Working Food

Kitchen Services. Our commercial-grade community kitchen offers reasonably priced kitchen facility rental (by the hour), and commissary, refrigeration and freezer space to entrepreneurs who are starting value-added food businesses. We also host culinary education courses and food preparation classes. And we provide an affordable space for local food businesses to store dry and cold food.

Youth Programs.Gardens: Working with the Cultural Arts Coalition to provide hands-on learning in a weekly after-school science club, we use the garden as a living classroom. Exploring food, nature, biology, chemistry and ecology through a garden, we also weave in the arts and cooking for a full seed to plate experience. We currently work with partners at three sites in the Gainesville area.Culinary: Working with the Greater Duval Neighborhood Association and Chef Empowerment/Underground Kitchen, two local organizations, we continue our youth culinary program called Young Chefs. Together we worked with middle and high school aged students to offer them an afterschool enrichment program focused on learning culinary skills. Through a combination of virtual and in person classes, the students learned how to prepare and plate multi course meals using as much local food as possible.

Seed Collective. Weve created a regional seed hub because local food needs local seeds. We curate a collection of varieties that do well in our climate, provide seed education and collaborate regionally and nationally to preserve and protect crop varieties. Our small and intentional collection reflects an accumulation of years of shared experiences with other growers. We support the livelihoods of adults with disabilities. We also participate in numerous off-site events, providing talks, workshops, tours and more.