Shalom Farms

Our Produce Rx Program (formerly Prescription Produce Plan) equips participants to live healthy lives by providing educational resources and supports to increase the use of fresh produce. We partner with healthcare providers like Bon Secours, Health Brigade and the VCU Richmond Health & Wellness Program to provide cohorts of this evidence-based program. Shalom Farms provides weekly prescriptions of fresh produce and our staff meets with participants for cooking and nutrition education classes.

The food-at-home (grocery store or supermarket food purchases) consumer price index is now measuring 12.4 percent higher than in October 2021, and it is predicted that in 2023 food prices will increase between 3.0 and 4.0 percent. Record inflation is putting a strain on households across the country, and more families than ever before are seeking emergency food assistance via food banks, food pantries, and community kitchens. Our Nutrition Distribution Program provides fresh produce to food pantries, feeding programs, and mutual aid groups across the city to ensure that everyone has access to fresh, healthy options, regardless of their income or ability to pay.

Our Community Food Skills Education classes provide participants with easy to use kitchen skills to help take their healthy cooking to the next level. In partnership with community centers and other nonprofit organizations, our Food Skills Education classes engage youth, adults, and seniors in positive experiences preparing healthy meals. Our curriculum includes lessons on building kitchen confidence and time saving strategies to help eliminate barriers to healthy eating. We do not track participant demographics by race; rather, we work in partnership with specific community partners and organizations who serve low-income populations, and aim to serve youth, adults, and senior citizens within target neighborhoods, such as the East End and Southside, where instances of food insecurity and poverty are high.

On the farms, we recognize the enormous opportunity our large-scale volunteer program has provided us with. We have created robust curricula for both volunteers and K-12 field trips, which covers topics such as food apartheid, sustainable agriculture practices, composting, soil health, and nutrition. Additionally, we offer learning resources through a curated “Little Free Library” on the farm, and have plans to launch an online resource library, which will include downloadable content available free of charge. We offer workshops in the Spring and Fall to individuals participating in our Lead Volunteer Program (usually 60-75 folks dedicated to volunteering once or more a week for the duration of the season). Past topics have included bee keeping, greenhouse growing techniques, whole-farm planning and crop rotation, and at-home composting.