community projects
Free Grocery Store
A mutual aid pantry based in Gainesville, FL, started in its current capacity in March 2020.
FGS gives out free food to anyone who asks without proof of need, ID, or citizenship status. The most novel aspect of FGS is its delivery service. Initially a COVID-related necessity, FGS continues to deliver food to Gainesville households. FGS also has in-person shares at the Civic Media Center in Gainesville. Previously, FGS held mobile distributions in select neighborhoods and managed a community garden.
I facilitated a lot of FGS's growth and current structure. I set up a volunteer sign-up, partnerships with food banks and local farms, client intake and check-ins, and in-person operations.
Farm 2 Neighbors
Farm 2 Neighbors @farm2n is a mutual aid project based in the Kincaid Loop area of Southeast Gainesville.
Farm 2 Neighbors was originally the idea of a Gainesville woman, Tuesday. Her concept was to redistribute excesses of produce from local farms in the Kincaid Loop to local, primarily Black and low-income neighbors in what is otherwise a food desert. Land ownership patterns in the Loop are racialized - Black and lower middle class white folks own suburban homes in 1960s-era subdivisions, while well-off white and conservation-minded folks own the larger tracts in the Kincaid Loop, including the organic farms.
As of 2023, Farm 2 Neighbors is defunct. The intent lives on through Free Grocery Store's redistribution of local produce to citywide neighbors experiencing food insecurity.