2023 Annual Report

FACCES

The Family Adolescent Child Community Engagement Service (FACCES) nonprofit meets people where they are to inspire a shift in perspective, practices and possibility. Our five program pillars are Food, Education, Mental Wellness, Physical Wellness and Legacy Development.

FACCES is situated within a community grappling with the harsh reality of being a food desert. The absence of convenient access to nutritious food options looms large, leaving residents with limited choices for sustaining a healthy lifestyle. In this community, transportation is often not a feasible option for many. Residents rely on walking, biking or public buses, rendering distant grocery stores impractical. In the absence of nearby grocery stores, the community often finds itself dependent on the closest available options – a McDonald's and a corner store. The lack of access to nutritious food creates a ripple effect, profoundly impacting the overall nutritional well-being of the community and, notably, the health of its children.

FACCES recognizes the urgent need to address these systemic challenges. The FACCES Kitchen & Theater’s primary objective is to provide a safe and well-equipped environment for cooking classes and nutrition workshops. The theater will serve as a platform for educational programs, performances and cultural events. FACCES aims to promote healthy eating habits and culinary skills among young people and their families, empowering them to positively impact their overall well-being. This facility is located less than 100 feet away from the FACCES Urban Garden and will accomplish the true meaning of the farm-to-table concept in an urban environment.

Highland Youth Garden

In 2023, Highland Youth Garden took significant steps forward in expanding and deepening our work to grow minds, grow food and grow community in partnership with our Hilltop neighbors. We distributed 5,758 pounds of fresh local produce to our community, 3,759 pounds of which we grew ourselves. 85% of the recipients were Hilltop and Franklinton residents. We hosted 4,100 school children’s visits to explore STEM learning and gardening. We built 10 new raised vegetable garden beds for Hilltop residents and continued to support growth in an additional 22 gardens planted in previous years. Finally, we significantly expanded our physical facilities through the construction of 25 new raised beds and an outdoor kitchen. We look forward to fully utilizing these new facilities in 2024.

Local Matters

Local Matters celebrated 15 years of creating healthier communities through food education, food access and food advocacy in 2023. Our food access work was amplified by the efforts of our Veggie Van and 18 community gardens. We launched free  Veggie Van delivery  this year, which means shoppers within I-270 can have fresh and affordable groceries delivered right to their doorstep. Our team built lasting connections at new Veggie Van pop-up markets and curated thousands of produce boxes, snack boxes and meal kits for partner sites across Columbus in 2023. Through a partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, we successfully launched the Fresh Connect pilot program, providing Linden families with $150 each month to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables at selected retailers.

Produce Perks Midwest

In 2023, Produce Perks Midwest (PPM) and the Ohio Nutrition Incentive Network led nutrition incentive programming at 22 participating farmers' markets and grocery stores in Franklin County. Farmers' markets participating in the Produce Perks program, Ohio's nutrition incentive program (providing a $1-$1 match to SNAP beneficiaries for fruit and vegetables purchases), redeemed a total of $45,431 in Produce Perks dollars in 2023. In addition, PPM partnered with Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and Local Matters to support pregnant women into our Infant Vitality Produce Prescription Program. Women in the program received over $28,158 in fruits and vegetables, facilitating positive birth outcomes and household nutrition security among participants.

Growing and Growth Collective

The mission of Growing and Growth Collective is to improve health outcomes, deepen community engagement and foster economic empowerment through the facilitation of responsive, culturally-relevant and evidence-based programming. In 2023, that mission was advanced in the following ways:

Food Access & Affordability: All 28 raised beds in the Greenway Community Garden that are available for independent growing were reserved by residents and friends of the Near East Side at no cost. In the same garden, a six-bed section was managed for free "Pick What You Need" community access. In the Hildreth Community Garden, 30 raised beds were managed by over 40 volunteers throughout the growing season and harvest were largely dispersed to the Urban Aging Residents Coalition. Board Street Presbyterian Church incorporated produce from its onsite garden into selections for clients of the Church's Food Pantry. Visitors and staff of the King Arts Complex were invited to take fresh, ripe produce home with them from the four large raised beds that GGC manages in a space called the Julialynne Walker Gateway Learning Garden.

