Supporting food justice in Roanoke.
As many of you know, last year following the murder of George Floyd we made the choice to be more socially active as a farm, taking more public stands about what we believe in and giving 20% of our market sales to individuals and organizations working to promote racial justice.
This year we have taken a more inward approach, but we have not stopped our work and we want to take this opportunity to share with you what we’ve been up to and how you can join us!
We are partnering with LEAP, our very own local food justice organization, to increase community engagement and equitable access to healthy food across our region.
We’ve worked with LEAP through the Grandin Market for years. We have watched them grow, build incredible relationships, and support farmers (like us!) to create healthy food communities across Virginia and particularly right here in Roanoke.
And yet, there continues to be such incredible disparity in our city between the communities that have access to healthy, local food and the communities that don’t even have an active grocery store.
I hate the fact that the food we spend our lifeblood creating is accessible to so few. I want to do more to share the privilege of our land with the broader community. After working with LEAP for years at the market, I truly believe these folks are the real deal. They are leaders in the local food community and they really understand the food access issues in our underserved communities while also being deeply steeped in the values of resilient local agricultural. Their commitment, integrity, and track record of effective programing makes me believe that LEAP can truly be a driver of much needed systemic change that can help bring lasting food justice to Roanoke.
But this is HARD work, and it is slow. We can’t make change overnight and we know nothing we do will last if it’s not truly welcomed by the communities we’re trying to reach. This means slow, careful relationship building. It means a long term commitment of time and money with a lot of ups and downs along the way. So this is us joining the effort for the long haul. LEAP can’t do it alone and we want to use the resources we have to help.
For as long as we are selling food in Roanoke we are going to commit 20% of our market sales to help steward LEAP’s community engagement work and hopefully we are going to bring each of you along with us :).
Will you join us?
Click here to support our commitment and take the first step toward food justice in our community.
ABOUT LEAP
You all may know LEAP (Local Environmental and Agricultural Project) as the manager of our Grandin Market, but they are so much more!!
LEAP is a Roanoke based 501c3 nonprofit service organization working to create equitable food and farming systems that prioritize health and abundance.
In its early years, LEAP recognized that people in lower income and food insecure communities lacked the support they needed to access and afford local food. At the time, few farmer’s markets even accepted SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) benefits, our country’s largest food assistance program. In response, LEAP started one of Virginia’s first farmer’s market SNAP programs in 2011 at its Grandin and West End Farmers Markets.
LEAP has gone on to advocate at the state level on behalf of farmer’s markets’ SNAP programs, and raised over $4 million in funds for SNAP nutrition incentives. These incentives match SNAP spent at the farmer’s market dollar for dollar so that families can take home additional fruits and vegetables.
Regionally, LEAP is building networks of healthy food communities focused on equitable food access by increasing farmer’s markets’ access to statewide funding, supporting meaningful community engagement, and facilitating long-term food system planning.
Locally, LEAP is working to directly distribute healthy food from farmers (like us!) to our families who have the least access to healthy food networks (like the farmer’s markets where you all shop with us :).
Some of LEAP’s current programs include:
two year-round community farmer’s markets
the LEAP Mobile Market (a vehicle that brings local produce into underserved neighborhoods four days a week, six months a year)
the LEAP Farm Share (local farmers supply local food that is subscribed to, prepaid, and picked up by consumers weekly)
Healthy Food Incentives (incentives double the dollars that can be spent at farmers markets for recipients of SNAP, Medicaid and other programs)
the LEAP Kitchen (a commercial kitchen available for rent to those creating value-added products from local food)
4 neighborhood community gardens in some of Roanoke’s highest need communities (since 2020)
To help increase the breadth and depth of LEAP’s local work over the next few years Thornfield Farm will be partnering with LEAP to:
Increase the value of the Roanoke community gardens by creating educational opportunities both at the gardens and on our farm;
Establish mutual aid sites for distribution of our and other local growers’ food;
Broaden and deepen relationships in Roanoke’s communities with the least food access.