Feeding our neighbors in need
Dismantling discriminatory systems while advocating for justice & equality for all is at the heart of everything we do
We need your help to respond to the current food crises due to the pandemic
growingSOUL, Sustainable Opportunities for Universal Learning, is a grassroots non-profit founded in 2009 by then-Maryland resident Jessica Weiss. Our mission is to engage and assist communities to reduce hunger while simultaneously reducing food waste. growingSOUL creates, implements and advocates for sustainable, interconnected, reciprocity-based food systems benefitting the vitality of communities and their residents as well as our planet.
The Chesapeake Bay region’s first Zero-Waste Food Justice program, is a legacy project honoring our community’s history of sharing healthy fresh food with those seeking freedom along the soil trails of the Underground Railroad. We advocate for and provide access to nutritious & sustainable food for those most marginalized.
WE CONSIDER FOOD SOVEREIGNTY TO BE THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM
As an urgent response to Covid-19, growingSOUL pivoted our programming to focus on the more immediate needs of our community. "Last Mile Food Box Delivery" ensures that healthy 30-lb fresh food boxes reach those in suffering from the pandemic.
In June 2020, The growingSOUL Collaborative, a community-based sustainable food network, expanded from the Mid-Atlantic to include New York's Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Long Island. The Collaborative focuses on feeding marginalized communities most impacted by Covid-19, expanding to serve those living in the initial epicenter of the virus and its economic fallout.
In NYC, 1.5 million people are food insecure with equally as many in Maryland, DC and Virginia not knowing where their next meal will come from.
FEEDING OUR NEIGHBORS IN NEED
+11 M pounds of fresh food in 366,994 boxes
Food
Trucks
435 trucks
September-December
18 NYC & 35 Mid-Atlantic Collaborative Partners
Partners
+1.4 million people fed June-December 2020
Feeding Families
The USDA Farm to Families round 5 Food Program has begun: our distribution infrastructure remains in place with 33 new partners in West Virginia. More people are more hungry. growingSOUL needs your assistance.
35 trucks a week
435 trucks
with 6 vendors
since September
What We Do
#GrowYourSoul
Yard Link
Composting and
Food Production
Collect community food scraps and compostables to effectively grow healthy soil in which we help communities to grow healthy sustainable food.
Putting Stock in Your Community
Processing & Preserving
in the Kitchen
Recover seconds and ugly produce and process them into bone broth, soup stock, stuffings, muffins and dehydrates that we donate into the community.
Culinerati
Workforce Development,
Education & Advocacy
Collaborating with community partners, we advocate for and create reciprocity-based educational opportunities for volunteers, ages 4-94, to take part in sustainable food systems..