Restoring a Cornerstone of the Local Grain Economy

Vermont's community-led movement to build a thriving local agriculture economy, through nonprofit infrastructure investments, diversified farming practices, and bipartisan collaboration, has revitalized small farms, boosted food resilience, and offered a viable economic alternative to industrialized agriculture.

MARSH Grocery is a food cooperative with urban farm lots, an online catalog, a delivery program, a commercial kitchen, and a grocery store in which people can pay the amount on the sticker, 20% more, or 20% less. The cooperative is not quite profitable but is growing its customer base in a St. Louis neighborhood that previously lacked access to affordable, healthy food.

A collaborative network of farms and organizations is preserving Palestinian heirloom crops by cultivating them in diaspora communities across the United States. The network propagates traditional varieties like mulukhiyah, kousa squash, and Gaza peppers while organizing community gatherings where Palestinian diaspora members can reconnect with these plants through hands-on cultivation and traditional food preparation.

Through volunteers and partnerships with other local organizations, the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Center distributes a month’s worth of food to families in need for free, as a large portion of the population is undocumented, unemployed, or otherwise ineligible for government assistance. The Center also provides services such as English language classes, a clothes closet, a diaper bank and assistance getting a driver’s license.

The mobile food distribution program by the Mind of Christ Ministries and Bethune-Cookman University has been feeding families since 2013. The program addresses local food insecurity while also providing university students with a meaningful way to give back to the community and earn required volunteer hours. The program estimates it reaches more than 200,000 people each year.

Watanda is a bulk-shopping system that helps ensure low-income families have access to meat during the Eid-al-Fitr celebration following Ramadan. In Watanda groups, members contribute money to a collective fund to purchase cattle that is then split between all the contributors. Amidst the rising cost of cattle, Watanda groups help ensure families have food on the table and can still participate in celebrations.

The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association launched a program to support local fishing businesses and address food insecurity during the pandemic that continues to do so today. The nonprofit buys fish at a more than fair price from local businesses and donates them to food banks and public school food programs.

Worker cooperatives, which are worker-owned and democratically operated, are spreading across the United States as a response to the large number of baby-boomer-owned businesses closing with no succession plan. Baltimore’s Common Ground Cafe is an example of staff, the community, and a local cooperative incubator coming together to do just that.

Novia Scotia, Canada, created community economic development investment funds with a 35% tax credit to investors to help small businesses that need capital but don’t qualify for bank loans. The cooperative FarmWorks brings together investors and farmers using this funding method to provide loans that will directly support the local food network.

Beeyo Maal is a collective of women running their own businesses in Somaliland’s male-dominated frankincense industry. The group, which has about 280 members, allows women to make roughly five times what they were paid when previously working for exploitative companies.