National Agriculture Day at The Nashville Food Project

On National Agriculture Day, we honor the people and practices that make it possible for food to reach our tables.

It is easy to think of food at the point of consumption. A meal served. A plate shared. A moment of nourishment. But every meal begins long before that. It begins in the soil, in the steady work of planting, tending, and trusting that something will grow.

At The Nashville Food Project, agriculture is not separate from community. It is where our work begins.

Across our Community Agriculture Network, this work is already taking root. At sites like Growing Together Farm, the Community Farm at Mill Ridge Park, McGruder Community Garden, Our Hands Community Garden, and Southend United Methodist Church, neighbors come together to grow food, share knowledge, and care for the land. New spaces, including Hope Community Gardens and Donelson Community Garden, will continue to expand this work in the years ahead.

These are not just places where food is grown. They are places where community is built.

In these gardens and farms, people gather across generations and experiences. They learn what it means to steward land. They take part in the slow and intentional work of growing food. They see firsthand how small acts, repeated over time, can lead to something that nourishes many.

This is the kind of agriculture we celebrate.

It is rooted in care.
It is shaped by collaboration.
It is sustained by people who choose to show up.

As we look ahead, this work continues to grow. Through our community orchard initiative, we are expanding what it means to cultivate long-term nourishment. Orchards invite us into a different kind of commitment, one that looks beyond a single season and toward years of shared harvest. They create spaces where communities can gather, care for fruit-bearing trees, and build something that will continue to give over time.

This is what it means to reimagine our food system.

A healthy food system is not built overnight. It is cultivated through relationships, through shared responsibility, and through the belief that everyone should have access to the food they want and need. It is shaped by growers, volunteers, partners, and community members who invest in something larger than themselves.

On this National Agriculture Day, we are reminded that the work of agriculture is not just about growing food. It is about growing connection, resilience, and possibility.

And there are many ways to be part of that work.

You can apply to become a community partner garden.
You can learn more about our growing network of orchards.
You can become a garden or orchard steward.
You can volunteer alongside us in our gardens and farms.
You can apply for a garden plot and begin growing your own food.

Each of these is an invitation.
An invitation to step into the work.
An invitation to tend something that will, in time, grow.

Because nourishment begins here.
In the soil.
In community.
In the shared work of growing something together.

Community Agriculture Network Sites

• Growing Together Farm — 299 Haywood Lane, Nashville, TN, 37211

• Community Farm at Mill Ridge Park - 12944 Old Hickory Blvd., Antioch, TN 37013

• McGruder Community Garden at McGruder Family Resource Center — 2013 25th Ave. N., Nashville, TN 37208

• Our Hands Community Garden at Alameda Christian Church — 4006 Ashland City Hwy., Nashville, TN 37218)

• Southend United Methodist Church — 5042 Edmondson Pike, Nashville, TN 37211

• Hope Community Gardens — coming in 2026

• Donelson Community Garden — coming in 2026

Planting the Future: Building a Community Orchard at Mill Ridge

At The Community Farm at Mill Ridge, the work of growing food often begins quietly.

A shovel pressing into the soil.
Roots spread carefully in a freshly dug hole.
A small tree placed with intention, knowing that years from now it will nourish people who have yet to walk this land.

This spring, that quiet work is becoming something larger. Together with volunteers, neighbors, and partners, The Nashville Food Project is planting a new community orchard at Mill Ridge Park. More than 200 fruit trees and berry brambles will take root here, expanding access to fresh fruit for growers and families across the Antioch community.

An orchard does not appear overnight. It begins with care.

Planting a tree may seem simple. But the details matter if that tree is going to thrive for decades. At our orchard demonstration at The Community Farm at Mill Ridge, volunteers will learn the foundational elements of planting fruit trees in a way that supports their long-term health. Many fruit trees are grafted, meaning two different parts of a plant are joined together to grow as one. The rootstock forms the base of the tree, anchoring it in the soil, while the scion becomes the branches and fruit-bearing portion above ground.

Where those two pieces meet is called the graft union, and it must remain visible above the soil line to protect the tree’s long-term health. Participants also learn to identify the root flare, the place where the trunk widens and transitions into the root system. Keeping this area exposed allows the tree to establish strong, healthy roots.

Understanding these details helps ensure that each tree planted today will grow strong enough to produce fruit for years to come.

Once the tree is placed carefully in the hole, soil and compost are returned around the roots. Volunteers break up clumps, remove rocks, and press the soil gently into place with their hands to eliminate air pockets and help the tree settle securely into the ground.

The final step is mulch. Spread in a ring around the base of the tree, mulch helps retain moisture and protect the soil while leaving the trunk and graft union clear.

Each step may seem small. But together they create the conditions a young tree needs to grow. The orchard taking shape at Mill Ridge is about more than fruit.

It is about expanding tree canopy in a growing part of Nashville. It is about improving soil health and supporting pollinators. It is about creating a place where neighbors can gather, learn, and steward the land together.

And it is about food.

One day, the trees planted here will produce harvests that nourish the Mill Ridge community and the growers who care for this space.

But first comes the planting.

Orchards are acts of patience. They require a long view. The trees planted today will grow slowly, season by season, shaped by the care of the people who tend them.

That is why the planting itself matters so much.

When volunteers gather with shovels in the soil, they are doing more than planting trees. They are investing in a future where nourishment grows in shared spaces and community takes root alongside the orchard.

This is how change often begins.

One tree at a time.

Grow With Us: Community Garden Beds Now Available

At The Nashville Food Project, growing food is about more than what ends up on the plate. It’s about stewardship, shared learning, and the relationships that form when neighbors come together around the land.

We’re excited to share that community garden beds are now available at McGruder Community Garden and Mill Ridge Community Farm for the upcoming season. These spaces are open to individuals and families who want to grow fresh food while being part of a supportive, connected gardening community.

Our community garden beds offer more than a place to plant. Gardeners receive access to shared tools, compost and soil support, educational opportunities throughout the season, and connection with other neighbors who are growing alongside them. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just getting started, these gardens are designed to meet people where they are.

At The Nashville Food Project, we believe growing food together strengthens both individual wellbeing and collective care. Our gardens are places where questions are welcome, learning is shared, and relationships deepen over time.

Garden beds are limited and available on a first-come basis. We encourage anyone interested in growing with us this season to register early to reserve a space.

What’s Included with a Garden Bed

• Access to shared tools

• Compost and soil support

• Educational opportunities throughout the season

• Community connection and shared learning

Garden Locations

• Community Farm at Mill Ridge

  • Plots available: 500 square foot in-ground plots

    Address: 12944 Old Hickory Blvd Antioch, TN 37013

• McGruder Community Garden

  • Plots available: 4x8' raised garden beds

    Address: 2013 25th Ave N Nashville, TN 37208

How to Register

Please fill out the application below.

Garden beds are limited, and spaces will be filled as registrations are received.

If you have questions about community gardens or the registration process, please reach out to gardens@thenashvillefoodproject.org.

We’re looking forward to another season of growing together and welcoming neighbors into these shared spaces.

Planting for the Future

At The Nashville Food Project, we believe food security is built over time through care, stewardship, and shared responsibility. This spring, we’re inviting our community to take part in that work by helping plant a new community orchard at our Community Farm at Mill Ridge.

On March 27 and 28, from 8:15 AM to 12:00 PM, neighbors, volunteers, and partners will gather at 12944 Old Hickory Blvd to plant fruit trees that will nourish our city for years to come. This Orchard Planting Party is open to the public, and no prior gardening experience is required.

Community orchards are long-term investments. They ask us to think beyond a single growing season and consider what sustained nourishment can look like over time. Once established, this orchard will provide fresh fruit for community partners and neighbors, while also serving as a shared space for learning, connection, and stewardship.

The orchard at Mill Ridge will play an important role within our broader Community Agriculture Network, supporting hands-on education and collaborative growing efforts across Nashville. In addition to producing food, the space will serve as a gathering place where people can learn together, work side by side, and deepen relationships through care for the land.

This event reflects our mission to grow, cook, and share nourishing food while cultivating community and alleviating hunger. By inviting people into the planting process, we emphasize that food security is not a short-term solution, but a collective commitment that grows through patience, presence, and care.

