2023 IMPACT REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Grow

Cook

Share

Community Engagement

Systems Change

Financials

C.J. Sentell,
Chief Executive Officer

LETTER FROM THE CEO

For 12 years now, The Nashville Food Project has brought people together to grow, cook and share nourishing food, cultivating community and alleviating hunger in our city. Over the years, this humble pursuit of gathering around food for good has transformed how we engage with one another. We have learned to recognize the abundance that surrounds us, and used it to strengthen and sustain our lives in community.

2023 was a year of exceptional abundance. With a growing network of Nashvillians, we shared more meals and grew more produce than ever before. We expanded our infrastructure, building a greenhouse at the Growing Together farm and a walk-in fridge at our headquarters. We partnered with more organizations, supporting more people, than ever.

This year also marked the launch FeedBack Nashville, a first-of-its-kind initiative that brings community members together to build a just and sustainable food system for our city. We are proud to be among the founding organizations who see gaps in our current food system, and dare to imagine alternatives that prioritize the needs of our community.

In this report you will find the fruits of our collective labors. I hope you will be as inspired as I am, and be moved to join us in the year to come. There is indeed much to do, and we cannot do it without you.

Gardens are the place where food begins. From sowing to harvest, growing our own food connects us more deeply to the land, our food system, and each other. Our gardens are vibrant urban ecosystems where community members gather to learn from each other and grow nourishing food for themselves and their families.

“Being outside and among things that are growing from the ground is less and less common in the modern world. So to get your hands in the dirt and to come back week after week and watch things slowly turn into bigger, fruitful things, and to watch some things not grow the way we’d hoped, that whole process feels very refreshing.”
— Ben, Mill Ridge Community Gardener

Community Gardens

McGruder Community Garden in North Nashville and the Community Farm at Mill Ridge in Antioch connect people of all ages with the resources they need — from land and water to seeds and education — to grow food that is fresh, healthy, and culturally relevant. Both gardens use regenerative agriculture practices to grow produce that is shared with community members who lack reliable access to fresh produce.

What We Accomplished Together

285

individual volunteers
seeded, weeded, harvested and more in our gardens

1,666

hours volunteered between three garden sites

10,757

pounds of produce grown and shared in community

52

individual garden
plots occupied at 100% capacity

Growing Together

Growing Together is an urban farm stewarded by Burmese and Bhutanese farmers who came to Nashville as immigrants and refugees. The program connects farmers with land, resources, agricultural training, and market access so that they can generate income for themselves and their families. In 2023, the seven Growing Together farming families sold produce to restaurants, food access partner organizations, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) customers.

Farm Highlights

In October, the Love, Tito’s team visited the Growing Together farm to celebrate their gift of a new greenhouse, which will enable farmers to extend their growing season and expand their skills through full-season production.

Tito’s also helped us beautify the farm by planting a pollinator garden, fruit trees, and berry bushes, as well as installing new water catchment structures to harvest water throughout the year.

Cooking brings us together to nourish one another. Recipes tell stories that connect us to places and people, and by sharing dishes, we share ourselves. Our kitchens use recovered, donated, and garden-grown food to prepare and cook made-from-scratch meals that nourish our community and create new stories around the table.

Food Recovery

In Nashville, about 40% of all food is wasted while 1 in 8 residents in our city lack sufficient access to nutritious food. Our food recovery program works to bridge this gap by redirecting would-be wasted food away from landfills and onto plates. We partner with grocers, farms, restaurants, and individuals to glean high-quality excess food, which becomes ingredients in nourishing meals shared with our community.

What We Accomplished Together

109

farms, grocers, and individuals contributed to food recovery

287,117

pounds of food recovered

80%

of each meal is made with donated or recovered ingredients

Community Meals

In our kitchens, we transform recovered and donated foods into nourishing and delicious meals, using a variety of fresh produce, dairy, and dry goods to develop unique menus each week. A growing network of cherished volunteers joins us daily to help prepare pastas, salads, casseroles, and more. We then work with poverty-disrupting partner organizations across the city to distribute these meals to community members.

Responding in a Time of Need

In December, a line of tornadoes wreaked havoc across Middle Tennessee, destroying homes, leaving thousands without power, and resulting in injuries and fatalities. A coalition of relief organizations, known as the Nashville Volunteer Organizations in Disaster (VOAD), immediately stepped up to help. Through our involvement with VOAD, we shared 2,020 meals with families affected by the storms.

