The Future of Agriculture: How Delaware Nonprofits Feed the Community

Written by: Margaret Armstrong, Student at the University of Delaware

Everyone needs to eat, yet not everyone has equal access to food, especially healthy foods. Agricultural nonprofits take on the important role of providing people accessible, nutritious food that for-profit food suppliers do not provide. These nonprofits are an essential part of the physical and economic health of local communities. They create jobs. They build community. They provide nutritious foods for so many people across the state.

But they need us to invest in them more to reach their full potential.

Nonprofit and for-profit farms both depend on the local community. While for-profit farms rely on locals to grow their businesses, nonprofit farms rely on donations because getting grants is more difficult. Because they rely so much on donations, some nonprofit farms can not continue serving their communities.

One study found that nonprofit farms are mostly in higher-income communities where people do not need the support of these farms as much as lower-income communities. They do still have positive impacts on these local economies. Buying locally grown food is great for the economic health of communities because it supports markets directly. These nonprofits can not fulfill their purpose of serving those in-need if they cannot get funding to reach those communities. People must invest more into nonprofit farms serving diverse communities to get rid of this gap in support.

Spur Impact works with many agricultural nonprofits to support their individual goals. They all share the common theme of feeding the community, and they all find their creative ways to reach people.

Spur Impact currently works with:

Food Bank of Delaware

FBD has a variety of programs that Delawareans across the state benefit from. They host cooking classes and food drives. They have food pantries, including a mobile one! But, they also run a farm and a garden to give people-in-need access to fresh foods.

Planting to Feed Inc.

Planting to Feed, like FBD, has its own gardens to provide people with food. They run a community fridge project, too, where they leave foods in accessible places for community members around the state. They will even bring the food directly to people on the streets who might be unaware that these resources exist for them thanks to the efforts of Planting to Feed.

Delaware Urban Greens

Delaware Urban Greens focuses on urban farming, which is becoming increasingly popular, especially with nonprofit organizations. It may seem questionable, but it’s all about adapting to the environment. Just like the other organizations, DUG brings more accessible food to communities without it, and they naturally help with pollution and biodiversity.

All of these nonprofits innovate, in their own ways, to feed communities and close the gap between accessible, nutritious food for people that need it the most. They have vital roles in the local community and economy.

Supporting nonprofits like SpurImpact and its partners helps build stronger, healthier communities of people. We need to focus on nonprofits like these so that they can receive the funding to spread their impact. Continuing to support nonprofits like them supports the overall