FarmsSHARE, an initiative of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA), is a food distribution program working to promote food security and food justice across North Carolina. The FarmsSHARE program is designed to foster relationships, reduce food insecurity, allow farmers to thrive, and, eventually, create a system that recognizes food as medicine.
CFSA supports the initiative by securing funds, which they distribute to local food hubs. These food hubs purchase food from local farmers and pack boxes for community organizations that distribute them to nearby households.
“What we’re trying to demonstrate is how local food systems across the country, with the right support and investment, can enhance the health of under-resourced communities and can advance food justice and food sovereignty in our nation,” Roland McReynolds, Executive Director of CFSA, tells Food Tank.
FarmsSHARE grew out of a desire to help farmers and restaurant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. McReynolds shares that, as restaurants and farmer’s markets abruptly shut down across North Carolina, small farmers and food service workers faced a real threat to their livelihoods. “There was this real panic… folks were going to be out of work and, potentially, out of any opportunity for income.”
McReynolds tells Food Tank that as CFSA staff saw this crisis unfolding, they realized that there must be a way to open a channel between farmers who needed a market and people who needed food. They contacted the BlueCross BlueShield Foundation of North Carolina and secured funding, allowing food hubs across North Carolina to purchase food from local farmers.
At first, the food was distributed to restaurant workers, many of whom found themselves unemployed because of the pandemic. But over time, the focus shifted to any household in need of food. In 2023, North Carolina’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program partnered with FarmsSHARE, allowing the program to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Over the course of 2020, the program pivoted to serving the food insecure communities in general,” McReynolds tells Food Tank. “And it has grown since then.”
FarmsSHARE has paid US$6.25 million to 18 food hubs and over 300 farmers. They have facilitated the delivery of over 156,00 boxes of food, containing 1,400,000 pounds of produce and 37 tons of protein. “1,400 families a week are getting this box of fresh, local produce and proteins. They’re getting the highest-quality food,” McReynolds tells Food Tank.
FarmsSHARE places value in the autonomy they offer to food hubs. They can use the money they receive from the program to purchase food from any participating farm. This allows food hubs to build relationships with local farmers and ensure that the food is seasonal, high-quality, and culturally appropriate. McReynolds tells Food Tank that FarmsSHARE wants the people who receive boxes to “feel a sense of dignity from getting access to this high-quality food. It’s about self-determination, really, at every step of the process.”
McReynolds explains that distributing healthy food has a positive impact beyond mitigating food security. “We spend a lot of money on healthcare in this country,” McReynolds tells Food Tank. “If we shifted that money to paying for the highest quality food and paying what it’s really worth, in the long run, we’ll reduce our healthcare costs.”
McReynolds’ long-term vision for FarmsSHARE is to create a model for food systems transformation, where people are connected with healthy food and systems operate with the understanding that food is medicine. “Addressing food insecurity is important,” McReynolds tells Food Tank. “And promoting health with quality food sourced from local farms is the big picture goal.”
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Photo courtesy of Urban Community AgriNomics (UCAN)