Everyone is welcome to join us. Whether it’s your first time planting a tree or you’ve spent years in gardens and farms, there is a place for you in this work. Together, we’ll prepare soil, plant trees, and begin tending something that will continue to give back long after this season.

Event Details

What: Orchard Planting Party
When: March 27–28, 2026 | 8:15 AM–12:00 PM
Where: Community Farm at Mill Ridge, 12944 Old Hickory Blvd., Antioch, Tennessee 37013
Who: Open to the public; no experience necessary

Registration is required. We look forward to growing something lasting together.

Looking Back at Nourish 2025

On July 17, 2025, we gathered for our 15th annual Nourish, presented by Kroger—and what a night it was. We're humbled and incredibly proud to share that Nourish 2025 brought together more than 300 guests and raised nearly $250,000 to support our mission of bringing people together to grow, cook, and share nourishing food.

But beyond the numbers, Nourish was once again a beautiful celebration of community, collaboration, and connection—a night where the table became a place for generosity, shared purpose, and joy.

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An Unforgettable Meal

This year’s all-star chef lineup included teams from:

• Bad Idea

• Curry Boys BBQ

• S.S. Gai

• Tantísimo

• Turkey and the Wolf Icehouse

• Saap Saap BBQ (unable to attend due to a family emergency)

Each chef brought a distinctive voice and vision to the meal, creating a multi-course experience that reflected diverse cultures, techniques, and a shared love for food. One of the evening’s most inspiring moments was witnessing these chefs collaborate in real time—helping one another plate, prep, and bring each dish to life with care and camaraderie.

We also premiered a behind-the-scenes chef video, highlighting their visit to the Growing Together Farm—and what fuels their passion for food and community.

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Honoring Our Volunteer Hero: Theresa McCurdy

One of the evening’s most heartfelt moments was the presentation of the Thomas Williams Golden Skillet Award, which honors an outstanding volunteer who embodies the spirit of our work. This year, we were thrilled to present the award to Theresa McCurdy, who has quietly and faithfully given over 440 volunteer hours since 2022.

Theresa’s steady presence, compassion, and commitment have made her an integral part of our kitchen community. Her story is a powerful reminder that it’s not just meals we’re making—it’s community, built one kind gesture at a time.

The Thomas Williams Golden Skillet Award, established in 2017, recognizes a volunteer who has shown deep dedication to the work of The Nashville Food Project. Its namesake Thomas Williams is the founder of Nourish.

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Raising Paddles, Raising Hope

This year’s Night of Giving was especially impactful thanks to a $20,000 matching gift, which helped double the power of every contribution made that evening. From $5,000 pledges to $100 gifts, the generosity in the room was overwhelming and deeply inspiring.

Thanks to the support of individual donors and corporate partners, we’ll be able to share tens of thousands more nourishing meals with our neighbors in the months ahead.

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With Gratitude to Our Sponsors

Nourish 2025 would not have been possible without our generous sponsors. We are deeply grateful to the following partners:

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Looking Ahead

Nourish isn’t just an annual event—it’s a reflection of our ongoing work and the community that makes it possible. Whether you were with us in person or supporting from afar, thank you for helping us grow this movement.

Together, we’re building a more food-secure, connected, and resilient Nashville. One meal. One garden. One relationship at a time.

The Community Agriculture Network Is Live—And Growing!

Last fall, we shared our vision for The Nashville Food Project's Community Agriculture Network (CAN)—a collective of community gardens and small-scale urban farms working together to grow food and share resources across the city. This initiative is a key part of our broader mission to cultivate community and alleviate hunger throughout Nashville.

Today, we're thrilled to announce the Community Agriculture Network (CAN) is officially live! This milestone marks the beginning of a deeper, more connected approach to community-based agriculture across our city. And it's already bearing fruit.

What Is the Community Agriculture Network?

The Community Agriculture Network (CAN) is a collaboration of growing spaces—community gardens, church plots, urban farms, and orchards—each managed by trusted leaders in their respective communities. These sites are independently managed but supported by TNFP through shared tools, technical assistance, access to seed and compost, and a network of volunteers and educators.

Rooted in a hub-and-spoke model, TNFP serves as the "hub," providing the backbone infrastructure—training, coordination, and technical support—so each community "spoke" can thrive in its own unique way.

Whether it is a refugee grower, a pastor, a long-time resident, or a youth leader at the helm, each garden reflects the culture, needs, and leadership of its neighborhood.

This work stems from a simple yet radical belief: healthy food is a human right—not a privilege. Community-grown food can be a powerful solution to hunger, health inequities, and social disconnection.

Current Community Agriculture Network (CAN) sites include:

• Community Farm at Mill Ridge (Antioch)

• McGruder Community Garden (North Nashville)

• Growing Together Farm & Market (Haywood)

• Alameda Christian Church Garden (Bordeaux)

• South End United Methodist Church Garden (South Nashville)

Welcoming Our First Two Partner Gardens

Two of our newest network members are church-based sites that share our belief in food as a ministry of care and community:

• Alameda Christian Church Garden. This Bordeaux site began with a clear call from the congregation: use the land to feed the community. Since joining the network, Alameda has become a space where herbs, tomatoes, and leafy greens thrive—shared through both ministry meals and informal neighborhood distributions. TNFP has helped with bed design, seedling starts, and volunteer coordination.

• South End United Methodist Church Garden. At South End, the church's mission to serve neighbors led them to start a garden that's now blossoming with produce and possibility. With support from TNFP—think compost delivery, irrigation guidance, and a few muddy workdays—the garden now grows food for congregants, local pantries, and fellowship gatherings. It has become a space where people gather not just to work but to connect.

We're deeply grateful to these church teams—and to TNFP Staff Members Cacey and Patty—for the dedication, joy, and hard work that brought these gardens to life. 

How the Network Works

Through the Community Agriculture Network (CAN), TNFP provides partner gardens with:

• Volunteer recruitment and coordination

• Site planning, infrastructure & compost support 

• Garden leader training

• Outreach and educational programming

• Produce distribution & market strategies 

• Access to tools, seeds, compost, and water

• Help with storytelling, fundraising & grant writing 

We also support individual growers at McGruder and Mill Ridge with plot sizes and fees designed to make gardening truly accessible. Gardeners can grow for themselves, their families, or their communities—no one is turned away due to an inability to pay.

Want to Get Involved?

There are so many ways to dig in—literally.

🌿 Volunteer. All sites welcome volunteers. Whether you're a seasoned grower or a first-time gardener, there's a place for you in our gardens.

🌿 Rent a Plot. Looking to grow your own food? We have rental plots available at both McGruder and Mill Ridge.

🌿 Become a Partner Garden. We're now accepting applications for new garden partners to join the network in 2026. Applications are accepted at any time, with priority given to those submitted by August 1, 2025. Click here to apply now →

A Growing Future

In a city where many residents still live in neighborhoods with limited food access, this is about more than just gardens. It's about creating a stronger, more resilient food system rooted in the neighborhoods and faith communities of Nashville.

And we are just getting started. We hope you'll join us in cultivating a food system where everyone has a seat at the table—and a hand in growing what's on it.

Brooklyn Heights, Cosecha, and TNFP team up to grow something powerful in Nashville

Nashville’s spring ushers in more than just warm weather and blooming gardens: It marks the start of a new chapter in community-powered food justice. As the last frost melted away in early April, seasoned gardeners and first-timers alike rolled up their sleeves, eager to tend the soil and nurture the possibilities growing there. 

This spring, The Nashville Food Project is proud to launch a new, multi-year partnership with Brooklyn Heights Community Garden and Cosecha Community Development, made possible by a USDA Community Food Projects Grants Program. Through this grant, the three organizations are working together to increase community members’ access to fresh fruits and vegetables. That includes some free produce boxes, new produce markets, and new gardening and wellness educational opportunities. It’s a major milestone for our city — the first time Brooklyn Heights, Cosecha, or TNFP have received federal funding. This grant recognizes the essential work grassroots organizations are doing to build a more just, inclusive, and resilient food system. It also signals Nashville’s growing potential to become a national leader in urban and community agriculture.

