As we reflect on the season of gratitude, the Feed Our Future team is so grateful for all of the farmers we partnered with this past year. Thank you for the incredible work you do every day in making sure that we have the opportunity to eat local foods. You are noticed and appreciated.
We invite you to join us in celebrating these hard working farmers, whether it be by visiting local farms, shopping at a farmer’s market or taking just a moment to thank a farmer in your community. Every act of appreciation helps promote and encourage the local food system. Throughout October, the Feed Our Future team gave back by volunteering at urban farms throughout Cleveland. We enjoyed taking time to learn firsthand just how much time and effort goes into growing for our schools.
RevLove Farm– Located at 12301 Imperial Ave. Cleveland, OH, United States, Ohio 44120. RevLove Farm is an organization that focuses on growing food, hosting community events and youth programing as well as providing a safe space for healing and pride for their community. RevLove is providing fresh fruits and vegetable to Cleveland Metropolitan School District this school year through a partnership with Feed Our Future and Ohio Schools Council. The team helped Shirley and Jermaine by moving soil to expand their garden beds where they plan to plant garlic and also assisted with fixing up and winterizing the chicken coop.
Food Depot to Health– Located at 1051 Winston Road, South Euclid, Ohio 44121. The mission of Food Depot to Health, Inc. is to provide professional programming for health and wellness initiatives to social groups, businesses, community organizations, churches and schools. They provide access to fresh local fruits and vegetables as well as provide information on how to grow them, provide education on urban gardening, and host cooking workshops. While it rained on our parade during volunteer day, the team was able to assist Veronica with preparing some packaging materials and planning her Fall newsletter.
Village Family Farms– Located at 1662 Crawford Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106. Village Family Farms is a non-profit organization that focuses on sustainable farming practices, alongside their mission focuses to provide the freshest and most nutritious fruits and vegetables to those in the community who otherwise would not have access. Village Family Farms has been providing fruits and vegetables to Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Parma City Schools through a partnership with Feed Our Future and Ohio Schools Council. The Feed Our Future team assisted Farmer Jamel with harvesting sun gold tomatoes and eggplants, weeded flower beds, and planted cover crops in the hoop house. During the day, the team also learned about the importance of cover crops and how they retain nutrients in the soil throughout winter, ensuring that the soil is fresh and ready to go for the new growing season, come springtime.
Food Strong– Located at 6527 Superior Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44103. Food Strong is a non-profit organization that focuses on regenerative farming and innovative programing that focuses on expanding their mission to cultivate food justice in Northeast Ohio and beyond by building enduring local food systems from the ground up. Food Strong is providing fresh fruits and vegetable to Cleveland Metropolitan School District this school year through a partnership with Feed Our Future and Ohio Schools Council. At Food Strong Learning Garden, the team got a tour of the new garden and learning space and also helped harvest tomatoes for a “Meet the Farmer” event that following day. Other jobs included removing old eggplants, winterizing the green house and watering the crops.
Feed Our Future is also providing capacity building opportunities to each of these farms through the Cost Share Program. This program provides financial investment to support food safety certification, which ensures they are able to serve school districts. Each farm has also received no cost marketing materials for their business through our Grower Story Telling Kits. These kits are fun interactive ways for students to connect with the farms that are providing food to their school meal programs. These items are available on our website here.
These hands-on experiences created a deeper level of appreciation for our local farmers and their passion for healthier communities. Let us continue to thank our local farmers every day for their hard work.
Follow us on our social media and check out our website to see more of how we continue to support local farmers and food producers.
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