Federal Funding Cuts Are Changing Our Work. We Need Your Support.
For nearly 30 years, FRESHFARM has connected the people who grow our food with the families and communities who need it most. We’re the markets where neighbors linger over vine-ripened tomatoes and farmers share their favorite apple variety. We’re FreshMatch and Produce Plus, which provide the funds that ensure fresh food reaches every table. And we’re the FoodPrints garden where a fifth grader harvests and tastes a radish for the first time, shared joyfully with friends. This is FRESHFARM at work.
Together we have built a stronger, more equitable regional food system. However, like many nonprofits across the country, FRESHFARM is navigating an increasingly challenging funding environment. With the loss of significant federal funding and reduced grant opportunities that have long sustained our work, we have had to make difficult decisions affecting our Food Hub, Farm Stands at Simon and Whittier Elementary Schools, and the FreshMatch program.
In making these difficult decisions, we were guided by our mission and values, carefully considering how to focus our limited resources while continuing to support farmers, provide access to fresh local food, and serve the communities that rely on us. There were no easy solutions, and we recognize the very real and negative impact these decisions will have. They were made to keep us financially sound as an organization and able to continue serving farmers and our community for years to come.
FRESHFARM Food Hub
The Food Hub, our local food distribution program that works with dozens of area nonprofit organizations, will be winding down at the end of the main season. All partner deliveries and programming will conclude on Tuesday, November 24. We plan to reopen limited Food Hub programming in May 2027, with reduced capacity to serve existing grant-funded community partners. The FRESHFARM Market Share, our CSA program, will continue in 2027. We are incredibly proud of this work to address the food access and food security inequities in our region, while supporting the small farmers who keep local produce in our food system and on our tables.
School-Based Farm Stands
In 2027, FRESHFARM will not reopen the farm stands at FoodPrints partner elementary schools, Simon and Whittier. The last day of service at Simon will be Thursday, November 19, and at Whittier will be Tuesday, November 24. These stands connected students and their families to fresh, locally grown food, and we recognize the disappointment this decision will bring to these school communities and impacted farmers and staff. Learn more about the closure of FRESHFARM’s school-based farm stands.
FreshMatch
FreshMatch is a cornerstone of FRESHFARM’s efforts to make fresh, locally grown food accessible to households facing food insecurity while generating revenue for farmers. Unfortunately, our USDA funding that has supported FreshMatch since 2017 has ended, and FRESHFARM cannot sustain the program at the current $30 per shopper, per day match. Beginning December 1, the FreshMatch cap will decrease to $10 per shopper, per day for SNAP/EBT, WIC, and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program transactions, while funding allows. We understand how much this program means to participating families and farmers. This change allows us to keep the program running while we seek new funding and revenue to support this work.
How You Can Help
Since our founding in 1997, we have weathered challenges and found new ways to bring people together around local food. We know that that same resilience and commitment will carry us forward and help us remain a pillar of the DMV community for years to come. We are especially grateful to our staff who bring this work to life, season after season.
As we head into the holiday season, we need our community to stand with us. We invite you to support our Fresh Food Drive, which helps local families bring fresh, nourishing food home for the holidays. Donations are doubled up to $10,000 until November 21st.
Beyond the Fresh Food Drive, your support now will help us sustain our work, back the farmers who feed us, and keep fresh, local food within reach for families in need. If you care about FRESHFARM’s mission and the work we do for the DMV community, please give now.
We recognize how much these programs mean to our partners, farmers, families, and school communities, and we remain committed to seeking new funding and sharing updates on our website and via this newsletter. We are deeply grateful to our shoppers, partners, farmers, funders, and staff, whose dedication and support have made this work possible.
