Garden & Gleaning
North Minneapolis Garden
Established in 2017, this garden was built on a former vacant lot owned by the City of Minneapolis. It is the sixth garden we managed since our founding in 2013.
Many people take food for granted, assuming they can purchase whatever they need at any time. However, obtaining fresh, quality produce can be difficult for those living far away from grocery stores, as well as people of low wealth, people experiencing home insecurity, and people facing other hardships. Additionally, people who live in cities often have little connection to their food supply, not knowing how to grow food or what their food even looks like before it’s harvested and packaged. We at NCFA believe that a strong connection to food improves the health of our communities and its members.
This is why we build and maintain community gardens in neighborhoods with restricted access to fresh foods in the Twin Cities. These gardens do not follow the traditional model of leasing out parcels to individuals; rather, everything is communally worked, and the produce is free for community members to enjoy. We also offer donation-based workshops, giving people the opportunity to learn how to grow their own healthy food, and hold neighborhood events to bring people together. Any surplus produce is given away completely free-of-charge to Metro Area food shelves, homeless shelters, and soup kitchens.
New City Center Site
In 2022 we took over stewardship of the garden space at our new office location at Walker Church in South Minneapolis. This is our eighth garden site since NCFA was founded in 2013.
When NCFA first began, we built gardens at our office and in community member’s yards; but our program has since expanded. In 2020 we established a partnership with the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority to garden at Charles Horn Towers, which has a large Somali population. We transferred stewardship of this site to the Somali American Farmers Association in 2021. We also leased garden space at a formerly vacant lot owned by the city of Minneapolis and managed the garden at our office location in South Minneapolis.
Past Garden Sites
Backyard Gleaning Program
A Decentralized Network
WHAT WE OFFER
Materials to build or fix raised beds
Soil or compost
Seeds or plant starts
Advice on gardening and growing
WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
Care for plants + help them grow
Harvest produce when it's ready
Regular communication
Drop off produce at distro site weekly
Share the abundance!
A NETWORK OF GARDENERS
NCFA is piloting a Backyard Gleaning Program to cultivate abundance locally and build sustainable urban agriculture. We believe abundance is all around us, and envision a decentralized network of sharing produce and growing food sovereignty across the Twin Cities. In 2024, we are focusing the pilot in Powderhorn and Phillips neighborhoods.
HOW IT WORKS
The Backyard Gleaing Program supports growing in yards, community gardens, and spaces in the neighborhood. NCFA will provide resources to help build raised beds, provide free seeds and plant starts, and growing advice to folks in the network. All that you need to do is take care of the plants and share your abundance! From there, NCFA volunteers will collect produce and distribute it to food shelves and mutual aid sites within the neighborhood, completely for free! We hope to experiment, learn, and build a network of gardeners and urban farmers that will grow into the future.
GET INVOLVED
Email info@ncfa-mn.org or fill out the application if you are interested in growing with us in 2024! We are looking for individuals with experience gardening and have some space already to grow food, but are open to anyone who is excited to join us.
We're especially looking for folks with experience gardening who are able to share their love for growing food with others in the network.
Foodshare
Increasing Access, Reducing Waste
Fresh Berries
We received boxes of these beautiful berries from Trader Joe’s. As overstock items, they couldn’t be sold in the store. Unfortunately, many businesses throw away perfectly good food such as this.
The Problem
Access to food is a basic human necessity. We at NCFA believe that everyone should be empowered to choose the foods they want to eat. However, obtaining healthy, sustainable, and culturally relevant foods can be difficult for people facing systemic oppressions.
30-40
Percent of our food is wasted
133
Billion pounds of food goes into the landfill annually
41
Million Americans Face Hunger
Meanwhile, food waste is a huge problem in the US. It is estimated that between 30 to 40 percent of our food ends up in a landfill, or about 133 billion pounds annually (source). With 41 million Americans facing hunger (source), this is an unconscionable misuse of resources.
Our Impact
Every weekday (and some weekends!), we pick up surplus food from co-ops, grocery stores, and distribution centers across the Twin Cities area. All of this food would otherwise be thrown away, either because it’s overstocked or visually imperfect. Most of it is fresh produce, which is often less available to people facing food insecurity. Food donors in 2021 include Trader Joe’s, United Noodle, St. Vincent de Paul, Seward Co-op Friendship Store, and more.
Gleaning
NCFA workers Celeste and May gleaning strawberries at Philadelphia Community Farm in Osceola, Wisconsin.
In 2020, we started shifting more focus to local food recovery by launching a gleaning program. Gleaning is the act of harvesting fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste at orchards, gardens, and farms. This is high-quality food that would rot in the field if not for outside efforts—possibly due to constraints on time, storage, or budget. Gleaning partners in 2021 include Dream of Wild Health, Philadelphia Community Farm, and the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market.
We also began purchasing food from local farmers in 2020, focusing on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color)-run farms. By doing so, we support the local food system, provide additional funds to underrepresented farmers, and select specific culturally-appropriate foods for our foodshare program. As always, all food is given away completely free-of-charge.
For a full list of recent food donors, farms that we purchase from, and other collaborations, see our partners page.
5
Days a week, we deliver food to charities that serve people in need
6-8
Thousand pounds of food saved every week
40
Organizations served in the Twin cities metro area
To ensure that we serve the people experiencing the most disadvantages in our society, we partner with local nonprofit organizations such as soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and food shelves. Our work provides them with reliable access to fresh foods. 2021 food recipients include Grace Place Assisted Living, Minnesota Central Kitchen, VEAP, and Groveland Food Shelf.
For a full list of recent recipients, see our partners page.
Produce For The People
Partnering with Twin Cities Farmer’s Markets
Since 2020, St. Paul Farmers’ Market vendors have been helping their neighbors and preventing food waste with the Produce for the People program. Vendors sell excess produce at the end of select farmers’ markets. This fresh produce goes directly to area food shelves and is free for patrons.
In 2024, the program operates at five St. Paul Farmers’ Market locations: Downtown Saint Paul on Sundays, Woodbury, Inver Grove Heights, South Saint Paul, and Maplewood (Aldrich Arena)!
Produce for the People connects local farmers to those with limited access to fresh produce. Farmers are compensated for their goods at a rate of $1 per pound. This helps the local food economy continue to flourish. By bringing fresh market produce to the community, we can reroute the excess produce from composting or landfills.
