Here’s your guide to supporting your community farms while shopping for all your holiday meal ingredients from local eastern NC growers.
North Carolina — Whether you’re making plans to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and/or Kwanzaa, there’s one thing all end-of-year holidays have in common: delicious food.
Read More: 10 places to try on Charlotte’s oyster trail
This year, make your holiday meal extra special by sourcing your ingredients locally. You’ll feel good knowing you’re supporting farms and small businesses in your community, plus local ingredients offer a freshness and flavor that can’t be beat.
Keep reading to learn where you can grab all your holiday meal ingredients while supporting local businesses and growers for a sustainable and satisfying festive feast in eastern North Carolina, from coastal towns like Morehead City to the capital city of Raleigh.
Appetizers
Multiple locations
No good holiday spread is complete without a delicious dip or two. OMGoodness Pimento Cheese offers a variety of dips that center—you guessed it—pimento cheese. The business began as an effort to raise funds for a mission trip and has since grown into a full-time, family-run operation.
OMGoodness dips can be found in retailers stretching across eastern North Carolina. Find one near you with the company’s store locator.
Main dishes
544 Falcon Road, Lillington
Turkey is often the star of the show at holiday dinners. Rather than fighting over a frozen bird at the supermarket, consider purchasing yours from a local farm like CATHIS Farm. The turkeys at this family- and veteran-owned farm in Lillington are pasture-raised and enjoy supplemental feed that’s local, organic, and non-GMO. Unfortunately, they’ve already sold out of whole turkeys for the season, but do still plan to sell turkey breasts and thighs.
You can pre-order your Thanksgiving turkey here for home delivery or pickup at one of three participating locations. You can also order other meats such as grass-fed beef and forest-raised pork for home delivery all year round. Simply place your order by Saturday and it’ll be delivered on the following Tuesday.
Multiple locations
Don’t feel like cooking your holiday meal this year? Don’t worry. You can order a pre-cooked meal from Weaver Street Market that’s been handcrafted by chefs, bakers, and local producers. All you have to do is reheat and enjoy. The complete turkey dinner comes with an antibiotic-free, pre-roasted turkey; mashed potatoes; apple pecan stuffing; dinner rolls; and more holiday classics.
They also offer vegetarian and vegan pre-cooked meal options. Place your order by Nov. 19 and pick it up at one four Triangle-area locations anytime through Nov. 25.
395 Batchelor Road, Richlands
If brisket is a must-have on your holiday table, check out Pasture to Plate Farms. Founded by two friends with a shared passion for regenerative farming, Pasture to Plate provides a range of pasture-raised meats that are non-chemically treated, including brisket, country ham, and chicken wings.
Sides and more
106 J and L Drive, Goldsboro
Mashed, roasted, candied or baked into a pie—there are countless ways to enjoy sweet potatoes this holiday season. As one of the top crops grown in North Carolina, there are tons of places to purchase these sweet spuds, including Howell Farming Co. This third-generation family farm offers multiple pack sizes for its farm-fresh sweet potatoes, as well as options for buying in bulk.
14166 Highway 264, Swanquarter
Sweet potatoes aren’t the only spud variety worth stocking up on this holiday season. From creamy mashed potatoes to crispy latkes, white potatoes star in a slew of tasty traditional holiday dishes. Pamlico Shores Produce, founded by two lifelong friends, is an excellent source for high-quality, fresh market potatoes.
606 Broad St., Beaufort
If you’re serving up a salad with your holiday dinner, consider Coastal Community Market your one-stop shop for all your must-have ingredients. This locally owned shop sources mixed greens, arugula, microgreens, and more from nearby farms and businesses. You can also shop for salad mix-ins like mushrooms, peppers, and other fresh produce. Don’t forget to bring your own jars to fill in the bulk herbs-and-spices section, too.
1101 John Small Ave., Washington
19821 US-264, Pinetown
Petals and Produce is another fantastic option for homegrown produce, from collard greens to okra. This family-owned shop has two locations in Beaufort County. While you’re there, don’t forget to grab some beautiful flowers to decorate your holiday table with.
Sneads Ferry Road, Sneads Ferry
If you’ve ever celebrated Thanksgiving near the coast, you’ve probably indulged in oyster dressing. Get fresh and sustainable oysters at Carolina Beach Oyster Co. to make a dressing your dinner guests will rave about for years to come. The company’s CB Salts, which get their name from the high-salinity waters they’re grown in, are firm and flavorful with a Carolina mineral undertone finish. They’re available for pickup or delivery.
Multiple locations
Save yourself some time this holiday season and order some sides from the pros. Kings BBQ Restaurant began as a small country store and filling station more than 85 years ago but has since expanded to include a catering business and nationwide shipping service.
Kings’ black-eyed peas are still locally grown and home-cooked, and now you can get them delivered straight to your doorstep along with other staple side dishes like potato salad, collard greens, coleslaw, and macaroni and cheese.
Kings also has a Thanksgiving take-home menu featuring a deep-fried or roasted turkey or a sugar-cured baked ham, both of which come with sides.
95 Atkinson Mill Road, Selma
A warm piece of cornbread is classic comfort food and an essential item on the holiday dinner table. But cornbread is only as good as the cornmeal you use to make it. Family-run Atkinson Milling Company has been producing stone-ground cornmeal locally since before the American Revolution.
If you don’t feel like baking from scratch, Atkinson Milling Company also sells mixes for a variety of tasty treats including cornbread muffins, hushpuppies, biscuits, and fruit cobbler.
Multiple locations
Don’t forget about spices, seasonings, and sauces when shopping for your holiday dinner ingredients. From barbecue sauces and bread dips to seafood spices and rubs, The Veggie Wagon has you covered. But that’s not all.
The Veggie Wagon—which is not actually a wagon but hosts two brick-and-mortar locations and is carried by many Wilmington-area retailers—features products from more than 70 local farmers, artists, and vendors—plus they sell their own baked goods, free-range eggs, snacks, take-n’-bake meals, and more.
Dessert
115 Hickory Grove Ballpark Road, Bladenboro
There’s no better way to end a festive meal than with a big slice of pie. North Carolina is one of the top pecan-producing states in the country, so making pecan pie is a no-brainer. Skip the store and order your pecans straight from the source for the best-tasting pecan pie around.
The Taylor Pecan Company is a family-run operation that’s been in business since 2005 selling both shelled (which really means unshelled) and in-the-shell pecans perfect for pies, salads, ice cream, and more.
Britteny Dee Britteny has worked as a professional writer for more than a decade. She launched her career as a features writer in New York City, covering fashion, food, hospitality, and beauty. She has contributed to a variety of publications, including Bitches Who Brunch, International Business Times and Glam.