This work is especially urgent in North and South Nashville, where many neighbors still face barriers to fresh, healthy food because of a long history of redlining, displacement, and disinvestment. From North Nash and Jefferson Street to Nolensville Road and out to Antioch — Black, immigrant, and refugee families are often surrounded by fast food and convenience stores instead of grocery stores. 

These overlapping food deserts (neighborhoods without easy access to fresh, affordable food) and food swamps (areas crowded with fast food and convenience stores) contribute to high rates of chronic illness. That is why it matters so much that Brooklyn Heights and Cosecha are part of this project — they are right at the heart of where change is needed most.

Recently Brooklyn Heights Community Garden hosted a spring kickoff to set the tone for what’s to come. Children ran through the garden laughing, while local chef Mariah Ragland of Radical Rabbit fed the community mouthwatering vegan soul food nachos. In the background stood a new hoop house — a structure that will help feed neighbors through a free CSA program later this season.

Soon after, The Nashville Food Project opened its Community Farm at Mill Ridge with a community work day, plant sale, and lunch where community gardeners gathered to get to know each other. At that site, more than 60 families grow food through rented plots. On any given day, you can hear many different languages spoken and see varieties of vegetables growing from around the world.

The stories behind this work are just as vibrant as the gardens themselves. At Cosecha Community Development, Celia manages the school garden at Whitsitt Elementary. A quiet, consistent presence in the community, Celia is known not just for maintaining crops, but for being a source of knowledge and comfort. "What can I plant for a stomach ache?" neighbors ask her. 

Celia is deeply woven into the school community — coordinating lesson plans with teachers, helping students learn about pollinators and plant life cycles, and guiding families through their first gardening experiences. Her four children all attended Whitsitt, and today she works alongside the school’s family engagement team to make the garden an interactive classroom for hundreds of children. Teachers have guided students through harvesting potatoes and picking and tasting hot chilis — inviting them to experience the full spectrum of tastes and sensations food can offer.

Brooklyn Heights has a parallel story. Ms. Pearl, a longtime resident, first bought a home on Haynes Street, then another across from it, and then the lot next door — that land is now the Brooklyn Heights Community Garden. Bridget Bryant, one of TNFP’s former growers at Mill Ridge Farm, now serves as the site’s garden manager. She plans crops, maintains the space, and hosts monthly workshops. Their Healing in the Garden series uses yoga, meditation, and medicinal herbs to support mental and physical health. These third spaces — neither home nor work — offer refuge, connection, and healing for isolated neighbors.

Recent surveys of local gardeners affirm what we know to be true: 95% reported building meaningful relationships through their time in the garden. Every participant said gardening improved their connection to the land and to one another.

“I’ve started harvesting and drying herbs to make homemade soap. I never thought I’d have the tools or confidence to do something like this”

— The Nashville Food Project gardener

The beauty of this work lies in the people. In a neighbor offering compost tips to someone new. In a shared bowl of freshly picked greens. In a parent showing their child how to water seeds. These small, powerful acts are what transform a garden into a gathering place — and a meal into a movement.

As we look to the months ahead, The Nashville Food Project will launch the Growing Together Farmers Market on May 3 — Antioch’s first-ever farmers market, featuring SNAP/EBT access, multilingual signage, and culturally relevant produce grown by immigrant and refugee farmers. These growers earned significant income last year through CSA and direct-to-consumer sales, demonstrating what’s possible when land, opportunity, and community intersect. The Nashville Food Project’s new farmers market reflects the vision this grant helps make possible.

Even amid national rhetoric that threatens to divide, this work keeps us focused on what matters. The Nashville Food Project sees food as a powerful tool for justice, resilience, and belonging. In a time when national support for community-led change can feel uncertain, our gardens stand as living proof of what a community can achieve when rooted in care, courage, and collaboration — and we are deeply grateful for the USDA’s support in building a more equitable food future for Nashville through community gardens.

As this partnership between The Nashville Food Project, Cosecha Community Development, and Brooklyn Heights Community Garden blooms and our gardens open their gates, you are invited to take part. There is a place for everyone in this movement. 

You might join a community volunteer day — what we call an Energy Exchange Workday or experience healing events like Healing & Wellness: Reiki Soundscape at Brooklyn Heights. You can check out the new Growing Together Farmers Market, sign up for TNFP’s CSA, lend a hand in one of Cosecha’s community gardens, or shop the market at Cosecha Community Development.

There are so many ways to get involved at The Nashville Food Project and join a movement reshaping what is possible for food access in Nashville. Together, we aren’t just growing vegetables — we are cultivating a future where everyone has a place at the table.

Sustaining Change: Three Years of Block to Block

In a world of instant gratification, there’s something to be said for things that grow steadily over time — like a well-tended garden. And just like a garden requires patience, care, and dedication to showing up, so does the level of teamwork needed to create lasting change across communities. For the last three years, Love, Tito’s, the philanthropic heart of Tito’s Handmade Vodka, has supported The Nashville Food Project as part of its Block to Block program, with each project building on the last to work toward community food security in Nashville. 

One of our core values at the Food Project is hospitality, which we understand in part as investing in building relationships, acknowledging that this takes time. The Love, Tito’s Block to Block program has embodied this value over the last three years, consistently galvanizing groups of volunteers to get involved with community agriculture and offering long-term infrastructure support to accommodate even more growers and their families. In doing so, the folks at Tito’s are achieving their own goals to help make fresh, healthy food more accessible.

“We’re so grateful to have had the chance to work alongside The Nashville Food Project these last three years, helping this incredible organization further cultivate community and increase access to fresh food through the greater Nashville area. Our Love, Tito’s Block to Block program is all about bringing community together — one block at a time — and The Nashville Food Project team is truly doing that for our city.””

— Trip Cobb, Field Sales Director for Tito's Handmade Vodka

In 2022, Tito’s helped us install blueberry bushes and an educational pavilion at The Community Farm at Mill Ridge, helping to make the space hospitable for the multigenerational families that grow there. Last year’s efforts were focused on adding a greenhouse at another community agriculture site, the Growing Together farm, where farmers from immigrant and refugee backgrounds grow food sold via a community-supported agriculture (CSA) model to local families.

2024 marked a return to Mill Ridge to build on the work done in 2022. We gathered about 50 volunteers from both Tito’s and its local distributor, Lipman Brothers, at the farm. A quick show of hands indicated that a number of folks had returned for their second and even third year, giving up a morning to help us dig holes and shovel compost. 

On a bright Friday morning, this fantastic bunch divided into groups to install a pollinator garden, prepare four large new garden beds, clear brush and brambles from a particularly thorny area of the farm to make way for a food forest, and paint rain barrels that act as a supplementary water supply to the entire farm. They did so with joyful attitudes and happy chatter — even though some of the projects were really hard!

On top of this day-of work, Tito’s is contributing to the long-term garden production at the farm by helping to expand infrastructure with support for a new greenhouse and a community refrigerator. The greenhouse will be used by Food Project staff to grow transplants for community members interested in at-home gardening, while also offering community gardeners the opportunity to use the space for their own transplants starting in the 2025 growing season. The outdoor local produce fridge will improve community members’ access to fresh produce grown at the farm, fostering greater access to locally grown, nutritious food. 

The Community Farm at Mill Ridge is home to around 65 gardening families and hundreds of species of veggies, flowers, and herbs. While one side of the farm is dedicated to communal-style production that shares the entirety of its harvest with the community, the majority of the space is stewarded by individual plot holders, many of whom have limited access to land and resources to grow their own food. Thanks to Tito’s help, the entirety of the farm is now about three and a half acres, but there is room to grow — once the site is fully developed, it will be seven acres. 

We hope to fully develop the space by 2027, and we’re grateful for Tito’s for bringing that hope within reach. Together, we’ve accomplished more than just expanding the farm — we’ve built a foundation for a more sustainable and equitable future in Nashville.