Agricultural Education in Cities: Common Ground is a flexible workshop-style program for youth that raises awareness about systemic factors shaping food access and land justice, and that teaches the basics of growing as a means of overcoming some systemic issues. It was delivered as a multi-week series at GEMS and a one-day 4-H SPIN Club open to all youth in/near Franklin County.

Comprehensive Health & Wellness: The OSU Wexner Medical Center/James Mobile Education Kitchen led three different cooking demonstrations in the Hildreth Community Garden throughout the 2023 growing season, featuring vegetables and herbs that were grown on-site.

Equitable Community Development: With GGC being a partner in the "We Grow - NES" pilot project that is testing out the capacity of the Near East Side to support a closed-loop food system, it was exciting that two Greenway Community Garden Growers participated in the initial season as commercial farmers -- providing fresh produce to residents and other shoppers at affordable rates and creating a stream of income for themselves.

LifeCare Alliance

In 2023, LifeCare Alliance marked its 125th anniversary and its 50th year as the provider of Meals-on-Wheels in central Ohio. In 2023, demand for home delivered meals remained at 87% above pre-pandemic levels and we delivered more than 1.2 million meals to 5,776 Franklin County residents.

Our Senior Dining Centers served 64,248 meals to nearly 3,087 Franklin County residents at 36 sites around central Ohio. These older adults not only received nutritious, affordable meals, but they did so in the company of their neighbors, warding off the epidemic of loneliness by joining friends for lunch and engaging in planned activities. In 2023, The LifeCare Alliance Senior Farmers Market connected 4,819 Franklin County older adults with access to nearly 60,000 pounds of fresh, locally grown produce and honey.

What Chefs Want!

In 2023, the What Chefs Want's Columbus, OH distribution center acted as "home base" for 24 Central/Northern Ohio vendors. Across these 24 vendors alone, we purchased more than $2.5M in 2023 as we sought to expand their distribution network across the city, the region and beyond. Overall, we are proud to say that the Columbus distribution center stood out as our company's highest performing warehouse in the region in terms of sales volume that was specific to products grown/raised/created by small and mid-sized farms and food artisans.

Bronzeville Growers Market

Bronzeville Growers Market, in collaboration with other Near East Side entities, embarked on moving local growers from passion to profits and encouraging economic development by focusing on gardens as economic activity. We hired a project manager to oversee production and a project coordinator to oversee business mentorships. We provided education and mentorship through working with a diverse group of agricultural experts and made referrals to outside sources for business start-up information. Information was provided on a weekly basis. Half of the growers participated as vendors at local farmer markets and one has moved to developing a formal, sustainable business model. This was possible with funding from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and the Centers for Disease Control/Columbus Public Health.

Bronzeville Growers Market is a member of the Community Gardens Network, an initiative under a grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations. Two community gatherings have strengthened the relationships with other participants. We also benefited from a grants development workshop and from the summer interns. We continue to give leadership to the Urban Farm Coalition, an organization of BIPOC farmers, principally from central Ohio, which became a state non-profit at the end of 2023. Bronzeville Growers Market commenced its sixth growing season on July 6th and concluded with a Harvest Festival on September 7th. Each week had a special theme and there was a coordinated weekly cultural program incorporating local musicians and spoken word artists. Health kits from Columbus Public Health were also distributed to market attendees.

Bronzeville Growers Market conducted two sessions of the Bronzeville Agricademy, this is a ten week online gardening course that also links African Indigenous Knowledge to contemporary practices, one in the spring and one in the fall. Classes are free and online. We are also part of the teaching staff for the inaugural "Teach The Grower" course sponsored by the Urban Farmers Coalition held in the spring. This is a post-secondary certification approved by the State of Ohio for all ages. Scholarships and paid internships were available.

Food Rescue US - Columbus

In 2023, Food Rescue US - Columbus volunteers completed 9,300+ individual food rescues, recovering 1,000,000+ pounds of food and completing an average of 200+ rescues every week. Notable new partnerships in 2023 include: Scotts Research Gardens (rescued 8000+ pounds of tomatoes, peppers, and squash); Hilton Downtown (two weekly pickups of prepared food and unprocessed ingredients); Littleton's Market; the recently-opened Fox in the Snow Dublin location (daily rescues of any unsold baked goods); and, the OSU Outpatient Care facility at New Albany.

