GrowMemphis

The mission of GrowMemphis is to partner with communities in Memphis and Shelby County to promote a sustainable local food system.

GrowMemphis achieves it's mission through three program areas: community gardening and urban farming, food policy advocacy, and increasing food access at farmers markets through a double value coupon program.

GrowMemphis was established as a program of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center in early 2007 as a community garden resource hub, and now includes a network of 42 community garden projects located in low income areas throughout Memphis. Our community gardens are located throughout Memphis and include school and church gardens as well as neighborhood gardens. GrowMemphis supports community garden by providing technical assistance, networking, workshops, garden start-up funds, seeds and plants, cooperative marketing, and other services.

The Food Advisory Council (FAC) for Memphis and Shelby County was established in 2012 and is a project of GrowMemphis to foster a healthy, sustainable and just local food culture. The Memphis and Shelby County Food Advisory Council is a collection of individuals and agencies interested in using public policy as a vehicle to ensure that all Memphis and Shelby County residents have adequate healthy food available, and to promote the development of sustainable local food in our community.

The Double Green$ program, initiated in 2011, enhances access to fresh, locally grown produce in low-income food insecure communities by providing a dollar-for-dollar match for SNAP/EBT dollars (formerly known as “food stamps”) at five Memphis Area Farmers Markets. SNAP recipients that use their SNAP EBT cards at local farmers markets have their benefits matched up to $10 per customer per week. Not only does this make fresh, healthy produce more affordable for low-income Memphians, but it also builds the capacity of farmers in the Mid-South to continue to produce healthy, fresh food for our region.