Expanding McGruder Community Garden

In 2003, an abandoned elementary school in North Nashville became the C.E. McGruder Family Resource Center, named for a civil rights activist committed to building a different world for her friends and family. A few years later in 2009, an advisory board formed to determine the future of the space, and the community proposed planting a garden. In addition to the garden being a gathering place for community and a sacred green space in a fast-growing city, it also offered a solution to the neighborhood’s lack of access to fresh food — there was no grocery store in North Nashville. 

Now in its fifteenth growing season, McGruder Community Garden is a space where people from all walks of life gather to find connection, learn from one another, and grow food for themselves and their communities. The garden includes several colorful raised garden beds, a pollinator garden full of fresh flowers, and a small orchard of fruit trees, and is lovingly tended  by community members in partnership with The Nashville Food Project.

While the garden sits on a small plot of land behind the resource center, we’ve long dreamed of expanding our growing space, in turn expanding our community. On a rainy September Saturday morning, that dream became a reality thanks to a group of volunteers with Give To Get, a social impact company that helps other organizations engage their consumers and employees in the causes that they care about. In this case, the group was brought together by none other than country music star Eric Church.

Through his foundation Chief Cares, Church worked with Give To Get to provide a subset of his top SiriusXM fans the opportunity to receive tickets to an intimate show at his downtown Nashville bar. All they had to do? Attend a dedicated volunteer shift at one of the local organizations Church had chosen, all of which share a commitment to alleviating hunger in Nashville. Fans could sign up to help out at Second Harvest Food Bank, The Store, Society of St. Andrew, or The Nashville Food Project.

It was drizzling as a team of about 25 volunteers arrived at McGruder ready to get their hands dirty. Director of Community Agriculture Patricia Tarquino introduced them to the space and the project: the group would be building 12 new raised beds, including four ADA-compliant beds along a concrete path for improved accessibility. The project would increase the production capacity of the garden by 50% and allow us to welcome gardeners of all abilities and skill levels.

“With the installation of these beds, we have the opportunity to offer community members the chance to steward individual plots next season in addition to the communal-style growing we’ve been practicing at McGruder for years,” said Hanes Motsinger, chief program officer of The Nashville Food Project. “To support individuals who will be maintaining their own plots, we plan to offer a series of educational workshops.”

The group set out to work as the rain cleared and the sun came out. As they assembled the metal beds, cleared the land around to install them, and shoveled compost to fill them, happy chatter indicated that strangers were becoming friends. Even when faced with challenges — a tricky-to-use sod cutter required some creative ways to clear space for the beds, or a bed assembly kit was missing a needed part — the team worked incredibly hard to finish the project in the three-hour time slot, and had fun while doing it. 

“We’re trying to get people not only to volunteer for a day, but to understand the work that the organization is doing so that they continue to stay engaged after the incentive is gone,” said Toby Garrett, co-founder and president of Give To Get, who gave his time alongside the volunteer group, even wielding a broadfork to loosen the earth where the beds would go. And his vision came full circle. As volunteers packed up, many said with a smile that they would be back in the spring to help plant veggies in the beds they built.  

New plot sign-ups will open in early 2025. Check back to join us at McGruder Community Garden next growing season!

Growing Multigenerational Community at McGruder Garden

In 2009, an advisory board for a community center in North Nashville formed, and one of the responses from the community was a desire for a space to grow. In addition to the garden being a gathering place for community and a sacred green space in a fast-growing city, it also proposed a solution to the neighborhood’s lack of access to fresh food — there was no grocery store in North Nashville.

14 years later, many of the garden’s original growers — including founders Rev. and Mrs. Beach — still come to McGruder Community Garden each week. It’s a space where people from all walks of life work together to grow whatever they want — be it okra, dill or marigolds — for themselves, their families and their community.

Check out this video and take a look at a typical morning at McGruder!

Growing Together to Build Food Security

Can you imagine 27,000 pounds of produce? Now picture that being grown by the patient hands of just four families on less than a single acre of land. This is the work of Growing Together, an urban farm in southeast Nashville jointly stewarded by immigrant and refugee farmers and The Nashville Food Project.

In the warmest, busiest months, the Growing Together farm is overflowing with handmade trellises of tomatoes, towering okra plants, and bright red Dalle Khursani, Nepali hot peppers. The farmers, who all came to the U.S. from Bhutan and Myanmar, tend crops from their home countries alongside Middle Tennessee favorites. Cabbages thrive next to creeping vines of bitter gourd. Many languages echo across the field as farmers trade jokes and bits of advice. 

“Our exchange of knowledge makes me a more successful grower,” says La Sai Roi, a Burmese farmer who has been with the Growing Together program since 2021. “I am so thankful for this program and all the farmers.”

The farm is as multigenerational as it is multicultural. People of all ages cultivate thriving rows, wash bundles of spinach under tents, and pack veggie boxes for pickup. Growing traditions with origins in the farmers’ home countries, like seed saving or companion planting, are passed down to younger generations through practical experience.  It’s a close-knit community where farmers continually deepen connections to their countries of origin and to each other. 

The farm’s Community Supported Agriculture program extends a pathway for farmers to get more plugged into the local community, forming meaningful relationships with customers while generating income that supports family webs in Nashville and beyond. If you’re looking to cook with a wider variety of veggies, support immigrant and refugee farmers, and build community food security along the way, consider supporting Growing Together this spring by purchasing a CSA share.

Q&A with Justin Hiltner, featured musician for our 10th Anniversary Picnic Party

Left to right: Tristan Scroggins, Justin Hiltner, Vickie Vaughn, Brennen Leigh

When banjoist, songwriter, journalist and activist Justin Hiltner recorded a set at our headquarters for the upcoming 10th Anniversary Picnic Party, he took a minute to introduce a new song about “anxiety and growing Old Tennessee melons, called Muskmelons.”

A whole song about growing melons? We were obviously smitten.

To say we have loved working with Justin for this event would be an understatement. Learn more about him below, and don’t miss the streamed show, which will air Sunday, September 26! Reserve your tickets here!

How did you get into playing banjo and songwriting?

I first saw a banjo on TV when I was six years old and told my parents, "That's what I want to do!" Their response, quite reasonable, was, "If you still want to play banjo in a year, we'll get you a banjo." Now here we are, twenty-two years later, and the entire course of life has been altered by the whim of a six-year-old! I recently realized that that first instance of seeing a banjo was actually in "Cotton Patch Gospel" a Broadway musical that was a bluegrass and southern retelling of the gospel story. Quite a fitting origin story, I think!

I really began getting into songwriting in high school, when I was very much into writing and poetry and realized my own writing was lyrical to begin with—perhaps growing up a musician impacted that? haha – and it really blossomed as a primary vehicle for my art and self expression when I moved to Nashville in 2011 and began surrounding myself with other creators and musicmakers who saw songwriting not just as a craft or a livelihood, but as a modern form of literature and a folkway, too.

What has your journey in Nashville been like? We hear you have a new record coming in Fall 2021?

I love living in Nashville and in the South! I grew up in the country in rural central Ohio and Nashville and the surrounding hills really remind me of home—but with a lot more music everywhere you look. I don't know if I'll stay in Nashville forever, but I've found such a bright, diverse, fulfilling community here and I'm so grateful for the artistic and creative communities I've tapped into as well. One of my main goals when I first moved to town was to record and release a truly solo album, and I'm so excited that that debut project is coming before the end of this year. It might not be in the fall now, but very soon. The project is called 1992 and is just me, the banjo, and my sad, gay banjo songs!

We're so thrilled you're a part of this momentous occasion with us and loved hearing that you've been following our mission. Is food security a passion of yours?

Food security and food justice are two huge tentpoles of my personal mission in life and in music! Food security and food justice will be central strategies to responding to the climate crisis in a way that centers Black, Brown, Indigenous, disabled, and Queer communities. Community-based organizations like the Nashville Food Project have an important and vital role to play in those responses. I'm a hobby gardener and farmer and avid birdwatcher myself, so I've always believed so strongly that connecting ourselves and our human communities to our greater ecosystems is how we will right so many of the unjust problems of the modern world. I was so excited to be plugged in with y'all for the Picnic Party, not only because of how my mission in music aligns with the NFP's mission, but because I just truly love gardening, farming, and modern solutions for solving food insecurity and food injustices.