In July, we began participation in an accelerator program facilitated by La Soupe and Second Helpings to develop and begin a "transformation" kitchen, where some recovered food will be transformed into prepared meals under the supervision of a professionally-trained chef, then delivered to receiving agency collaborators. We often encounter massive rescues of fresh produce, some of which is on the verge of going bad or is more than a receiving agency can realistically distribute; meanwhile, a lot of our receiving agency collaborators can only accept prepared food, or individually-packaged meals, because their clients don't have access to kitchens or the ability to make meals. This program will allow us to tackle both issues at once, furthering our mission of avoiding food waste and ensuring that surplus food reaches those who need it, in a format they can use. In honor and memory of our dear friend Roshelle "The Food Soldier" Pate, we're calling it "Ro's Kitchen." A soft launch in November transformed rescued food into 130+ meals. Regular operations are scheduled to begin in January.

Effective January 1, 2024, we will no longer be operating as a "site" of Food Rescue US (the national organization) but will instead be a department of Local Matters. And our new name will be "Columbus Food Rescue"! We will continue to use the Food Rescue US app, pick up surplus food and deliver it to agencies that can distribute it, and working with Local Matters will streamline our ability to apply for local and state funding, while it also means that a donation to our operation stays 100% in town. Finally, joining Local Matters as employees, with the potential to hire additional employees in the future, is a big first step in seeing out our commitment to growing and diversifying the pool of people paid fairly to do this work.

The Mid-Ohio Market at Columbus State

The Mid-Ohio Market at Columbus State is a source of nutritious food for students, their families and community members. The Market provides fresh produce and other staples to allow students to fully concentrate on their education. A recent survey at Columbus State Community College revealed that only 31% of students were aware of the on-campus food pantry and at the beginning of the 2021 academic school year, only 15% of students reported visiting a food pantry, on- or off-campus. During the 2023 Spring Semester, students who used the Market had a higher success rate and were retained at a higher rate than the overall undergraduate student population.

Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 14, 2023, the Mid-Ohio Market at Columbus State had 26,895 service events, reaching 3,426 unique families and 2,364 students.

Columbus City Schools Farm to School Program

The goal of the Farm to School program is to engage and educate Columbus City Schools students through experiential learning where students in over 300 classrooms/210 gardens across the district are engaged in hands-on experiences where they plant, harvest and taste produce such as snap peas, radishes, basil, cilantro, spinach, kale, bok choy, tomato, lettuce and collards.

Students learn about cooperation and the stewardship of caring for living things and are exposed to different career paths in agriculture. Integrated garden lessons teach the students the importance of where food comes from and the nutritional value of the produce grown.

Franklin Park Conservatory - Growing to Green and Farmers Market

The Franklin Park Conservatory’s Growing to Green is a free community garden program for all of central Ohio. The program includes advocacy, education, technical assistance, volunteerism, financial resources, recognition, leadership development, and networking for all community gardens. In 2023, Growing to Green connected with 7,909 individuals and 372 gardens in central Ohio, and beyond, through its programming and provided technical support at 100 gardens. Franklin Park Conservatory’s Community Garden Grant provided $20,00 of funding from the Franklin County Board of Commissioners in 2023 to support 15 community gardens. The 2023 Harvest Awards included video submissions from community gardens, two of which are linked in the media above.

The weekly Farmers Market supports a total of 28 vendors with an average of 18 in attendance on a weekly basis. In 2023, the market had 6,380 customers and was able to facilitate the use of $24,894 in nutrition incentives, including EBT, WIC, and Senior Farmers Market Coupons. The total combined income for our local producers was over $60,000.

Community of Caring Development Foundation

The Community of Caring Development Foundation marked one year as operators of the Linden Fresh Market. To celebrate, we had a Customer Appreciation Week which among other things, featured daily sampling of foods from many of the ethnic cultures represented by the people who come to the Market. The week culminated in an old-fashioned American Backyard Cookout. Throughout the year our mission to "Create a Connected Community," was in full effect as we added 17 new community partners, including Seminary Farms, Urban Farm Church, and Torro Meats.

