October 2026 Newsletter

Looking Back, Moving Forward: Celebrating Year 3 Progress

Welcome to this month’s update from the Healthy ROOTS Team! We’re working across 10 counties to improve access to healthy foods, create more places to be active, and support families and early care settings in building healthier futures.

As we wrap up Year 3 of the Healthy ROOTS Initiative and step into Year 4, we're taking a moment to celebrate the progress communities across our 10-county region have made together. From gardens breaking ground to mobile markets rolling into new neighborhoods, this year has been full of milestones.  None of it would have been possible without the dedication of our partners, community members, and Extension colleagues who show up, day after day, to build healthier places for families to live, eat, and move. This issue highlights a few of those stories, one from each of our three core strategies: Early Care and Education, Nutrition Access, and Physical Activity. Read on, and share with a colleague who might benefit from these resources and updates! If you received this from a colleague, we invite you to subscribe below to stay connected!

If you received this from a colleague, we invite you to subscribe below to stay connected.

💫 Year 3 Highlights

Early Care & Education: The Garden of Love Continues to Grow

(Columbus County)

What started with a vision and a set of raised beds has become something much bigger. At the Mt. Olive Head Start Center in Whiteville, the Garden of Love reached a major milestone this spring: its first harvest. Children planted seeds, watched them grow, and got to taste the results right in their own classroom:  broccoli, carrots, lettuce, and more!  The project, rooted in Center Director Lamont Grate's vision of an outdoor learning environment and his Fatherhood Strong group's motto of "nothing but love," is a model for how early care settings can become hubs for hands-on food education. We're proud to have supported this work and look forward to seeing what the Garden of Love grows next.

Nutrition Access: Fresh Food on the Move
(Jones County and Beyond)

This year, mobile markets expanded their reach across eight Healthy ROOTS counties, bringing fresh, affordable produce directly to communities where grocery access is limited. In July, Jones County celebrated the grand opening of its Ripe for Revival Mobile Market with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Gospel Light Church in Trenton, marking a milestone for a county that now has a reliable, local source of fresh fruits and vegetables close to home. Eligible participants can receive vouchers through the Mobile Market Voucher Program. This is community-driven nutrition access in action.

Physical Activity: A New Tool for Walkable Communities
(Statewide)

In March, the Healthy ROOTS Physical Activity Strategy team launched the Walk Audit 2.0 Toolkit website, a free, step-by-step resource to help community leaders, Extension professionals, and parks and recreation staff assess walkability and turn local input into real improvements. The toolkit, available at communitiesmovingtogether.com, walks partners through everything from identifying barriers to planning and funding infrastructure changes that support safer, more active neighborhoods. It reflects a core belief of this project: that community members are the experts on their own neighborhoods, and that lasting change happens when local knowledge drives local solutions. Whether you're just starting a walk audit or ready to take findings to your town council, the toolkit is built to meet you where you are.

📌 Other Project News & Updates

• Two cohorts of the PhytoRx Families program, supported by the Nutrition Access strategy team, are wrapping up! The Bertie County cohort finished up in September, and a second cohort in Halifax County will wrap up in October. 

• The Early Care and Education strategy team will host a PEAS in My Garden training in Jones County for early care education professionals on October 19.

• The Physical Activity strategy team has been working alongside two communities, Halifax and Weldon, to support their efforts to submit applications for the Connecting Communities to State Trails, Complete the Trails grant program. The Town of Weldon hosted a public forum to gather community feedback on the proposal on October 1. You can also read more about the efforts in Halifax here. 

💡 Resource Round-up

🌾 Rural Food & Health Forum | October 10 in Raleigh, NC

Bringing together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and community members working at the intersection of food access and health in rural communities. This forum, hosted by Green Rural Redevelopment Organization and the Eva Clayton Rural Food Institute, in partnership with the Institute for Emerging Issues,  is a valuable space for connection, learning, and advancing the kind of community-driven work Healthy ROOTS partners do every day. Whether you're looking to share what you've learned or hear what others are doing across the state, this is a resource worth exploring. While there is a registration fee to attend, needs-based registration waivers are available and organizers are committed to ensuring that cost is not a barrier to participation.

• 🔗 Learn more and register.

🥾 Great Trails State Day | October 17

North Carolina is home to an incredible network of trails, and October 17 is a great opportunity to celebrate them and make the case for expanding access in your community. The Great Trails State Day Toolkit includes ready-to-use resources for promoting trail use and advocating for trail investments where you live and work. 

• 🔗  Access the Toolkit.

🍎 NC Crunch Day | October 21

Every fall, students across North Carolina take a crunchy, collective bite to celebrate fresh fruits and vegetables. You can bring that energy to your early care or community setting, too! NC Crunch Day is a fun, easy way to build excitement around healthy eating and connect children with where their food comes from. Download resources and find out how to participate at the link below.

• 🔗 Learn more and sign up.

📄 New Research: Walking and Transportation Insecurity

A new publication from CDC's Preventing Chronic Disease journal takes a closer look at who walks for transportation and why it matters for health. Researchers found that about 1 in 6 U.S. adults walk for transportation, but adults experiencing transportation insecurity are twice as likely to do so compared to those without. The findings make a compelling case for investing in walking infrastructure and policies, particularly in rural communities where transportation options are limited and walkability gaps are most acute. This is timely, evidence-based support for the kind of community design work Healthy ROOTS partners are doing every day.

• 🔗 Read the publication. 

🖥️ Webinar Library: Natural Start Alliance Professional Training Series

If you work with young children in outdoor or nature-based settings, or want to, the Natural Start Alliance's webinar library is worth bookmarking. Their free, hour-long recorded webinars cover topics of practical interest to early childhood educators and program staff. One standout for ECE partners: The Power of Outdoor Learning: Impacts on Early Childhood Development & Educator Well-Being, which explores how time outdoors benefits both children and the adults who work with them. 

• 🔗 Access the webinar recording here.
  

🖥️ Webinar: Rural Health at a Pivotal Moment | October 20

Rural health is receiving historic levels of investment and attention right now, and that makes this a critical moment to think strategically about how we make the most of it. Join County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR&R) for a conversation with John Eich, director of the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, about what this moment means for rural communities nationwide. Together, they'll explore how to build on what's already working, address persistent challenges, and ensure new investments create meaningful, lasting change. The webinar will also include an update on CHR&R's data, evidence, and resources going forward.

• 📅 October 20, 2026, 3pm (ET) | 🔗 Register here.

Share This! (Social Media Toolkit)

⭐ Tips for posting:

• Tag Healthy ROOTS social media when reposting.

  • Facebook: @healthyrootsnc

  • Instagram: @healthyrootsnc

• Swap in your county name where relevant (e.g., "proud to support this work right here in [County]").

• These posts are formatted for Facebook. The link preview should auto-populate from the article URL — no extra image needed unless you'd like one.

  • Access graphics for NC Crunch Day Social Media posts here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1h2AFtF3TXxXJXdpFSxfxBJW39gojguIu

  • Access images for Great Trails State Day social media posts here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1130W0V_Tkly5JcwPCSSHFph25dNfP7Ih

     

    
    

📅 Upcoming Dates

Thank you for your continued partnership in building healthier communities.

We look forward to sharing monthly updates, resources, and stories from across our region. 

With appreciation,

The Healthy ROOTS Team

🌐 https://www.healthyrootsnc.org/ 

✉️ healthyroots@ncsu.edu

This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $2,304,000 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

NC State University and N.C. A&T State University work in tandem, along with federal, state and local governments, to form a strategic partnership called N.C. Cooperative Extension.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

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