We hear you have a few songs about gardening and/or farming and other issues that sound quite aligned to our work! Can you tell us a bit more about those songs and your inspiration in writing them?

I truly have so many songs about nature, gardening, birds, fruits and vegetables, bumblebees, and just spending time grounded and connected to the natural world. The real problem was choosing which ones to showcase for this event! I love writing about the things I'm most passionate about, and whether I've sat down to expressly write about nature or I just happen to find that's what's pouring out of my pen, I find myself most fulfilled when I'm making art about the natural world and the sheer resplendent, awe-inspiring beauty in her every day, mundane things. I love poets like Mary Oliver and Theodore Rothke who connect such abstract and ethereal concepts and philosophies to concrete creatures and settings and feelings in nature. I try to do the same in my songwriting, whether I'm writing about migrant workers, or using birds as metaphors, or writing about anxiety and growing melons!

We also know you to be an activist and proponent of inclusion in roots music. Can you tell us more about that and the work you've been proud to be part of in that regard?

Being one of very few openly queer folks in bluegrass, I've always had an activist bent to my art and the community that surrounds my creative process. I believe so strongly that roots music and bluegrass are for everyone, regardless of who you are, your identity, background, or where you're from. Taking that central belief into every avenue of my career in bluegrass has been a North star for me while I've navigated the music industry over the past ten years. It's how I'm able to prioritize events and partnerships like this one, because I have a mission in music greater than just, "Make music cause I like to do it." I believe so strongly that we'll only solve all of the pressing injustices of modernity if we each realize we all individually and collectively have a stake in enacting that justice. That's why I keep my activism as present as possible in my music—there's much work to be done, but together we can get that work done!

Okay, Dolly Parton's America. We must know more. Can you tell us about being part of that?

Dolly Parton's America might just be the COOLEST thing I've ever gotten to do! I'm such a huge fan of Dolly, her music, her songwriting, and her artistic ethos, to get to be even a small part of the Peabody Award-winning podcast about her made by one of my all-time favorite podcast and radio hosts, Jad Abumrad – and his amazing co-producer, Shima Oliaee – was a dream come true. That at one point in the episode I appear in they cut directly from my voice to Dolly's saying, "God made everybody just the way they are" – I still get goosebumps and tears well up every time I hear it. DPA gave me the largest audience and microphone I've ever had to date, I appreciate it so much and I still connect with new folks and fans who found me via the podcast every day! So freakin' cool. Dolly if you're out there reading this, love ya.

Partner Spotlight: Growing Together + Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition

by Tallahassee May, Growing Together Manager

It is morning at the Growing Together garden on Haywood Lane. The forecast looks to be a very hot one, and already the air is heavy with humidity. The farmers harvest for produce deliveries, working a bit faster than usual to beat the midday heat.  

This year the Growing Together program of The Nashville Food Project has expanded its produce outlets to include new partnerships in the city. As part of the Food Project mission to cultivate community and alleviate hunger, the Growing Together farmers now work to grow food that is specific for distribution to communities that otherwise may not have access to fresh, culturally appropriate produce.

On Thursdays we deliver produce to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to empower immigrants and refugees throughout Tennessee to develop a unified voice, defend their rights, and create an atmosphere in which they are recognized as positive contributors to the state. Our friends at TIRRC provide many services and community engagement opportunities, including legal services, voter registration, naturalization and paths to citizenship, English language classes, as well as an assistance line, a community garden, and events such as the upcoming InterNASHional Food Series. This is all happens with the vision of lifting up fundamental American freedoms and human rights and building a strong, welcoming, and inclusive Tennessee.  

As a part of their programming, TIRRC now offers free bags of Growing Together produce to its members who are participating in their services and events. “We love this opportunity,” says Arturo Salomon Reyes, Operations Coordinator at TIRRC. “I personally have noticed how helpful this has been with everybody that comes to get their free veggies. I've talked to most of the families that come every week. They tell me how helpful this is for them, especially how some of them sometimes don't have enough money to pay rent and buy food for the week.” 

At The Nashville Food Project we emphasize relationship-building with other nonprofits, communities and organizations who partner with us to share nourishing food.  This happens through our meals, but we also have the opportunity with Growing Together farmers to share fresh produce as well. We are grateful to these partners supporting the work of expanding food access, such as TIRRC and also others including Trap Gardens, Legacy Mission Village, and HIghlands Apartments.

In so many ways, this symbiosis between TIRRC and the Growing Together program encapsulates the many layers of food justice work that The Nashville Food Project supports. With the Growing Together program, participants who arrived to the United States as refugees are supported with land and resources that they would otherwise not have access to. In growing food for local sales and distribution, they have meaningful work for a supplemental income that allows them to contribute in significant ways to their family. In the garden, the farmers have the autonomy to grow food that is both culturally meaningful to them as well as crops that support relationship building with different cultures. This work makes a deep impact across many parts of the community, and encourages and supports marginalized peoples’  participation in the food system.

As Chandra and Tonka wash their freshly dug potatoes, and Lal weighs his cucumbers, we also gather bags of tender green beans, and pints of colorful and juicy cherry tomatoes. Crunchy green bell peppers are added to the bags as we pack. “Coming from a Hispanic family I know how important and how useful vegetables are in our everyday life, “ Arturo tells us later. “I see this same benefit for the families who come every week to get their produce. They always tell me how much we are helping them, so I always make sure to tell them that this wouldn't be possible without The Nashville Food Project and the people who work hard at the farm.”

We are grateful for your partnership, TIRRC!

Growing Together Manager Tallahassee May and Growing Together Coordinator Chris Burke talk with folks at TIRRC’s Welcome Home event.

Partner Spotlight: Elmahaba Center

When Ashraf Azer arrived in the United States from his native Egypt about 15 years ago, he took a job as a housekeeper at Gaylord Opryland Hotel. He cleaned rooms by day and spent three evenings a week for three years at McGavock High School taking English classes. 

“I was the most annoying one,” he said of his persistence in learning. “I was always asking the teacher.” 

These days, Ashraf works as operation manager in housekeeping at Opryland—and he serves as an interpreter for the Arabic-speaking community gardeners at The Community Farm at Mill Ridge. 

While you can hear multiple languages in our gardens, this is the first year we’ve had the privilege of hosting Arabic-speaking folks, specifically seven gardeners who came to the United States from Egypt and live predominantly in South Nashville. For this new development, we thank Ashraf and the folks at Elmahaba Center, a nonprofit formed two years ago to serve the Arabic-speaking community. Ashraf, a leader in the community, acted as a founding Board member. 

Ashraf says response to the community garden applications took off quickly in his community, which has an agriculturally rich culture of fertile land along the Nile River. “We are very passionate about farming. It’s our history,” he says. 

But in this country few people have access to land for growing their own food. “Not everybody in the Arabic-speaking community owns a house. Most own an apartment. Even the houses don’t have a big backyard,” he says. “It’s something everybody maybe dreams about.” 

Folks also were eager to know, for example, if they could grow culturally significant crops at Mill Ridge like specific greens for Molokhia, a soup many consider the national dish of Egypt with a name that means “vegetable for kings” and dates back to the time of the pharaohs.

“All this stuff is very, very important ingredients in our food,” he says. “The green soup. It’s a big deal.” 

Lydia Yousief, founder and executive director of Elmahaba Center, adds that food sovereignty is crucial for healthy communities. “When there are limited people who are able to own land, that means that the food we are eating—mostly people of color—is given to us. You don’t have much agency when you don’t have land in what you’re putting into your body.” That also translates to less agency over health, mental capacity, community and culture. 

“Having the power to cultivate the land is also mutual,” she says. “I can’t just grow anything in Tennessee. I have to listen to the land as well. Once you do that you become not temporary here.”

Beyond their own tables, Ashraf says growing food provides opportunities to be connected to a place in giving back. “Maybe they like to donate but don’t have the resources to donate,” he says. “But they can donate food.”