Market Numbers thru November 2023 - Households Served - 43,727, Total People Served - 157,902, Food Distributed - 1,102,819 lbs.

Mid-Ohio Market at St. Stephen’s

The Mid-Ohio Market at St. Stephen’s provides free and nutritious foods to Franklin County residents and stabilization and resource support by providing connections with additional community resources through wrap-around, short-term case management services. The Market is traditionally identified as a choice food pantry-where people can shop and can choose the food based on their family’s dietary, cultural and religious beliefs. Consumers can complete a full shop (canned items, grains, protein, dairy, misc., etc.), once a week and receive fresh produce everyday M-F. The Market also offers a mobile market that operates twice a week. The Mobile Market provides a box of food, with both perishable and non-perishable foods, to families in the Linden neighborhood who do not have access to transportation. In addition to a variety of foods, we provide hygiene items (soap, toothpaste/toothbrush, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, etc.), household items (laundry detergent, sanitizing wipes, toilet paper, etc.), diapers/wipes along with wrap around services through partnerships with other community agencies. Community partners conduct resource tables to educate customers on current programs available. 2023 numbers served at the Mid-Ohio Market at St. Stephen’s:

• 10,450 households unduplicated.
• 35,068 individuals unduplicated.
• 137,476 visits to the Market.
• Served 106 zip codes.

OSU Zero Waste Initiative

In 2023, Ohio State expanded organics collections operations to 120 facilities, including three Traditions dining halls, cafes, research labs, daycares, residence halls, event centers including Ohio Stadium and events at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, and Wexner Medical Center Nutrition Services. In FY23, Ohio State diverted 3,070.09 tons of organic materials. With the expansion of the composting program in FY23, Ohio State achieved a record-high diversion rate of 41.2%.

The composting expansion has been supported with a robust peer-to-peer education program for students. Through this program, Ohio State students are developing into sustainability leaders on and off campus. In the autumn 2023 semester, 71 students have been trained as compost volunteers. Ohio State  launched a pilot in the residence hall Smith-Steeb  for students to be “automatically enrolled” in the composting program. Over 500 personal compost mini bins were distributed.

Ohio State collaborates with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) focused on sustainability, education and rehabilitation. Beginning in the summer of 2020, the organization evaluated the partnership to ensure it continues to align with our values and offers a benefit to the participants. The Zero Waste subcommittee of the University Task Force on Racism & Racial Inequities led this review. This group recommended that the university not only maintain the ODRC program but expand it to engage more individuals and locations. As a result, the university will continue this program and seek ways to enhance its impact following the task force's recommendations. We are also happy to report that all incarcerated individuals will now receive minimum wage for their participation in this program. The outcomes for the collaboration in FY23 include:

• Ohio State Compost Tonnage: 463.81 tons of compost were processed at the ODRC London facility.
• Football and Event Waste: 140.85 tons of gameday waste were processed at the ODRC London facility.
• Funding to Incarcerated Individuals: $33,592.50 was paid directly to incarcerated individuals for labor related to the university compost and football programs.
• Program Outcomes: Of the 14 people who participated in the program in FY23, four were released/furloughed, four were reclassified into different jobs or locations, and six remain working in the program. None was readmitted into the system after being released.
• Training: All employees received 43.25 hours of training in FY23. Any new employees receive 9.5 hours of onboarding training.

OSU Food Recovery Network

Ohio State University's branch of Food Recovery Network diverted over 10,000 pounds of food from landfills and held two educational events in 2023. For the 2022-2023 academic year, the University's Know Food Waste club hosted five events that educated students on reducing their food waste, found new ways to repurpose food scraps, and met with other sustainable clubs. Four events have been hosted in 2023 thus far. During the spring of 2023, Know Food Waste, along with other sustainable clubs on campus, participated in an Earth Day event open to all of campus. An Ohio State student (Yiheng Shu) and faculty (Brian Roe) assisted in publishing a peer-reviewed article entitled  'Evaluation of a community-based food waste campaign using a national control group’  that details the assessment of the Save More Than Food campaign as implemented in Upper Arlington.

