Page 27 - BusinessWest February 3, 2025

“More and more in the field of food justice, we’re talking about something called food sovereignty, which is one more step in the direction of really empowering people to
not just have access to fresh, healthy food,
but culturally appropriate food, so they can make decisions about what they want to eat.”
dent on the national food system.” Their efforts were successful;
in four months, the advocates raised $700,000 for a down pay- ment on the land. And when TPL and the city agreed to permanent- ly preserve the 180 acres at the two farms, 40 of the listserv activ- ists incorporated as a nonprofit organization in order to purchase 121 of those acres and create a sustainable community farm — and Grow Food Northampton evolved from there to the multi- faceted land, food, and education entity it is today.
The education aspect takes several forms, Klein explained, from taking public-school stu- dents on field trips to adult educa- tion on topics ranging from agro- ecological gardening to farming to gardening for climate change.
“We control invasives without
using chemicals, so it’s a com-
pletely organic venture,” she explained. “The food-access program includes a farmers market, and we have brought probably close to
a million dollars each year to the local economy through our farm- ers market. A full 25% of that is people who are food-insecure who are using our SNAP match to double the amount of money they can spend on local vegetables and fruits and healthier local food.”
That’s something the organization is excited about, she said, as it speaks to the mission of helping people who most need access to healthy food.
“It’s not a bougie farmers market that only rich people can shop at, but 25% are people who are living with food insecurity. We also conduct a free mobile farmers market program; we purchase from local farms within a 50-mile radius of Northampton — produce and
Grow Food Northampton’s farmers markers allow 30 local farms and other food vendors a venue to connect directly with customers.
Photo courtesy of Grow Food Northampton
other farm foods, from wheat and dairy to eggs. We go to as many as 16 different low-income housing sites, and we distribute them for free.”
At those sites, volunteers also install community gardens so residents can learn to
grow their own food, she
noted. “We bring all of Grow
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