Helping people have access to gardens and interpretation is, of course, just one part of the work at Elmahaba Center, whose name means “unconditional love.” Lydia estimates that between 50,000 and 75,000 Arabic speakers live in Nashville but belong to various communities—Egyptian, Iraqi, Yeminis and Syrians—with different cultures and religions. “If our reaction is to further isolate, that’s not gonna save anybody,” she says. So the group holds cross-cultural Community Saturdays to provide goods like clothes or food. Elmahaba also posts educational videos on all manner of topics from COVID-19 to legal advice with hopes to expand more into ESL, citizenship and businesses classes for Arabic speakers. 

In the meantime, The Nashville Food Project will be working to expand and create safe spaces where gardeners of all cultures can continue to grow different but culturally relevant food side by side. As Lydia says, “We are much stronger together than alone.”

To learn more and support Elmahaba Center, visit their website or follow their work on social media.

Partner Spotlight: Darrell Hawks of Friends of Mill Ridge Park

As many of you may know, The Nashville Food Project stewards a portion of Mill Ridge Park as the Community Farm at Mill Ridge, as space that currently hosts about 80 community garden participant families that are able to elect from individual plots or communal gardening opportunities! Monthly training in four languages creates spaces for learning and plots hold vibrant patches of green with produce selections reflective of the gardener’s culture, tastes, and preferences. 

Now entering into our third growing season in this incredible space, our partnership with Friends of Mill Ridge Park (FMRP) has been essential in the continued success of TNFP’s efforts to create infrastructure and land access opportunities for folks to grow their own food in the South East Nashville area. If you’ve been out to the farm you will notice rows and rows of carefully tended young fruit trees as you turn off of Old Hickory Boulevard. As we celebrate the ways that our work is intertwined with other types of environmental justice work happening in Nashville, we wanted to invite Friends of Mill Ridge’s Executive Director, Darrell Hawks, to share more about this burgeoning oasis. 

Can you share a little about yourself and your work with Friends of Mill Ridge? 

While completing my MBA at Belmont University, I worked to develop and operate social enterprise employing people after incarceration. Outside of work, I spent much of my time in the outdoors and became more aware of the exclusivity of the outdoors. With motivation to “open the outdoors,” in 2018 I began new work as founding executive director of Friends of Mill Ridge Park. FMRP is an Antioch-based nonprofit with a mission to enhance and advocate for Mill Ridge Park to strengthen the community in Southeast Davidson County. We operate at Mill Ridge Park as an official partner to the Nashville Department of Parks & Recreation. Through our work, we create outdoor experiences (in the areas of education, recreation, and conservation) for people lacking sufficient access to the outdoor and outdoor services. 

For those aren’t familiar with Mill Ridge Park, can you share a little about the space as a whole? 

Mill Ridge Park is 650 acres (mostly undeveloped) of woodlands, grasslands, and historic farmlands. Located in Antioch, off of I24 and nearby Cane Ridge High School, it’s a Nashville Regional Park, soon to be developed with park amenities and facilities to serve our fast-growing community in southeast Davidson County. The masterplan, developed with community involvement, can be seen online. 

I saw that Friends recently celebrated surpassing their 100th fruit tree planted at Mill Ridge Park, not far from the Community Farm that TNFP stewards! Congrats! Can you share how increased fruit tree presence became a priority in the bigger vision for the Mill Ridge green space? 

The orchard, included in the master plan for Mill Ridge Park, creates opportunities for FMRP to engage the community to advance our mission. By involving the coming in the creation and care of the orchard, we generate regular experiences in outdoor education, recreation, and conservation… all while improving the air and water quality and food access in our community. Additionally, the placement of the orchard will serve to buffer the sound of nearby traffic.

What types of trees have been added to the space? Are there varieties you are personally excited about?

There are a variety of apple, pear, plum, persimmon, and cherry trees that make up the orchard currently. I’m excited about the cherry trees and the possibility of pawpaw trees, which I’m learning about from Tennessee natives. 

The Nashville Food Project’s work at the Community Farm at Mill Ridge is intimately connected with the work of Metro Parks and Friends of Mill Ridge among countless other relationships and interdependent efforts. We love examining the way that varied efforts in Nashville intertwine for mutual goals and visions. Can you share some of the folks who have been essential to creating this expanding orchard at Mill Ridge? 

To create and grow the orchard at Mill Ridge Park, we’ve enjoyed partnering with the Cumberland River Compact, Root Nashville, Hands On Nashville, plus a variety of other community and corporate partners. 

When you think about the orchard in 5 and 10 years, how do you imagine the presence of fruit trees will positively impact the space?

The site alone of an orchard signifies a cared-for space, and in this case of a public orchard we have a cared-for community! It’s even more special that it’s community generated! In the coming years, our park will be beautified by the presence of the orchard, blooming and fruiting throughout the seasons. It will bring our community together for the service of pruning and picking, for the learning about conservation, for the celebration of eating and sharing! And it won't end at the park exit; the orchard will serve as inspiration for some to go back to their own, greenspaces to grow and care and share. 

My family and I recently attended Kite Fest hosted by Friends of Mill Ridge! It was wonderful and my toddler is still talking about it! What ways can people connect with Friends upcoming events or volunteer opportunities? 

We share about upcoming activities at Mill Ridge Park at friendsofmillridgepark.org and on our social sites (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). We also invite the community to share ideas and requests for experiencing Mill Ridge Park. Happening these days, we have outdoor yoga, park meditations, outside cinema, birding and plant walks, and others.

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Speaking of trees, did you catch our Instagram Live conversation with Root Nashville? Tree canopy enthusiast Meg Morgan joined TNFP’s Community Engagement Manager Elizabeth Langgle-Martin to talk all things trees, environmental justice, food access, and our interdependent work for healthy ecosystems, neighborhoods, communities and people. Click HERE to watch and listen.

Offering a Place of Hope and Joy

Growing Together farmers with their new cooler, a game-changer for their vegetable harvesting.

The Nashville Food Project garden spaces have long been witness to the wisdom, hope and joy of growers who came to the United States from Southeast Asia. In the community gardens and at the Growing Together garden, we have watched Nepali mustard sprout from the soil and tasted a rainbow of heirloom hot peppers lighting up the rows. At community potlucks, we have been treated to gundrek soup and potato paneer curry lovingly made with the fruits of labor on shared garden land.

But this year amidst the everyday fears and economic losses of a pandemic, we also have been witness to the added hardships of our friends who already endured so much by coming to the United States as refugees from countries like Bhutan and Burma (now known as Myanmar). Family members in farming communities have faced COVID diagnoses after working jobs at hotspots such as meat processing facilities. In February, we learned of the military coup and violence erupting in Myanmar, the home country to many garden program participants. (Growing Together farmer Roi, for example, has been sending her Growing Together earnings to a school for the blind in that country terrorized by the coup.) And on American soil, we are seeing racism and violence directed at Asian communities too. Following the Atlanta shooting, Growing Together Manager Tallahasee May posted these words on the Growing Together instagram account: 

“Violence against Asian Americans and BIPOC is not new. During this past year, however, as the Covid 19 pandemic surged and fear mongering and false rhetoric spread through local and federal leadership, we heard that the immigrant, Asian, and Asian American community felt the rise in tension and persecution. Many participants in the Growing Together program told how they feel threatened and vulnerable as they move through their day, and have continued to live in fear.  Unfortunately - again- this is not new.  But it should not and can not continue. It is very much time to call out this racism, to support the work for civil rights, prevention of hate crimes, and for restorative justice initiatives in communities, and for all to speak up against dangerous rhetoric against Asian Americans and descendants. The Growing Together program and @thenashvillefoodproject celebrate and are grateful for the Asian American community and for all the work and support they generously contribute on this path towards food and social justice.”

It is no doubt a heavy time. And yet, we continue to intentionally strive for our garden spaces to provide a safe place of hope and joy—where farmers can feel connected to this soil and to the community around them. We are proud to offer programs where we do not focus on scarcity or lack but rather abundance in harvest and also the abundance these growers bring in their strengths, community connection and deep knowledge.

We thank you for your support of the growers. 

Today we also offer a few additional ways to show support to the local API community. 

• Follow API Middle Tennessee, which offers links to:

  • Sign up for future workshops to help advocate for a safe and just Tennessee for Asian and Pacific Islanders. 

  • Support the families of Atlanta victims. 

