Shout Out Community Farm Share

Solving the Food Access Problem and Providing Support to Local Farms

I just want to shout out Community Farm Share (CFS) this week. CFS is a local Montgomery County non-profit that buys produce from local farms like mine and sells it at a cheaper cost in communities that may not have access to healthy food through their own Mobile Markets. CFS locates markets where people already live or work and makes produce affordable through prepaid cards and food assistance programs. They also partner with community health clinics and over 20 MCPS schools; they run Food is Medicine and Farm to School programs.

I used to work for them too! Right after I started my farm (I somehow had time on my hands), I worked for CFS for a few months, driving their refrigerated truck to pick up produce from farms, and I worked at their markets. It was interesting to see where the food that I grew ended up. Every week I sell the leftover produce that I do not sell at the market to CFS. It’s really great to have an alternative revenue source that I can rely on. Back in June, I talked about CFSin an interview I did with Plenty Magazine. Organizations like Community Farm Share are incredibly important to farmers like me and I hope they’re around for a long time.