OSU Extension - Franklin County

Master Gardener Volunteers grew and donated 38,316 pounds of fruits, vegetables and herbs to 21 different neighborhood food pantries addressing food insecurity.

The Urban ROOTS (Reshaping Outreach Opportunities Through Self-Discovery launching for Franklin County youth) program grew in 2023, with youth engagement increasing by 70%. Urban ROOTS is a collaboration with the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, The Ohio State University, the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), OSU Extension Franklin County, and local community partners. Through the program, eighth graders from the urban core of Franklin County experience hands-on and immersive learning opportunities that focus on food, agriculture the environment, and related technologies in their lives.

OSU Extension partnered with Franklin Soil and Water Conservation to provide Ag in the Classroom/Farm to School programing and educational support. Extension educators led pilot testing with 47 Columbus City School teachers for an Agriculture in the Classroom project, "Growing Teachers Throughout the Seasons." This is a STEM-based workforce development in agriculture project creating experiential extensions of the classroom to engage elementary school youth in the opportunities in agriculture as a career path.

Here's just a taste of OSU Extension's impact in Franklin County in 2023:

• Graduated 34 military veterans from the Beekeeping School for Military Veterans
• Graduated 64 new Master Gardener Volunteers
• Graduated 36 Master Urban Farmers
• Two new community garden projects were developed
• 68% of Master Urban Farmer Workshop participants increased the amount of food they grow as a result of participating in the program
• 43% of Master Urban Farmer Workshop participants reported that they planned to start a new urban farm or urban food business as a result of participating in the program
• 86% of Master Urban Farmer Workshop participants reported growing higher-quality or safer food as a result of participating in the program
• 46 consumer horticulture events with 7,077 participants
• 18 urban agriculture events with 671 participants
• 17 Master Gardener Volunteer events with 697 participants
• Four sustainable agriculture events with 383 participants

All People's Fresh Market

In 2023, we saw more and more families looking for food assistance through the All People's Fresh Market as the price of food, utilities and rent continued to increase. September 2023 was our busiest month since August of 2020. In total this year, we have provided 83,655 baskets of fresh produce to 15,756 unique families (50,162 individuals). That is a 15% increase in the number of families we served compared to 2022. We have signed up over 1,600 new families at the All People's Fresh Market since the beginning of 2023.

Council of Development Agencies (CDFA)

The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Foundation have partnered to create the CDFA-NASDA Foundation Socially Disadvantaged Farmers & Ranchers Access to Capital Program in response to the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement 2501 Grant Program. The program will assist socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in building successful operations by accessing sustainable business capital.

The  CDFA-NASDA Foundation Socially Disadvantaged Farmers & Ranchers Access to Capital Toolkit  is a set of best practice resources designed to provide practical assistance to communities looking to invest in socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. The toolkit addresses topics from effective revolving loan fund management to leveraging bonds, tax increment, and other forms of public and private capital, to encourage increased investment in socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

DNO Produce

DNO Produce was founded in 1989 as a small co-op based in Columbus, Ohio. Since then, DNO has grown to become a leading distributor of bulk and fresh-cut produce for the Midwest. We provide fresh, healthy and easy solutions for partners in school nutrition programs, food service, food manufacturing, meal kit, and retail industries. Our 2023 work includes:

• Our partnership with Food Rescue Columbus redirected 30,276 pounds of fresh produce from potential waste to neighbors in need.
• Committed to bolstering the local food economy, our involvement in the USDA’s Local Food Purchasing Agreement (LFPA) - Ohio CAN Program integrated new Franklin County farmers into our operations, resulting in the distribution of 96,360 pounds of Ohio-grown produce statewide. 
• Collaborating with the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, we provide nutritious food access for Franklin County residents. By teaming up with their Kitchen, we provided 150,000 summer meals for children, contributing 2,150 hours of skilled labor valued at $69,960. Our Fresh Cut Food Drive engaged the community in a conversation about nutrition insecurity, and yielded 1,400 pounds of produce and 267 donations for WCBE 90.5. Additionally, our community donation program dispatched 6,429 pounds of fresh produce to Columbus-area nonprofits.
• Maintaining a central focus on community engagement, we served as the headline sponsor for the Hunger Run 5K, supporting Neighborhood Services Inc. Food Pantry. We share industry expertise through community outreach, including guest lecturing at OSU and hosting educational tours of our facility, fostering a deeper understanding of food systems within our community. In advocacy, we collaborate with Hunger Free Schools Ohio, and engage Ohio's congressional delegation for increased access to fresh produce in USDA nutrition programs. Our efforts were recognized by Senator Sherrod Brown in September when he acknowledged us in introducing his Fresh Produce Procurement Reform Act.
• Notably, we were invited to represent the entire fresh produce supply chain at the White House Conference for Health, Hunger and Nutrition. Actively participating in the Food as Medicine movement, we advocate for 1,115 waivers that will improve central Ohioans health outcomes through dietary interventions, such as Produce Prescriptions.

