Community Gardens and Food Security in Fairfax County

by Mark Kieffer, Fairfax Master Gardener
More than 74,000 people in Fairfax County didn’t get enough to eat in 2021, according to the Capital Area Food Bank; more than anywhere else in Virginia. Food insecurity leads to skipping meals, parents not eating so their kids can, cutting out important food groups and buying less healthful fast or processed foods. At the same time, the USDA estimates that 30 to 40 percent of all food in the US food supply is wasted. There is growing interest in the role of community gardens in providing fresh produce to families that couldn’t otherwise afford it, improving their diet and overall health. Such gardens also give communities the opportunity to learn about vegetable gardening and to grow their own food.

Several local government and non-profit organizations support community gardens with funding, donations, volunteers, garden plots and numerous publications. There is also extensive collaboration among these organizations in providing support. This article describes a number of these key organizations active in programs to support local food security efforts in Fairfax County. In future articles, we will profile some successful community and school gardens that could serve as models for other initiatives.

Supporting Organizations
The Fairfax Food Council’s Urban Agriculture Working Group supports expanding edible gardens in various community settings and increasing access to fresh produce through pantry donations from such gardens. The working group meets monthly and acts as a resource to create connections between gardeners and pantries and offers a variety of resources, including a tool lending library and videos on gardening.

The Fairfax County Park Authority Community Garden Plot Rental Program gives residents the opportunity to garden by making available more than 700 garden plots in eleven county parks. Many of these gardeners donate their surplus harvests to food banks. FCPA plots are also rented by non-profit food collection and distribution organizations, such as Food for Others, to provide plots to new gardeners to grow fresh produce. Several other local jurisdictions in Northern Virginia have garden plot rental programs for their residents.

Several Fairfax County Community Centers have established edible gardens to serve their members. With help from Virginia Cooperative Extension and Hands on Harvests, among others, the Bailey’s Community Center installed eight raised beds, including several built for handicapped accessibility, to use in programs to teach members how to garden and cook with fresh produce. The harvests are shared with members. The Sully, Hybla Valley, Gum Springs and James Lee Community Centers maintain edible gardens for similar programs. The centers operate under the county Neighborhood and Community Services agency.

The Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District recently completed the Nourish the Land, Cultivate Community project in the county, under which NVSWCD and its partners created and expanded existing community gardens to support food security. NVSWCD continues to provide technical support, modest funding, education and ongoing mentorship to these gardens and is looking to start and support additional gardens. NVSWCD produces Conservation Plans for gardens and conducts programs on building compost bins and rain barrels. NVSWCD just produced a comprehensive guide for establishing and maintaining a community garden in the county with a Spanish language version to be published soon.

Fairfax County Master Gardeners help to meet the needs of their communities, including engaging with issues of food security, as part of their volunteer education partnership with Virginia Cooperative Extension. Their mission is to encourage and promote environmentally sound horticultural practices. The FCMGA’s Garden Mentoring for Food Insecurity program includes 20 Master Gardeners supporting vegetable gardens at parks, schools, community centers and residential communities throughout the county. The mentors are on-site to provide sound advice to garden organizers and individual gardeners of all ages, both experienced and new to growing vegetables.

Food for Others, a food provider, receives donations of fresh produce from many home and community gardens in the county. FFO also supports community gardening by providing community members space to grow their own food. Garden plots at three locations are available through a space-available application process coordinated with neighborhood schools. In addition to volunteers, private sector and non-profit organizations are supporting the gardeners by sharing seeds, seedlings, tools and other materials.

Hands on Harvests is a nonprofit that helps people to grow fresh produce and reduce food waste by making it easy to donate surplus harvests. HoH provides seeds, seedlings, mentorship and land so people can grow food. HoH collaborates with other nonprofits, local government, the private sector and others in supporting community gardens throughout the county. HoH’s Grow a Row program is a way for individual gardeners to donate surplus seedlings and produce. GAR provides guidelines for its members to prepare and weigh their donations before dropping off at nearby food pantries and an online form for recording donations.

The Arcadia Farms, Live, Eat, Grow (L.E.G.) Route 1 program focuses on creating a more equitable and sustainable food system in the Route 1 Corridor through collaboration with others, including the FFC, VCE, schools, community centers and Hands on Harvests, to improve food access, reduce food insecurity and foster better nutrition. The L.E.G. Garden Network supports existing community and faith-based gardens while fostering the development of new gardening opportunities along the Route 1 corridor. Membership in the Garden Network includes access to mentoring, training and garden assistance from Arcadia’s staff, volunteers and partner organizations.

How To Get Started or Help
Numerous publications on all aspects of vegetable gardening are available through these organizations or from the local Virginia Cooperative Extension office. In addition to the NVSWCD guide, an excellent handbook on community gardening recommended by the American Community Gardening Association is available for check out from the county library.

If you are interested in volunteering or donating, you can contact the organizations listed in this article or refer to the FFC’s map of food-producing gardens in the county to find opportunities to support a garden near you.

Resources
Community Gardening, Fairfax County
Food Providers Accepting Fresh Produce, Fairfax County
Urban Agriculture Work Group, Fairfax County
Food for Others
Hands on Harvests
Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture
Community Garden Plot Rental Program, Fairfax County
The Essential Handbook by LaManda Joy
Welcome to Community Gardening, Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District