from the Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIF).

"The only other option people will have is to sell a piece of the pie to somebody who is willing to give you cash,” he explains. “It's a gap they really fill in a way that nobody really does."

NCIF is a business loan fund that looks to invest in communities in Central Appalachia and the Southeast. Last year the fund awarded more than $3 million in loans and offered 3,100 hours in advisory services.

Wolfrum's company, aptly named Epiphany Craft Malt, will be the largest craft malter in the state and will be able to provide malt to at least a dozen brewers by the end of the year.

Malt is made of sprouted and dried barley, and Wolfrum's need for barley has given Perry Farms, a tobacco grower in Wake Forest for more than a century, a new crop.

Tim Kuhls, the farm’s head barley grower and a home beer brewer, is excited to have an alternative and a way to ride the wave of craft beer's popularity.

"The decline in tobacco really gives us reason to think about what happens if one day we don't grow tobacco anymore and what can we do that's different and unique that adds value to something unique and creative like craft beer," he says.

Wolfrum points out up until now many brewers making large batches have had to purchase ingredients such as malts from out of state. His business now offers them an alternative that is more in sync with their business model of brewing locally.

"Buying from somebody like me is a lot more similar to who they are, you know, small business,” he explains. “Everybody knows who they are, and certainly in my case it's the same thing, I mean, everybody knows where I'm at and who I am and it just makes a lot more sense, I guess, for everybody."

According to the NCIF 2014 annual report, 74 percent of the companies it funds report higher profits and create 342 full-time and 306 part-time jobs.





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California's program helping low-income families buy fresh fruit and vegetables is on the chopping block and health care advocates are asking legislators to save the Market Match program.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed cutting most of the program's $35 million budget to help close the state's budget shortfall.

Sophia Vaccaro, a participant in Market Match from Echo Park, said she depends on Market Match in more ways than one.

"It helps people being able to stretch their budget further," Vaccaro explained. "Then, I think it helps the community, in that it creates a sense of camaraderie at the farmers' market and makes people more invested in the community itself."

The program matches every dollar CalFresh customers spend on fresh fruits and vegetables at a farmer's market up to between $10 and $20 per day. It is active at 294 sites across the state and is partially paid for through federal matching funds.

Dr. John Maa, surgeon at Marin Health Medical Center and board member of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the American Heart Association, said Market Match promotes healthy eating and boosts the local farm economy.

"An improved diet really will have long-term meaningful impacts on health, and also reduce health care costs," Maa explained. "It really helps to sustain the growers and the merchants. I guess it's a win-win-win."

Siu Han Cheung, outreach coordinator for the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation and board member of the Heart of the City Farmers' Market, argued the program is vital to residents across the state.

"If the Market Match will be cut, that is terrible," Cheung stressed. "That means they have less money to buy their food. So, Market Match is very important for the low-income families and the seniors."

Legislators and the governor are working toward the May budget revisions, and must pass a balanced budget by June 15.

South Dakotans face high prices at the grocery store and some are working to ease the burden.

A new report from the Federal Trade Commission finds some grocery retailers used the supply-chain disruptions of the pandemic to raise prices and collect bigger profits, even after supply chains regulated.

One South Dakota group is trying to reduce sticker shock by targeting the state sales tax on groceries. Dakotans for Health is sponsoring a citizens ballot initiative to repeal the 4.2 % tax.

Rick Weiland, co-founder of the group, said lower food bills would make a meaningful difference for some.

"People of modest means, or low income hardworking families, disproportionately spend upwards of 30% on food," Weiland pointed out. "This is going to be helpful."

South Dakota is one of only two states in the country to apply its full state sales tax rate to groceries with no exemptions, Mississippi being the other. More than 9% of South Dakotans are considered food insecure, meaning they do not always have access to enough healthy food.

The grocery tax has been a popular topic among state legislators in recent years. Republican Gov. Kristi Noem even campaigned on the promise to repeal it. Critics have said proposing a tax cut without a way to finance it is irresponsible.

Weiland pointed out Gov. Noem had a formula spelled out when she brought forward her bill in 2023, which was voted down.

"She had no problem defending her position in front of the Legislature, in terms of how much revenue the state was going to lose and where they could make it up," Weiland recounted.

The initiative needs about 17,500 signatures by next month to appear on the November ballot.

Colorado families must sign up before the end of April to receive $120 per child to buy food through the new Summer EBT program approved by Congress. Families with incomes that qualify for free and reduced-price school lunches - up to around $49,000 a year for a family of three - must enroll through their school.

Anya Rose, public policy director with Hunger Free Colorado, said as school cafeterias close their doors for summer, EBT cards can help kids get the nutrition they need to return to school in the fall ready to learn.

"A lot of families will be automatically enrolled, if they are enrolled in programs like TANF, SNAP, Medicaid. If you are unsure, then talk to your school about filling out the household income form to make sure you can qualify this year if you're income eligible," she said.

EBT grocery cards can be used to buy fruits and vegetables, milk, cheese, eggs, breads, meat, fish and other food at all grocery stores that accept SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as food stamps.

Rose noted grocery cards will be sent by mail, so it's important to make sure schools have your correct address.

Some 337,000 Colorado children are eligible for the program that is expected to generate up to $72 million in economic activity across the state. Grocery cards are available to all income-qualifying households regardless of their immigration status.

"There are no immigration eligibility requirements. And accessing Summer EBT and school meals do not impact immigration status in any way," she explained.

Filling out your school's household income application, sometimes called a school meal or benefit form, will also bring critical federal dollars into Colorado's Healthy School Meals for All initiative. It's currently running $24 million over budget. Rose adds there are other benefits for families who participate in Summer EBT.

"That same form can also qualify students to get discounts on school-related fees for things like SAT or ACT testing, or athletics or band or field trips or other activities," she said.