We share food with partner organizations across the city to support their vibrant work. Whether a youth program providing an afterschool meal or a refugee support group offering veggies to newcomer families, we believe food is most powerful in community.

“The food is plentiful and it sustains the students throughout programming. We have peace of mind knowing our youth are eating a well-proportioned, nutritional snack. It is also an introduction to American meals and can be a jumping-off point for conversations regarding how cultures eat different foods.”
— Nations Ministry, community meal partner since 2016

Community Meals

Good food alone is not a solution to the challenges that many Nashvillians face. That’s why our community meals are regularly distributed to more than 50 poverty-disrupting and community building organizations in Middle Tennessee. Once staff and volunteers prepare the meals, we share them with partner organizations so that nourishing food can get onto the plates of those who need it.

We Share Meals With:

After School Programs • Children & Family Services • Grassroots Organizing • Transitional Housing & Emergency Shelters • Homeless Outreach • Medical & Health Services • Senior Services • Adult Education & Workforce Development

See the full list.

Produce Access

We envision a world where everyone has access not only to the food they need, but want, too. That’s why we share vegetables grown in our gardens with community members, increasing access to fresh, culturally relevant foods. Like the community meals program, our produce access program works with a network of partner organizations to distribute fresh, local food to community members.

 

What We Accomplished Together

2,000+

individuals received produce

12

partner organizations

32,124

pounds of produce shared from our three garden sites

A Collaborative Effort

In 2023, a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank enabled us to expand our produce sharing program and gain valuable insights about food access challenges in our city. Second Harvest’s USDA Local Farm Purchasing grant enabled Growing Together farmers to distribute about 60% of all produce they grew to communities in need. The grant also enabled us to purchase produce from local farms to supplement our offerings.

volunteers

From bread baking to beekeeping, weeding to watering, chopping to blending, and packing food into boxes and trucks, volunteering at The Nashville Food Project takes many forms. Every day, we rely on a dedicated, diverse community of volunteers who give their time, skills, and hearts to help create a city that is nourished by a just, sustainable food system.

1,083

volunteers across all programs


7,196

volunteer hours worked

Volunteer Portrait Project

Photographed by our dear friend Aidan Fitzpatrick, the Volunteer Portrait Project documented just a few of the faces in our community who helped to carry this work forward in 2023. The small, consistent, and caring gestures of our many volunteers are the beating heart of The Nashville Food Project.

Building A Welcoming Community

In partnership with Welcoming America, a national nonprofit dedicated to fostering welcoming communities for immigrants and refugees, we hosted a series of Welcoming Week events in the fall.

At a family festival at the Community Farm at Mill Ridge, more than 100 people gathered to share a meal, play games, and get to know each other. Later in the week, we also hosted a panel that explored how organizations in our city are working together to make Nashville a safe and welcoming city for everyone.

Why Systems Change?

Nashville residents face all kinds of inequities: limited access to healthy, affordable food, persistent health disparities, the loss of agricultural land, food waste, and environmental degradation. All of these challenges are interrelated, caused by a food system that does not work for farmers, grocers, restaurants, or eaters — which, of course, is all of us.

A systems change approach leverages community engagement and cross-sector collaboration to address these challenges. By integrating this approach to our work, we will better understand why food-related challenges persist, and how we can work together to create a food system that actually works for everyone in our city.

Over the next few years, you will see this approach informing our work, especially in FeedBack Nashville. From convening key food system stakeholders to hosting neighborhood meetings, we are counting on your engagement to create lasting change in our city. Together, we can achieve our vision of vibrant community food security, where everyone in Nashville has access to the food they want and need through a just and sustainable food system.

 
 

Building A Better Food Future

This year, we launched FeedBack Nashville, a new initiative to build a better food future for our city. Started by a coalition of food-centric organizations, FeedBack Nashville is led by a steering committee of 16 residents with deep ties to communities most affected by injustices in our food system. FeedBack Nashville uses a systems change approach to build a better food system for everyone in our city. We serve as the coordinator of the initiative.

