About The Food Project

At The Food Project, we believe that everyone has the right to fresh, healthy, affordable food. Our goal is to transform the food system into a more just, community-engaged model that supports food security for all while connecting diverse communities to each other and to the land. 

Since our founding in 1991, The Food Project has grown into a nationally recognized, non-profit organization that works at the intersection of youth, food, and community. Young people are the driving force of The Food Project and work on our farms and with community members to realize the right to food that nourishes our communities and the planet we share.

Each year, we employ 140 teenagers in this vital work on 70 acres of urban and suburban farmland across eastern Massachusetts where they grow 200,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables and use this food to enact innovative food system initiatives that increase access to fresh, healthy food for all. 

We focus this work in the two communities we are most deeply connected to: Boston’s Dudley neighborhood and the City of Lynn. 

Our Mission

The Food Project’s mission is to create a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system. Our community produces healthy food for residents of the city and suburbs, provides youth leadership opportunities, and inspires and supports others to create change in their own communities.

Our Vision

We envision a world where youth are active leaders, diverse communities feel connected to the land and each other, and everyone has access to fresh, local, healthy, affordable food.

Land Acknowledgement

We all live on Indigenous land. The Food Project’s farms and offices reside on land traditionally stewarded by Massachusett and Nipmuc tribes. The current food system is built on a foundation of genocide, land theft, exploitation of labor, and appropriation of knowledge and culture. We honor the land stewardship, sustainable agriculture, and relationships that native folks have held for thousands of years and continue to hold. We are not experts in this work, and recognize our organizational and individual need for continuous learning and building of new partnerships. We are in solidarity with Native activists and commit ourselves to support their efforts to regain land sovereignty.

What does our work look like?

In support of the right to buy food, we grow food on our farms and sell it through neighborhood farmers’ markets and businesses. Knowing that affordability is a challenge in our neighborhoods, we focus on building models for selling fresh food that work for both farmers and for low-income customers.

In support of the right of our neighbors to grow their own food, we install raised-bed gardens for home growers, community gardens, and schools, and we provide resources and technical support to support a thriving community of growers, from the newest beginners to the experts.

This work is made possible thanks to generous donations from people, companies, and foundations. Join this movement by making a donation today.

Our 5-Year Strategic Plan

Today, The Food Project and its partners – youth, community residents, and organizations alike – are hard at work addressing the inequities laid bare by the events of 2020. We are motivated by the understanding that important work lies ahead and that, together, we must reimagine communities that are more equitable, more sustainable, and more resilient. By working in partnership with youth, community members, and the land, we believe that a better future is ours to create. With that in mind, we have launched a five year strategic plan,  Seeding An Equitable Tomorrow.