Grace Grows

Shopping at this online market supports real people in our own community improving food security and access.

Come to the Food System Coalition this Wednesday to hear from Chris Perry, Community Spring fellow, and Community Violence interrupter. We are excited to hear about his work and hope his accomplishments addressing commissary price policy at the jail will inspire people with a real world local example of how we can create policy change.

More about Chris: He is a man of faith, a devoted father, a trusted mentor, and an advocate for economic and juvenile justice. On any given morning, you can find him at the juvenile courthouse, guiding and supporting parents whose children are facing criminal charges, offering wisdom, empathy, and hope during their most difficult moments. He recently successfully advocated for reduced prices for commissary items in the Alachua county jail. This led to renewed contracts with the Sheriff's office that prioritized easing financial burdens on families over maximizing profits and kickbacks.
His desire is to build bridges between community members and decision-makers and help connect resources to communities throughout Alachua County.

Chris’s mission extends beyond advocacy; he endeavors to cultivate mental, spiritual, and emotional freedom for himself and for anyone burdened by poverty or hardship, especially children. His passion for empowering young people is matched by his compassion for all humanity. He believes that the greatest leaders are those who serve humbly, and that every act of service has the power to echo across generations.

With unwavering faith and intentional action, Chris continues to move with purpose, precision, and love, leaving a legacy of leadership that uplifts every life he touches.

The pilot food hub project is being conducted by Frog Song Farm and Alachua County Fresh Food Pathways Program

Pilot Project Update and Info Session
Wednesday, Sept 2, 5-7pm

Learn about the food hub pilot progress to date and discuss opportunities to participate by selling locally grown produce, purchasing products, or participating in the food access and workforce training initiatives.

Join if you are a...
*grower who wants to increase sales of locally grown food
restaurant, foodservice,
*institution or retailer looking to source more local products
*community member interested in supporting local food initiatives

Please sign up here: https://form.jotform.com/262305044672048

We just wanted to remind folks of this important community event happening August 1st and 2nd!

We are sharing this in support of our friends at Working Food. Your participation supports community driven design for their online farmer’s market- which, in turn, supports local farmers and improves food security locally. 🥬🥧🍊🥜💚

This spring, Working Food launched the pilot season of our new online market.

Help shape the future of the Online Market! Complete our shopper survey by July 27 to be entered into a drawing for one of two $100 gift certificates. You can still take the survey even if you didn't get a chance to shop from the market during our pilot season. Survey link: https://forms.gle/ojqPRfcK8gc3AqpcA

We’ll use this feedback to shape the next market season. Thank you for helping build a market that reflects our community!

When you shop with the Working Food Online Market, your dollars support our local vendors so that they can continue to partner with us and offer a diverse array of local products through our shared storefront.

We are currently pausing the market operations for a summer break, but we will return in the fall with more abundance from our local farmers and artisans! We will offer weekly ordering from around mid-September - mid-June for the 2026-2027 season.

Working Food is growing!

We do therapeutic horticulture in a space where folks experience a lot of struggle because they are experiencing homelessness but something that is really special about what we do is that it’s really rooted in connection. We learn about one another and work alongside one another as equals. This helps upend the status quo nonprofit services dynamic where one more privileged group comes in and gives things to “the poor.” Don’t get us wrong, helping is super important. We DO need folks giving food, giving medicine, and more, but still there is an inherent power differential during those interactions. In the garden, we try to challenge that power dynamic recognizing that all people have something to offer, even folks who only have the clothes on their backs.

Often, the time we spend in the garden is not ABOUT the struggle, even though it also can be a place for safe conversation about it. We learn about each other’s favorite plants, their grandmother’s recipes, their grandparent’s farm, what church their families went to for generations, and so many things about one another’s lives that transcend the homeless experience.

It can be really hard to separate oneself from all the stigmas and struggle when immersed but it’s important to remember who you are, and it’s important that loving people can just BE together and make one another feel seen. If there is one tone we always want to set in that space, it is that all who enter the garden are truly seen. We are all more than the worst things that have happen to us.

The Food System Coalition Meeting is tomorrow. Here is the draft agenda. Join us at Greater Bethel AME from 2:00-3:30. Bring your flyers! We need folks from across the spectrum to work together. This is where we will find hope and resilience to continue making a difference.

Join us for this Wednesday’s Food System Coalition of NCFL meeting where folks across the spectrum of food systems come together to address both pressing and systemic issues in our communities.

Our guest speaker this month is Julius Irving. He is the Community Engagement Coordinator for Community Spring, a Represent Justice Filmmaker, Uncarcerated Podcast Cohost and more. He will be speaking about how to show up for/in marginalized communities in an ethical, moral, and impactful manner, and the amazing work he is doing in the community. Please come out and support this powerful community organizer and leader.

To read more about Julius check out his bio on Community Spring’s website. https://www.csgnv.org/julius-irving

To sign up follow the link on our pinned post or see the comments.