GAINING GROUND INC
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Mission Statement
Gaining Ground grows organic produce and gives it all away to those experiencing food insecurity. We do this work with the help of volunteers of all ages and abilities, who work and learn in our fields.
About This Cause
Organization Overview Gaining Ground serves the local population struggling with food insecurity and relying on emergency food assistance. We supply fresh, high quality, organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, honey and maple syrup to food pantries, shelters, schools, and meal programs, mostly within 20 miles of our farm in Concord, Massachusetts. We give away everything we grow each year – 127,000 pounds of produce in 2020. We aim to be a premier site for meaningful volunteerism in the community, offering flexible, innovative and uncomplicated service opportunities on the farm. We involve over 2,500 volunteers in our hunger relief efforts each year. We focus on the short-term goals of supplying a high volume of organic produce to emergency food programs, matching the skills of volunteers to our farm operations, inspiring community involvement in hunger relief, organic agriculture, and food justice, and sharing the joy and wonder of farming. Our long-term goals are to improve our farm land to increase food production, expand our support of emergency food programs, and to continue growing the organization deliberately as opportunities to expand arise. Description of Need Gaining Ground has been addressing the need for greater access to fresh food in emergency food programs for over twenty-five years. The demand from emergency food programs and for our produce continues to increase. Food insecurity has been described as a “quiet” epidemic – affecting more people than is often realized, in part because of the shame felt in seeking help. According to Feeding America, 1 in 8 Massachusetts households, and 1 in 5 Massachusetts households with children, is experiencing food-insecurity at present. When people turn to emergency food programs, they often receive highly-processed packaged and canned goods while access to high quality, fresh produce is limited or nonexistent. Nationally-accepted dietary guidelines emphasize fresh fruits and vegetables as a primary source of nutrients and fiber that support overall health. These guidelines are difficult to achieve within limited budgets. In turn, poor nutrition is a contributing factor to the public health epidemic of obesity and corollary conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. We believe that widespread, equitable access to fresh food should be a right, not a privilege. Gaining Ground’s farm and volunteer program addresses this need by supplying food pantries and emergency meal services with high quality, fresh, organic produce each week during the growing season. There is an inherent desire in many people to support their community, their neighbors, and the environment. We aim to be accessible to everyone interested in volunteering. Working alongside the farmers, volunteers have a chance to see tangible results and to make a difference in their community. We have long-standing relationships with groups who are often at the receiving end of services, such as those with mental and physical disabilities and youth with social challenges, so they have the opportunity to give back to others. Program Description Gaining Ground’s program is a unique combination of hunger relief and community volunteerism. Our approach of giving all of the food we grow away – for free – lets us focus on meeting the needs of our volunteers and the emergency food programs we supply. In 2020 we supplied over 127,000 pounds of fresh produce to the following organizations: Open Table (Concord, Maynard); Bedford Community Table; Food for Families (Concord, Carlisle); House of Hope (Lowell); Lowell Transitional Living Center, Bridge Boston Charter School (Roxbury), Loaves and Fishes (Ayer); Westford Council on Aging; Healthy Waltham; GreenRoots Chelsea; Eastie Farm; East Boston Community Soup Kitchen; Concord Public Schools; Rosie's Place (Boston), and Sudbury Food Pantry. Harvests generally begin in May and continue through November. Once the fields are well established, we harvest three times per week to ensure peak freshness. The growing season winds down during October and November, with a final pre-Thanksgiving distribution. We produce maple syrup from locally tapped trees and distribute approximately 30 gallons of syrup each year. We also keep bees on the property and harvest honey to distribute to our recipient partners. Our farm relies on volunteerism. We are able to implement many innovative organic, no-till practices because we have access to this volunteer workforce. We welcome volunteers of all ages and abilities to work alongside our farmers from April through October. A typical volunteer visit lasts 2-3 hours. It includes an introduction to hunger relief and food justice issues, followed by hands-on involvement in what is happening on the farm that day. The farm staff match the skills and needs of the people who volunteer with the specific work that needs to be done each day. We are not teaching our volunteers to be farmers, but the work is a learning process. The farm is a classroom that always offers spontaneous lessons about plants, bugs, weather and wildlife. We often refer to this as the joy and wonder of the garden. The third component of our program is to raise awareness in the community of the issues of hunger relief and food justice. We periodically offer events such as panel discussions with visionaries in the field of hunger relief. Program Evaluation Gaining Ground’s impact measurement strategy is guided by its two-part theory of change: Reducing Chronic Hunger: If Gaining Ground grows fresh, organic produce and delivers that produce to community partners, then community partners will distribute that produce to local families in need, reducing chronic hunger and promoting healthy eating habits that contribute to positive health impacts. Engaging Community in Local Agriculture: If Gaining Ground grows its produce with the support of volunteers, and creates a meaningful volunteer experience, then volunteers will feel more connected to the land and local agriculture and will take action to donate, spread the word, join the board, or volunteer again. To measure success, we record two types of data: harvest data and volunteer data. Harvest data includes date, type, and servings of the produce, and identifies which organizations receive the produce, and how they use that produce. Using pre- and post-season surveys, we collect information from the food programs including the number of people they serve, food preferences, other sources of produce they rely on, and feedback from their guests. Through our direct distribution programs, we are also beginning to collect information from guests about how receiving Gaining Ground produce makes a difference in their day-to-day lives. Volunteer data includes the number and type of volunteers, where they are from (town/organization), contact information, and feedback on their experience. This season, Gaining Ground is deepening its measurement of volunteer experience through a short survey that assesses what volunteers learn from their experience, and what actions they are most likely to take after volunteering at Gaining Ground. Based on our 2020 pre-season survey, the food programs we supply serve 750-1,000 households weekly. For some of the organizations that we supply, Gaining Ground provides the majority or all of the fresh produce that they distribute to their guests.