 

Project Goals

1

Understand why current challenges like hunger and food waste exist in our city

2

Create community-driven visions of a better food future for Nashville

3

Identify transformational opportunities to build a more just and sustainable food system

2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chair: Antonio Carroll, NES

Chair-Elect: Josh Westerhold, Nissan

Treasurer: John Pearce, Ernst & Young (retired)

Secretary: Sunny Bray, Catalyst Collective

Immediate Past Chair: Rick Leach, Community Volunteer

Young Leaders Council Interns:

Dana Patel, HCA Healthcare Foundation
Angie Sessoms, Koya Partners

Angie Bergman, Bass, Berry & Sims
Ashlee Brooks, Brooks Tax Consulting
Mary Lea Bryant, Harpeth Hall Academy
Marcie Bryant, YWCA (retired)
Ann Fundis, Community Volunteer
Katherine Hartle, Hartle Holdings, LLC
Katie Johnson, HCA Healthcare
Kim Johnson, Jackson National Life
Vanessa Lazón, MNPS
Christy Moberly, State Farm (retired)
Kristy Offitt, Bridgestone
Harsha Ramayya, Bank of America
Jennifer Rusie, Jackson Lewis
Jarrett Strickland, UBS
Tandy Wilson, City House

THANK YOU TO OUR 2023 SUPPORTERS

$25,000 AND ABOVE

HCA Healthcare Foundation
Jackson National Life
Joe C. Davis Foundation
Marlene and Spencer Hays Foundation
The Memorial Foundation
Christy & Michael Moberly
Patagonia
Speer Foundation
Universal Music Group
West End Home Foundation

Andrea Waitt Carlton Foundation
The Atticus Trust
Melinda & Jeff Balser
Bank of America
Boedecker Foundation
Bridgestone Americas
Christ Church Cathedral
Enterprise Holdings
Golden Tree Asset Management
The Healing Trust

$10,000 TO $24,999

Anonymous
Bancel Philanthropies
Susan Barge
Judith Blondell-Hardy
The Cigna Group
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
Dettwiller Foundation
First Horizon Foundation
Glen & Dorothy Stillwell Charitable Trust
Kim & Gary Hawkins
Hofseth LLC Corporation
James R. Meadows, Jr. Foundation

Kroger
Theresa & Joe MacCurdy
Milton & Denice Johnson Family Foundation
Nissan North America Inc.
Piedmont Natural Gas
Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation
Sparkjoy Foundation
TN Public Health Foundation
Thomas & Mamie Houser Charitable Foundation
United Way of Greater Nashville
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Woodmont Christian Church

$5,000 TO $9,999
American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation, Inc.
Angie Bergman
Bryant Family Foundation
John S. Bryant
Buckingham Foundation, Inc.
C&B Hearn Foundation
Michael & Jane Ann Cain
Anna & Brandon Carl
The Carolyn Smith Foundation
Caterpillar Financial Services
Mary Britton & Jody Cummings
The Dorothy Cate and Thomas F. Frist Foundation
The Enchiridion Foundation
Sara Finley
Charmion Gustke Hearn
Healthcare Realty
Greg Lanford
Mitsuki Laycock
Gracey Lipman
Martin’s Barbecue Joint, LLC
Susan Mezger
Nashville Electric Service
Nordstrom Cares
John & Lori Pearce
Publix Super Markets Charities
Stephen & Sara Anne Quinn
Fran Schell
Shoba Foundation
Michelle Supko
The Reynolds Family Foundation
Josh Westerhold
Cristina Wieck

$2,500 TO $4,999
Lisa Aston
Isaiah Beard
Susannah & Jonathan Berry
Lady & Billy Bird
Trudy & Bill Carpenter
Sunny & Bryan Cartmell
Clayton & Mary Collins
Andrea Conte & Phil Bredesen
Laurie & Steve Eskind
Fairepointe Planning
The Farm and Forest Families of Tennessee
Hugh Francis
Joe & Penny Hodgson
Immanuel Baptist Church
Katie Johnson
Terri & Doug King
Rick Leach
Maine Drilling & Blasting, Inc.
Michele McMinn & Neil Weber
Jon Michael
James & Diane Mulloy
Nanni Family Giving Fund
National Association of Fixed Annuities
Gail Pusey
Randy Rayburn
Rogers Group Inc.
Karen Rolling
Shayne Foundation
Jan Shockey
Laura Smith
Grace & Michael Sposato
St. George’s Episcopal Church
Quint Studer
Jeff & Lynne Warne
Washington Foundation
Jeremiah & Stephanie Weeden-Wright
Judy & Kelly Wright
Shirley Zeitlin