Food Liberation and Community Programming
WINGI
Feed'em Freedom is excited to introduce WINGI, which means Abundance in Swahili. We believe in the power of abundance and recognize its importance in supporting our Black, Brown, Native, and Indigenous communities. At the core of our mission lie food security and sovereignty, and we are reaching out to you because we see the invaluable role you play in these efforts.
Many community farmers, including yourselves, have expressed the need for connection to alternative systems of retail support. Often, small farms find themselves over-harvesting for farmer’s markets, leading to surplus produce, herbs, and meats beyond market demand. Unfortunately, without an alternative outlet, much of this surplus goes to waste, resulting in financial loss for farmers.
WINGI is our solution. It is a food recovery program designed to purchase surplus farmer’s market produce, herbs, and meats from farmers of the global majority and small Portland-area producers. The recovered food will be distributed to our Black Community Food Center and Rockwood Food Pantry, ensuring that nutritious food reaches those who need it most in our communities.
As part of WINGI, we will be hosting 26 free food markets throughout the summer. These markets are specifically aimed at supporting Black and POC identifying individuals who may not be reached by our free food stores. The food purchased through WINGI will directly contribute to the offerings at these free markets, ensuring access to fresh and nutritious food for those in need.
Our long-term sustainability plan extends beyond simply redistributing surplus food. We aim to build a more resilient local food system by connecting procurement policies with global majority farmers to health services organizations and hospitals.
Your participation in WINGI would not only support our mission but also contribute to creating a more equitable and sustainable food system. We invite you to join us in this endeavor to promote abundance, food sovereignty, and community resilience.
If you're interested in participating or would like more information, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Thank you for considering joining the WINGI Food Program. Together, we can make a meaningful difference in our communities.
Community Workshops: Powered by Feed'em Freedom Foundation and Mudbone Grown
Join the Feed'em Freedom Community Farm Team in our Summer Workshop Series. Coming Soon!
Flower to the Folks
Flowers to the Folks supports community healing and wellness through the soul medicine of flowers.
We believe that everyone should have access to nature's gifts, especially flowers. Flowers to the folks connects flower donations to mutual aid efforts, BIPOC community gatherings, memorials, grief & joy ritual, and provides flowers weekly to families receiving food from the Black Community Food Center, and Rockwood Village pantry run by Feed'em Freedom Foundation.
In addition to the ongoing donation program Flowers to the Folks supports the Feed'em Freedom Rockwood Village Farm & Black Oregon Land Trust by planting pollinator & cut flowers gardens that are interwoven into the existing structure of the agricultural programs. The addition of flowers to these existing farms supports the Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and regenerative agriculture of each farm ecosystem. F2F holds ongoing workshops for community, mothers & youth at both these locations providing cost free opportunities for folks to gather, play with flowers, and learn together. We see access to flowers as an earth-birthright and another way we can continue to advocate for holistic wellness in our communities.
This program is in collaboration with local community space maker & florist, Alexandria (Zandi) Saleem, who has been working with community & flowers as joy, grief, and soul medicine for the last 6 years. Alexandria loves how the relationship between flowers, pollinators, & thriving ecosystems remind us of the complex ways that the beauty of flowers intrinsically supports human wellness, and our earth.
Flowers to the Folks supports:
- Flowers to the Folks creates spaces of refuge dedicated for personal and community wellness, inviting the nervous system to experience the beauty of flowers and regenerative ecosystems
- In addition to being a physical garden space for community resourcing, freedom flowers donates flowers to BIPOC mutual aid programs and gatherings around the greater Portland area
- Mental wellness of the communities we serve with ongoing access to flowers through the FFF food pantries
- Feedem Freedom flower gardens are a space for healing, learning, and community wellness
- Memorials & celebrations of life with free/ low cost flowers and floral services
- IPM & regenerative agriculture of Feed'em Freedom farms, agroecological, regenerative, no-spray, chemical-free
Greenhouse Management
Vegetable starts can be a significant expense for small scale farmers. We will be developing a commercial greenhouse and teaching PPP participants greenhouse systems management. In addition, the revenue from our plant starts will support a sustainable funding model for this program over the long-term.
This programming is still getting off the ground. We have partnered with Growing-Gardens PDX to host inhouse greenhouse management workshops as a form of train the trainer model as we grow into this. Big shout out to our partners!
Propagating Produce for the People (PPP)
The Propagating Produce for the People apprenticeship program is an agricultural training program for Black youth who are interested in careers in agriculture, particularly those who have been impacted by the criminal justice system.
This program, which was created in partnership with the Donald E Long Juvenile Justice Center, includes hands-on instruction, mentorship, and technical assistance in starting a business. The intent of this program is to teach participants to grow their own food, gain jobs skills, and become the leaders we need for a just green economy.
Arts and activism
This program is about more than job creation. We use the reconnection to the land as a gateway to healing and laying down roots of resistance. Our curriculum will support helping justice-impacted youth find their voice and leverage their experiences to advocated for their community. The program includes culturally specific projects that use art as a tool for activism.
Hydroponics & Anaerobic Digesting
This will support climate-resilient vegetable production for small-scale urban farmers. Our center will teach system design, plants and pests management, and water quality testing and analysis. Waste from the site will be processed in an anaerobic digester to generate energy and reinvigorate soils.
~ PPP is a culturally-specific agricultural training program that provides comprehensive hands-on instruction, mentorship, and technical assistance establishing and growing small business endeavors. ~ Teaching others to grow their own food, gain jobs skills, and become the leaders we need for a just green economy ~
BIPOC youth are overrepresented at each stage of the juvenile justice system. Black youth experience the highest quantity and magnitude of these disparities. In Oregon, Black youth are more than 2.5 times more likely to be referred to the juvenile justice system than white youth. (NJDC Assessment)
