Fresh and Healthy Food for All is designed to transform the food system over time for the benefit of all residents. We have engaged a wide-ranging group of partners in all aspects of the food economy to help create a more equitable food system in Columbia County.

This initiative is the result of two anonymous philanthropists who believe that “access to healthy food should be a right, not a privilege.” Inspired by this mission, a group of donors came together to support the projects listed in our most recent grant cycle.

2024 GRANTEES

Sky High Farm: $5,000 to support the purchasing budget for a snow plow and snow tires. This new equipment provides the ability access different sites on the farm during the winter months, and provides additional transportation to support farm functions. This increased operational capacity will better serve the community by suppling more fresh food during the challenging winter months, and ensure the safety of farmers and staff when roads are wet and icy.

Taconic Hills Central School District: $5,100 for the Backpack Buddies and Beyond program, which provides food-insecure students with food through the weekend and on school breaks. Students bring home a backpack filled with food products the day of a break and return the backpack to be re-filled the next week. BBB currently supports elementary and high school students. This grant will be used to purchase a refrigerator and freezer for the storage of perishable food items prior to distribution.

Rock Steady Farm & Flowers: $5,000 for the Rock Steady Farm and Ancramdale Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fresh Food Distribution Program, which will provide full CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares free of cost to sixteen families in Columbia County all season via ANHNA’s weekly mobile delivery program to underserved, low-income families, that include immigrant families as well as families that have a parent or family member who is incarcerated.

Taghkanic Free Fridge/The Purpose Coworking Inc., fiscal sponsor: $5,000 to add more days of grocery shopping to the community and increase the amount of food that can be stocked in the pantry.

Long Table Harvest/ Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), fiscal sponsor: $5,000 for The Gleaning Program to support low-income residents in Columbia County towns, including Germantown, Greenport, Hudson, Craryville, Hillsdale, Copake, Philmont, Chatham, and Ghent. Harvested fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meat from over 30 local farms are picked up two days a week and distributed.

Columbia County Recovery Kitchen: $5,000 for program support in Columbia County. CCRK provides nutritious, often locally sourced meals prepared by professional chefs to 750 residents of Columbia County who are food insecure due to unemployment, underemployment, disability or other social and economic factors. Meals are provided 5 days per week totaling more than 1,200 meals weekly and are delivered directly to recipients’ homes.

Camphill Hudson: $2,500 for community dinners, connected 20 people of differing abilities from Camphill with various people from the Hudson-area community. Dinners would feature local produce and culturally relevant meals. In addition to bringing healthy and diverse meals at no charge and offering a space to start and build social relationships within Hudson, the meals provide a meaningful opportunity for Camphill residents to give to others, a fulfilling role-reversal for many.

Columbia County Sanctuary Movement: $2,500 for Comida Para La Gente - Food For The People, a food justice program that gleans and purchases from Hudson Valley farms to provide locally sourced, culturally relevant groceries and meals as a response to imbalances in the food chain. Comida Para La Gente (Food For The People), is dedicated to ensuring that all residents of Columbia County, especially immigrants with limited resources, have consistent access to fresh, healthy, and culturally relevant food. Support provided funding for increased cold storage capacity, expansion of distribution channels and additional partnerships for supply.

Germantown Central School District: $2,500 to support the School Garden by offering produce from the garden to 280 elementary school students once a month during the growing season and school months of May, June, September and October. The garden instills the importance and joy of healthy eating through the 'vegetable of the month' program. Children get to experience the full cycle of food production, from sowing vegetables in the garden, eating their harvest fresh at school, and finally, witnessing their food's responsible disposal and recycling.

Kite's Nest: $2,500 to support strengthening several food justice initiatives by expanding the kinds of foods offered in the community as a result of the purchase of a new fridge and freezer. These efforts include stewarding Hudson’s only community garden, operating a free food distribution hub, and connecting youth (ages 6-20) and their families with nutritious meals and snacks. With a new fridge and freezer, quality free halal-certified meat and other food products would be distributed to local families grappling with food insecurity.

Philmont Public Library/Village of Philmont: $2,500 to purchase and install a free community fridge to offer free fresh food year-round through partnerships with other community organizations and donations from home gardens. These partnerships result in providing healthy foods and a safe place to access it for all members in the community.

The Sylvia Center: $2,500 to support the Food Access and Education Initiative, which provides 50 families in Columbia County with nutrition-focused culinary classes through a six-week Cooks for Health Family programming. These classes are delivered in collaboration with schools and community-based organizations in Hudson, Taconic Hills, and Germantown. This initiative provides participants in each Cooks for Health Family class with a free weekly meal kit. These meal kits highlight local ingredients and feed a family of four to six. Families pick up their meal kit from the school and can cook on-site with a TSC chef educator that day or join a virtual class via Zoom the following evening and cook along from their own kitchen.