N.C. A&T launches effort to bring agricultural resources to underserved communities

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University's Cooperative Extension is launching an effort to better reach underserved communities across the state by connecting them with educational resources.

Cooperative Extension is an outreach initiative for the country's land-grant universities. At A&T it helps provide research-based information on agriculture for North Carolina communities.

Shannon Wiley leads the extension's new region for urban and underrepresented audiences.

She says people living outside of rural areas may not have a background in agriculture, and that's why an initiative like this is key.

"It not only teaches us to do more with less but teaches us the skills and abilities to set ourselves up for healthy foods, healthy eating and [to] really understand and have a better relationship with our food," she says.

Wiley says Extension is working with communities to learn what best serves them. Future programs could establish community gardens, container gardens, and focus on growing crops from different ethnic traditions.

According to Wiley, Cooperative Extension has around 100 centers across the state.