  • As well as report any harm happening in our community. 

• Consider training on the positive impacts of bystander intervention.

• Support local immigrant and refugee advocacy groups such as Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Nation’s Ministry, Nashville International Center for Empowerment and Catholic Charities of Tennessee. 

• Support Asian-owned restaurants. Just a few of our staff favorites include Ate’s Filipino Kitchen, East Side Banh Mi, Thai Esane, Thai Ni Yom and Laovin’ It.

Finding Dignity and Power in Food

by Lauren Bailey, Director of Garden Programs

This year, we have all considered the essential worker like never before — the nurse, the grocery clerk, the bus driver. At The Nashville Food Project, we're beyond grateful for the many food chain workers—all those people growing, processing, packing, cooking, delivering food— within our agency and beyond it. COVID-19 has, in some ways, highlighted professions that can often receive little to no recognition. 

This lack of acknowledgement became clear for me, recently, as I was talking with a gardener who works in a meat-packing facility. He talked at length about the stresses of work and the burden of being in a leadership position while being short-staffed and concerned about COVID-19. Then he said something that has stuck with me. He felt like his situation, his struggle was invisible to others. And it’s true, isn’t it? The countless hands that go into making our food system are often unseen. 

As food writer Alicia Kennedy reminded readers recently, we must continue to "write about the realities of the food system and those who labor in it….People will ignore or forget that which is unsettling or upsetting. The stories must be told relentlessly."  So, I’d like to propose a challenge for us. Can you join me in acknowledging and learning about the many hands that are a part of this work and working for a better system? 

• To the farmers who showed us what it takes to make our favorite Thanksgiving dishes happen and who continue to get food to our tables (United Farm Workers)

• And those fighting for fair wages (Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Program)

• To the BIPOC farmers like Soul Fire Farm and Sylvanaqua Farms and many others who sharpen our analysis of what it takes to manifest a sustainable and just food system

• To the Indigenous people of the US fighting for food sovereignty

• To those working in meat-packing and other processing facilities that have faced unsafe conditions before and during COVID-19

• To the countless line cooks, service staff, chefs, dishwashers, drivers and grocery store clerks

• We know this is not a comprehensive list. Who is missing?

We share our gratitude and acknowledge you, your labor and your fighting for a better system.

I have recently come to understand just how important it is to point to the larger system we exist in. We, at TNFP, cannot untangle ourselves from this. And at the same time, we are trying to  build, in our corner of the universe, spaces and practices that value people, their experiences and their knowledge. 

This summer, I was harvesting Thai chilis with a few other staff and gardeners for our communal garden produce bags. We all knew this task would take the longest as the small chilis made a tedious task. We could take this on at a slow pace, and this was something that made me curious about the pace of larger commercial operation as many farmworkers are still paid by units harvested versus by the hour. 

When I asked if anyone had any experience harvesting chilis in bulk, a gardener who grew up in Burma/Myanmar said that in his community all the grandmas would come together to harvest chilis so they could talk and laugh and sing together. And that’s an image I’ve seen often in our community gardens, at the Growing Together farm and of our staff working together. It’s an image of dignity. Dignity that comes in cultivating relationships with each other and the Earth, and the dignity and power of growing your own food.

It is time that we complicate the narrative of our food system. Food chain workers and Indigenous land stewards deserve dignity and justice. There are a myriad of solutions and a collective of folks building those out—whether they are fighting for fair wages and safe working conditions, the rematriation and sovereignty of Indigenous lands or shifting power and access to land as is proposed through the Justice for Black Farmers Act. 

I’m on this journey of learning and action, connecting our work with the broader food system. What solutions are you seeing? Whose work would you like to uplift? Will you join me?

Remembrance at the Community Farm at Mill Ridge

by Tallahassee May, Growing Together Education Manager, with information from the Southeast Davidson Regional Park Master Plan

Let us first remember the trees.

If you can imagine 1,000 years ago, to when this hillside and all that our eyes could see was covered in a vast forest of maple, oak, chestnut, and hickory. A squirrel could travel for miles without touching the ground. 

Let us remember the indigenous people who lived here from time immemorial, who hunted the buffalo, elk, and deer that once roamed here. The Mississippian Indian Culture who created vast networks of agricultural communities and large cities, who raised the three sisters of corn, beans and squash and who built large ceremonial mounds throughout Tennessee and the Southeast.

Let us remember the Cherokee and the Shawnee, who thrived here for hundreds of years before European settlers arrived, who were forcibly removed by Andrew Jackson and his Indian Removal Act of 1830 and were marched on the Trail of Tears off of this land they had lived on for generations to new, unfamiliar, and unwelcoming territory.

European settlers started arriving in this area in the 1700’s. By 1850, the railroad had arrived, and this area of Mill Ridge supported a 400-acre, mixed-use vegetable and animal farm, owned by James Holloway. Twenty percent of Tennessee residents at that time were blacks living in slavery. Thirty-two enslaved people lived and worked on this nearby Holloway farm, and the graves of their descendants can now be found throughout this park property.

Let us remember that the conversion of these fields from forest to agricultural use—that the development of this community with a thriving agricultural economy—was dependent on the labor of black slaves.

The Moore Family bought this property in 1919. It was a dairy farm for many years, then converted to cattle only in 1950. In 1930, the house was built. It was one of the first in the area to have running water and an indoor bathroom. The house of the Moore Family Farm is now owned by Metro Parks, and it is hoped to be an integral part of this community farm development in the future.

Let us remember, and let us move forward in this remembering, giving thanks to those who came before and embracing the stewardship that is now our privilege to uphold.  

Photo from the Grand Opening of the Community Farm at Mill Ridge, 2019.

Starting a Community Garden

by Lauren Bailey, Director of Garden Programs

Over the years, we’ve witnessed the benefits of community gardens firsthand. Participants tell us they experience improved physical and mental health as well as a stronger sense of belonging. One of nearly 70 community garden participants in our programs last year told us this: “To know that I have the power to grow my own food if I want to is definitely life-changing.” 

But in addition to participants in our own programs, we also hear from folks who want to start community gardens of their own. If you’re interested in assembling a group and inspiring change, as we are, then here are a few good places to start:  

1) Get started by measuring interest and bringing people together. If you’re working to organize a new community garden, gathering folks together to understand common goals and motivations could be a great place to start. Much like gardening, there are different approaches and strategies that folks use. What has been helpful for our planning and implementation is to have an understanding of why we believe community gardens are important. After years of stewarding a few different community gardens, we’ve seen themes emerge as our “why”. Since the work involves stewardship of land and organizing people, we’ve found that in addition to knowing why you want to garden, having realistic expectations of what it takes to maintain the community garden is key to success. 

2) Identifying land. Maybe you have your eye on a slice of land behind your church or school, or maybe you want to grow on government or private property? You’ll first want to assess the land and make sure it is suitable for growing (more about that later). Then you’ll want to learn the types of gardening allowed on the land by zoning codes. You can find more information about zoning in this guide: A Guide for Growing Food in Nashville- Nashvitality. This will determine whether (and what type of) permit is needed. If you don’t own the land, you’ll also want to draw up an agreement with the land owner that specifies what you’re allowed to do and for what duration. Examples of agreements can be found on this website: American Community Garden Association. 

Having trouble identifying land for your garden? In Nashville, the Ag Extension is working closely with several other Metro Departments to help residents of Davidson County utilize some of the flood buy-back properties to start up community gardens, but know that gardening on these properties presents some challenges. Aside from the risk of flooding, there are restrictions on building structures on these properties. Contact the Ag Extension to learn more about what properties may be available. 

3) Invest time up front in designing and planning your garden. While gardening can be as simple as starting a seed in the ground, the task can become more nuanced when you are sharing space, resources or have a collaborative effort to grow food. 

Brene’ Brown says, “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.” Sometimes the planning process can be messy and ever-evolving. And the commitment to getting “clear” requires transparency and trust.

Here are some questions we encourage people to consider while planning a community garden:

• Who will be involved? Who will lead?

  • Defining who is involved in this garden is key! 

  • Who will be taking care of the garden? Do you have a committed individual or group of individuals who will take on the primary responsibility of gardening?