Café Overlook - Franklin County Board of Commissioners

Café Overlook transforms the perception of the “work” cafeteria by pairing a diverse cafe menu with an innovative workforce development program. Located on the 16th floor of the Franklin County Courthouse, Café Overlook supports an evolving work environment in the hospitality industry by providing food service workers with everything they need to thrive, from a living wage and health insurance to childcare services, transportation support and job coaching. A joint project from  Service! Relief for Hospitality Workers  and the  Franklin County Board of Commissioners , Café Overlook is an innovative collaboration between the public and private sectors with a mission to eliminate income security among those working in the service industry. Café Overlook offers breakfast and lunch service on weekdays, doubling as an education and training program where staff gain invaluable mentorship from industry professionals while mastering back-of-house and front-of-house skills.

In 2023, Café Overlook celebrated its successful first year in operation. Since opening, Café Overlook has doubled as a workforce development, hiring employees who are social service clients and paying a livable wage of at least $15 an hour while providing job readiness training. About 150 employees have completed the program thus far, with many employees now working in higher paying jobs in the industry. A group of restaurateurs own and operate the café through a non-profit corporation called Service! Relief for Hospitality Workers. Managers include Sangeeta Lakhani (formerly of The Table), Letha Pugh (co-owner of Bake Me Happy), and Matthew Heaggans (owner of Preston’s).

“The restaurant’s success is thanks to the passionate local restaurateurs and social service organizations who go above and beyond to help employees. Their dedication shows in everything they do, such as helping employees on housing, healthcare and other services. Word about the program’s success is spreading. We have a list of potential employees waiting for a chance to start.” - President Kevin L. Boyce, Franklin County Board of Commissioners

Franklin County Public Health (FCPH)

In 2023, Franklin County Public Health (FCPH) continued a partnership with Mid-Ohio Food Collective to provide free produce to the community. FCPH’s Clinton Township Community Health Action Team (CHAT) served 2,889 families consisting of 9,345 individuals at the Clinton Township Produce Market. This produce market saw a 24% increase in families served compared to 2022. The FCPH CHAT also distributed a total of 258 Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) boxes to low-income seniors, providing them with additional nutritious foods. Additionally, FCPH partnered with the Westerville Area Resource Ministry (WARM) to bring weekly food donations to the free food shed located at the Clinton Township Fire Department (located at 3820 Cleveland Ave.) to further assist those in need.

Through the Ohio Department of Health’s Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) grant, FCPH completed a Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change (PSE) Assessment in Franklin Township to help us better understand the barriers that exist as it relates to healthy eating and active living. This grant also provided support for the improvement in the availability of nutritious food choices in public spaces. Health Commissioner Joe Mazzola approved Food Service Guideline recommendations that support the implementation of the Good Food Here Nutrition Standards in all vending machines located in Memorial Hall. These standards set limits on calories, saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium. The passing of such recommendations will hopefully serve as a model for other worksites and public spaces interested in offering healthier food options.

Franklinton Farms

Franklinton Farms (FF) is a nonprofit urban farm with a mission to nourish neighborhood wellbeing and connection through farming, gardening and education. FF provides hyperlocal produce and offers garden education programs to Franklinton neighbors to create a more resilient, sustainable local food system. In response to food insecurity in Franklinton, FF offers sliding-scale prices, delivery, limited free distribution, a free 24/7 “U Pick” garden, and traditional community garden spaces. Through these efforts, FF has distributed over $16,000 of produce to low-income neighbors and community members in 2023.

