Brunswick Farm to Families Program
The Foundation awards a limited number of grants to Virginia Methodist Churches and affiliated agencies of the VA United Methodist Conference. Through these awards of grant dollars, we seek to enhance and expand these ministries. The ultimate goal is to provide assistance, whether it be a one-time grant or a grant that will help a ministry become self-sustaining. One such program is the Brunswick Farm to Families Program of Brunswick County, a 2017 Foundation grant recipient dedicated to increasing access to fresh food and crops to families in Brunswick County.
This past May, Ted Soto had the opportunity to visit the program. He stated, “The Brunswick Farms To Families Coalition in Lawrenceville is a tremendously valuable program for the entire Brunswick county. They are pushing to get an agriculture teacher after being without one for 28 years. They are encouraging farmers to plant fruits and vegetables instead of tobacco and timber. They are working with local groceries to develop much needed local sources for fruits and vegetables. (Local is the key in order to assure freshness.) They are teaching students and families about healthy eating and how to grow their own vegetables. And they are securing and providing plots of farmland for people to grow their own crops. This is an energetic, committed group of highly knowledgeable people with a well-defined strategy and plan for achieving their very laudable goals. It’s an honor and absolute pleasure for the Virginia United Methodist Foundation to be able to partner with them.”
More about the program:
The Brunswick Farms to Families program was created from the requests of concerned citizens regarding the lack of fresh food accessibility in Brunswick County. Local Brunswick farmers were encouraged to donate to local food pantries and feeding programs, thus reducing food insecurity and increasing access to healthy food that would have otherwise been thrown out. BFF developed as a collaboration of LCRRC and the BHA and has grown in conjunction with VA Cooperative Extension, Farm Service Agency, the Student Government Association (SGA) and Ecology Club at Brunswick High School in addition to the Brunswick County Food Pantries and Farm Bureau Women’s Committee. BFF has since started a demonstration garden growing pumpkins and other winter crops. Local food site distributors and churches with shut-in lists have been the recipients of the crops. (Source: Brunswick Times Gazette)