Local Food Systems

Urban Patchwork

http://www.urbanpatchwork.org

Urban Patchwork (UP) was Austin’s first nonprofit neighborhood farm network and Community Supported Agriculture. It helps neighbors turn unused yard space into farmland to produce vegetables, fruit, nuts, and eggs. In exchange for hosting farm plots, residents and businesses receive fresh vegetables. Founded in 2009, UP offers farm start-up programs, nutritional workshops for residents, home food production, canning, and fermentation courses, and job training and creation.

Read more about Urban Patchwork...

Sustainable Food Center

http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org

Founded in 1993, with roots dating back to 1975 as Austin Community Gardens, Sustainable Food Center (SFC) works to cultivate a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food.  Through its Grow Local Program, SFC supports home, school, and community gardeners with classes, trainings, and resources and provides schools and low-income home gardeners with free gardening materials to reduce the financial barriers to gardening.  Its Farm Direct Program promotes access to fresh, healthy food by connecting local farmers to schools, worksites, and food service operations and to Austin shoppers through four of the largest weekly farmers’ markets in Texas.  It also runs The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre, which offers community cooking and nutrition education classes.

Read more about Sustainable Food Center...

Urban Agriculture Tools

The Farm Incubator Toolkit: Growing the Next Generation of Farmers

Eva Agudelo Winther and Meaghan Overton

This new guide developed by the National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI) and published by the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project offers a framework to develop local farm incubators. Bringing together practioners and training expertize, this toolkit provides a variety of resources to support small-scale sustainable farmers, from project planning and management to planning for long-term growth. This toolkit is part of national effort to build a network of incubators that empower disadvantaged new producers to build economic opportunity and grow the vitality of small-scale, localized agriculture across the nation.

Read more about The Farm Incubator Toolkit: Growing the Next Generation of Farmers...
Read more about Urban Agriculture Tools...