FF continued its free, weekly, warm season farmstand in South Franklinton, reaching the most segregated part of the community, which is predominantly Black and/or Somali American. Additionally, the Lettuce ‘NJoy Food Truck, our mobile approach to food access, distributed 101 meals to neighbors in South Franklinton in fall 2023!

Knowledge is integral to food sovereignty, and FF cultivates the skills for growing food in people of all ages. FF’s therapeutic and academic Garden Education initiatives have served 800+ individuals in 2023 in local schools, community spaces, and on-site in the Patrick Kaufman Learning Garden.

FF is also committed to partnering for food system resilience in other food-insecure Franklin County neighborhoods. FF launched the Community Growers Network, a two-year initiative funded by USDA Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production program and Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, to convene and support eight minority Urban Growers in Central Ohio who grow fresh produce in and for their low-income neighborhoods!

Linden McKinley STEM Academy

The Linden McKinley / St. Stephen's Community Farm embraces the community by addressing inequality while providing training that meets 21st century skills to overcome societal indifferences. In 2023, the farm operation increased in size and was able to contribute over 11,000 lbs. of produce to the Mid-Ohio Market at St. Stephen's. A small portion of the produce was also utilized in the classroom to provide hands-on learning labs for the students at Linden McKinley STEM Academy. Additional work on the farm includes community engagement that allows for community members to get hands-on experience which includes learning where their food comes from and how to produce their own food on their own property.

Mount Carmel von Zychlin Healthy Living Center

Mount Carmel's von Zychlin Healthy Living Center (HLC) is a community health and wellness center that provides FREE holistic health and wellness programs for everyone, empowering and equipping each individual to embrace long-term health behavior changes in a safe, inclusive space.

HLC celebrated 10 years of service in Franklinton and central Ohio on November 14, 2023. In the last decade, the HLC has hosted over 4,000 wellness programs with over 150,000 encounters. This celebration was commemorated with a community open house debuting a new public mural in the entrance of the building and a new video capturing the impact that the center has had over the last 10 years.

In 2023, the HLC managed its first full season of a successful education garden that included four programs hosted in partnership with OSU Extension. Produce grown was fully utilized in HLC cooking programs or distributed to community members. The Healthy Living Center successfully hosted two cohorts of a new hands-on cooking and nutrition education program called Culinary Medicine: Health Meets Food which is a community facing curriculum based on principles of the curriculum being implemented with Mount Carmel’s medical residents. The HLC has assisted in managing a produce prescription program within the health system in partnership with Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Initially starting with Mount Carmel’s internal medicine clinic at Grove City, reach has expanded to five other service areas system wide with at least 50 patients enrolled to date.

The Ohio State University - Agroecosystem Management Program (AMP)

Ohio State’s AMP program works to ensure that future farming and food systems improve quality of life for all people by being socially and economically viable, just and equitable, biodiverse, sustainable, and resilient. Our signature program, the  annual Stinner Summit , is held each fall. Attendees collaboratively workshop possible projects around our mission.

Summer 2023 saw the launch of our 2022 project “The Stinner Climate Ambassador Program,” which created an educational and memorable summer internship program for 14 Ohio young adults. Stinner Ambassadors spent five weeks learning together from a variety of hands-on activities and experiences in central Ohio, Athens, Dayton, and Yellow Springs. Led by the Methodist Theological School of Ohio, participants learned and volunteered at several Columbus area urban farms, growers’ market, food pantries, and other food system actors. The  2023 Stinner Summit  met in Cleveland, but the theme of “Building More Resilient and Equitable Food Systems in Metropolitan Regions” brought in good statewide attendance. The selected project will fund a series of Stinner-style community discussion groups and local projects in Columbus and four other urban centers. Efforts will rely on existing local leadership with a focus on the BIPOC community.