• What tasks will be shared? Who will be responsible?

  • We recommend having a detailed list of responsibilities: watering, harvesting, and weeding being the main tasks involved. 

• How do you want to involve people in the work? What resources, events or education do you want to connect people to?

  • Do you want to have allotment style plots where folks grow on their own space? Or more of a communal effort where people contribute to one garden?

• Where is the produce going?

  • We’d encourage you to create a plan for the produce. In our gardens, community gardeners take home the vegetables from their plots. At our McGruder Community Garden, we have a free stand where folks can share their excess produce.

• How do you stay motivated?

  • We see a lot of excitement at the beginning of the season and then weeds and heat and pests happen. What is your plan to keep people excited? How do you stay motivated?

• Determine how the garden will be funded. Will you apply for grants? Will it be underwritten by a company or individual? Will gardeners cover costs collectively, and if so, how will payment be collected? 

4) Know your soil and land. Before even breaking ground, starting with an understanding of your soil and the health of it is important. 

• What is your land like? And who owns the land? Answering this ranges from the physical space that you have available to understanding the expectations for how the space needs to be kept. 

  • Have you tested the soil? Make a plan for how to keep your soil healthy.

  • Do you want to do raised bed gardens or grow in the ground?  

  • Do you have a water source available? 

  • How much space do you want to start with?

5) Get Started! Sometimes the hardest part is getting started. Start small, rather than not starting at all. Maybe your vision or plan isn’t fully formed. Maybe you need more time to build raised beds or prepare the soil. If that’s the case, start with what you have where you have it. And keep up the momentum!

Here are some other resources and organizations that we’d recommend you check out: 

• American Community Garden Association is an invaluable resource! 

• The Denver Urban Gardens Club provides a Best Practices Handbook which can be downloaded here.

• Nashville Foodscapes is an option if you are able to pay for the installation of beds designed to support edible landscaping and their team is seasoned at designing, installing, and maintaining edible plots. 

• For technical gardening education, you may be able to reach out to the Master Gardeners of Davidson County who maintain 5 demonstration gardens which may be a valuable learning tool!

• A Guide for Growing Food in Nashville- Nashvitality

• A variety of seeds can be found through Nashville Public Library’s Seed Exchange and is accessible to any person with a library card!

• Keep your eye out for local Seed and Plant Swaps. Richland Park Library is hosting a seed and plant swap on Saturday, April 18th, 10:30-11:30 am. 

• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange- gardening advice

• The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast by Ira Wallace

One of the best ways to learn about community gardens is to get your hands dirty. Sign up to volunteer in our gardens and learn first hand about growing in the community!  

Farewell to Wedgewood Urban Gardens

By Lauren Bailey, TNFP’s Director of Garden Programs

If you’ve ever been to the Wedgewood Urban Garden, you know that it is a magical space- one that immediately draws you in. As you climb up the steps and pass the trees that greet you, you come upon the urban oasis that it is. 

After a decade of cultivating nourishing food and community in this space, we will be relocating our Wedgewood Urban Garden. We have known that this transition would come as our programming and needs have grown and evolved, and we leave the space with so much gratitude for what it is and what it has become. The vibrant community food work that has grown out of that space has been beyond our wildest dreams.

As our staff reflects together on the past 10 years, so many memories arise!

“Volunteering at the Wedgewood Urban Garden space was my introduction the The Nashville Food Project. This garden has been a space for me to both learn life and veggie lessons, and I have been blessed to be able to pass that knowledge and joy onto others. I have grown and stretched as a person in this garden. It was where I was first introduced to the magic of big questions coming from little mouths, and the journey that spark of curiosity could take. Relationships have been built and nurtured in this garden beyond age and language. There are so many freeze framed moments captured in my mind that I am grateful for. The beginning of spring when on a sunny day your eyes are bombarded by the lush growth and the hues of green life. Butterflies and honey bees dancing in the buckwheat. The excited chatter of children as they make their way to the garden. The background noise of conversations that trickle like a creek through the community garden space. These memories and more come to mind when I think back on my experience at WUG.

There is a language one learns while tending and caring for a piece of land. This language is intuitively known by everyone but at times needs to be rediscovered. This rediscovery begins a journey that can teach us many things like how to grow amazing vegetables, but it also enables us to understand the connections that all living things have to one another. I have learned and am still learning this ancient Earth language but am forever grateful to the Wedgewood garden and its tenders for showing and walking with me on this path. ”

— Kia Brown, Community Garden Manager

“When I read the lines ‘keep tangling and interweaving and taking more in, a thicket and bramble wilderness to the outside but to us interconnected with rabbit runs and burrows and lairs’ in Marge Piercy’s poem ‘The Seven of Pentacles’, I see the Wedgewood Garden.  Certainly from the outside there is some wildness to the space; it’s a bit of a secret garden. From Wedgewood Avenue, you see an arbor built by youth at the Oasis Center. It announces an entrance into this green space.  A sign reads ‘We are here to awaken from our illusion of separation. -Thich Nhat Hanh.’ Grass paths beckon into the perennial garden where insects buzz on elderberry, tansy and oregano flowers. Perennial sunflowers wave in the background.  Bermuda grass creeps from the walkways into the beds and wild morning glory attempts to outgrow and overrun everything at least once a summer.  

Walk up the stone stairs past a picnic area and into the heart of the garden.  The trees in the garden are large, old, misshapen & beautiful. They nestle the garden between them in the middle of this busy neighborhood.  It makes for a still, quiet place. Here community gardeners have battled the weeds every summer, bringing forth bounty from rich soil overflowing with tomato, melon, radish, henbit, chickweed.  It may look like a thicket and bramble wilderness to the outside but look a little longer and you’ll see people reconnecting with their neighbors, healing as they work the soil, putting down roots in a new community.  Under the surface of the soil, season after season this garden has been interconnection for people and plants.  ”

— Julia Reynolds-Thompson, Director of Garden Operations

Three years ago I landed at The Nashville Food Project as the organization took stewardship of what we now call the New American gardens. In the years prior to this transition, I was working with the Center for Refugees and Immigrants of Tennessee and worked closely with TNFP staff to establish these garden programs. I have been thinking a lot about what those first years looked like-- the many hands that carried the work to where it is now, the ways the gardens and programming evolved as we “dug” in a little deeper. I’ll always remember the first time I visited the Wedgewood Urban Gardens and how inspired I felt upon leaving. Now, as I think of all of the many people who tended this land in the years since, my thoughts drift from gardener to gardener and the life and growth that each person brought to this small piece of paradise in the middle of the city. As we move from this piece of land, I’m grateful for the many ways that it has provided nourishment for the people that tended it and what it taught me about growing community and food, together.

To celebrate this land and what it has gifted us with over the years, we will be hosting a small gathering at the garden (613 Wedgewood Avenue, 37203) Friday, November 15th, from 10:30-12:30 pm. We hope you can join us!

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The Seven Of Pentacles by Marge Piercy

Under a sky the color of pea soup

she is looking at her work growing away there

actively, thickly like grapevines or pole beans

as things grow in the real world, slowly enough.

If you tend them properly, if you mulch, if you water,

if you provide birds that eat insects a home and winter food,

if the sun shines and you pick off caterpillars,

if the praying mantis comes and the ladybugs and the bees,

then the plants flourish, but at their own internal clock.

Connections are made slowly, sometimes they grow underground.

You cannot tell always by looking what is happening.

More than half the tree is spread out in the soil under your feet.

Penetrate quietly as the earthworm that blows no trumpet.

Fight persistently as the creeper that brings down the tree.

Spread like the squash plant that overruns the garden.

Gnaw in the dark and use the sun to make sugar.

Weave real connections, create real nodes, build real houses.

Live a life you can endure: Make love that is loving.

Keep tangling and interweaving and taking more in,

a thicket and bramble wilderness to the outside but to us

interconnected with rabbit runs and burrows and lairs.

Live as if you liked yourself, and it may happen:

reach out, keep reaching out, keep bringing in.

This is how we are going to live for a long time: not always,

for every gardener knows that after the digging, after

the planting,

after the long season of tending and growth, the harvest comes.