Powering Community Gardens Across the US

As 2023 begins, we’re gearing up for spring gardens across the US. But before we dive into that, let’s reflect on the impact we had this past year. 

In 2022, we amped up our domestic programming here in the US. We believe all families deserve access to healthy, nutritious food, and as rising inequalities effect communities across the US, we decided to bring our focus here to the homefront. 

In 2022, we got over 267,000 vegetable seed packets into the hands of community organizations across the country. That’s enough vegetable seed to produce 9,724,140 vegetable servings! From indigenous reservations, school gardens, and community gardens, these seeds not only grew nutritious food for communities in need, but offered a place of community connection and a curriculum for students and young people to develop a relationship to their food and knowledge of where it comes from. 

In 2022, we got; 15,000 seed packets into the hands of agricultural-based free food distribution programs and learning centers in Buncombe, NC in the foothills of Appalachia; 2,000 packets to low-income neighborhoods in Chicago, IL; 27,000 packets to Pine Ridge Reservation, SD where residents have only one grocery store and suffer from extreme food insecurity; 23,000 packets to Conscious Alliance headquarters in Colorado for future distribution; and 200,000 seed packets to Creighton Community Foundation, a group of community leaders focused on equipping their local school district in Phoenix, AZ with resources to support community development. 

As 2023, we aim to grow this project even more: fighting food deserts and growing food literacy across the country. Already, we just sent out an entire pallet of seed to Society of St. Andrews, whose mission is to bring people together to harvest and share healthy food, reduce food waste, and build caring communities by offering nourishment to hungry neighbors. We can’t wait to see the gardens that are grown through these seeds. 

Thanks for being on this journey with us. It’s thanks to supporters like you that we are able to grow gardens to build more resilient communities. 

Hi everyone,

We are happy you’re here and want to support community gardens across the US. With 13.8 million Americans struggling with food insecurity, and roughly 39.5 million Americans living in food deserts, supporting and spearheading community gardens has never been more important. 

If you know us at Seed Programs International, you know we’ve been working with vegetable seed, gardens, and food security for over 20 years. We know a thing or two about gardening. But thus far, the majority of our work has focused on international agricultural programs. 

Covid changed that. At the height of the pandemic, we turned our sights to what we could do locally. Here’s a small glimpse into what we’ve been doing this year:

We are primarily working with Conscious Alliance to get seeds, supplies and knowledge into the hands of those that need it across the US. We’ve gotten 400 pounds of potato seed to communities in need. Additionally, through Conscious Alliance and their networks, we have been distributing a wide array of vegetable seeds to grassroots organizations across the country to support community and school gardens. From Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to food insecure communities throughout the Chicago area, to small community-led projects in southern Appalachia, we’re empowering neighborhoods, families, schools and individuals alike to bring food security into their own hands, quite literally. 

Check out this youtube video from our partner Chicago Grows Food to see a glimpse into what your donation is supporting. 

https://bit.ly/3BHRPRY

Stay on this journey with us to continue to make our communities more food secure. Share this with your friends, families and coworkers to get more people involved. Together, we can dream up a country where vegetables are growing on every street corner, outside every school, in every backyard. Now that's a world we believe in. 

Happy gardening,
The SPI team