The Ohio State University - Wexner Medical Center (WMC)

In September 2019, OSUWMC joined the  Mid-Ohio Farmacy (MOF)  in partnership with the Mid-Ohio Food Collective (‘Food Collective’). The Food Collective is a regional food bank that delivers over 170,000 meals daily through 680 agency partnerships. Both OSUWMC and the Food Collective are located in a large metropolitan region in Ohio, where food insecurity rate estimates range from 16.5%-32.2%. OSUWMC offers the MOF referral in nine clinics: three family medicine clinics; two general internal medicine clinics; three diabetes-specific endocrinology clinics; and one maternal-fetal medicine clinic. Additional MOF partners include three Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), two free clinics, and a Medicaid managed care plan.

The goal of the MOF is to establish a systematic screening and referral process aimed at addressing food insecurity through an electronic referral that connects patients to fresh produce through a food pantry near their home. The MOF uses a variation on food vouchers: a referral from a patient’s healthcare provider to the network of over 16 MOF-affiliated food pantries in the metropolitan area. All income-eligible visitors to a food pantry can receive produce once a month, but MOF-participants are eligible to receive produce once a week, or four times more frequently. To date, over 1,970 patients are enrolled in the program, and nearly 40% of those referred access a food pantry following the referral at least once. In total, OSUWMC patients have logged over 16,245 visits to food pantries through the program.

OSU Health Community Center

Opening in early 2024 at 1600 E. Long St. on Columbus’ Near East Side, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Healthy Community Center (HCC) will offer a variety of programs and services to improve the health and wellness of area residents.

The HCC, located within the former Columbus Metropolitan Library Martin Luther King Jr. branch, will feature facilities such as a teaching kitchen, gardening education, and a healthy café. The Healthy Cafe will host local food vendors, contributing to the enhancement of the local food economy and community health. This enables the HCC to actively support and incubate Healthy food vendors. Through diverse events, we offer inclusive services, irrespective of financial capability, aligning with our mission to create a positive on-the-ground impact accessible to all. As the HCC becomes integral to the community, our unwavering commitment continues to promote lifelong healthy lifestyles, foster community development, and address the unique needs of the Near East Side of Columbus.

Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO)

SWACO’s  Save More Than Food campaign  received national recognition with features in The New York Times ( "How Central Ohio Got People to Eat Their Leftovers" ) and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt ( "Inside Central Ohio's plan to cut food waste in half by 2030" ). New guides for proper food storage and troubleshooting composting were created and partnerships with Black-owned Power 107.5 and Giant Eagle grocery stores were formed to distribute the information to a wider audience. With collaboration from SWACO, the Cities of Bexley, Columbus and Dublin implemented community-level Save More Than Food outreach activities which resulted in each community keeping more food waste out of the landfill.

With funding from NRDC’s Food Matters Initiative, SWACO, the City of Columbus, and Franklin County  distributed $36,800 to eight organizations  within Franklin County with projects to reduce food waste through donation, composting or other programs that divert food waste from the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill.

Franklin County is now home to 22 food waste drop-off locations across 11 communities including new locations at SWACO’s Recycling Convenience Center and three locations in the City of Columbus.

To close out the year, SWACO hosted over 50 food waste partners, representing more than 35 different organizations, departments, and businesses during the 2023 Central Ohio Food Waste Convening. Attendees celebrated five years of the Food Waste Action Plan and discussed how to continue to make progress on shared goals. SWACO and other partners will be leading work groups in the new year that will leverage partnerships to make progress on the action plan.

South Side Family Farms

South Side Family Farms, a program of The nonprofit ICANDO Community Development, has continued on its path to provide nutritious healthy fruits and vegetables to South Side food-insecure communities. We’ve continued to build out our farm learning spaces located on two City Land Bank properties and continued construction of our farmstand on land provided by our friends at Donatos and The Grote family.

This farmstand distribution structure will provide a 6’x14’ refrigeration area built by Engineers Without Borders Ohio State Engineering Club. The structure will also house a micro greens operation and at least one hydroponic Grow Tower for fresh herbs and arugula production. We have plans to install solar power, water conservation, and a food scrap digester to demonstrate sustainability and conservation. This farmstand location will also serve as a distribution space, where in a walkable community model, customers will come to pick up their Produce Package CSA, and also shop through freshly harvested fruits and vegetables. Through all of our growing spaces, including one at LSS Food Pantries on Champion Ave, we will provide garden cooking sessions with local chefs, dieticians, and residents showing off their cooking skills and preparing their best dishes out of our farm treats.