Our Members

Fiddleheads Food Co-op, New London, CT —  Fiddleheads Food Co-op offers a member owned full service market. They provide wholesome natural foods, both organic and local fresh produce.

Storrs Farmers Market, Storrs, CT — Weekly market open from May to November; winter market open twice a month from December to April.

Willimantic Farmers' Market, Willimantic, CT —  Open from May to October, Willimantic Farmers' Market offers local specialities and organic food including fresh fruits and vegetables.

Willimantic Food Co-op, Willimantic, CT  — Member owned since 1980, Willimantic Food Co-op creates strong ties within the local community.

Regional Organizations We Admire

Access Community Action Agency, Willimantic, CT —  A Community Action Agency working to fight and overcome poverty.

AGvocate, Haddam, CT  — Visit Connecticut Agriculture Commissions for more information on local farms, co-ops and markets.

Billings Forge Works, Hartford, CT —  Billings Forge Community Works (BFCW) is a driving force for community participation and empowerment in Frog Hollow through promoting access to healthy food, engaging youth, and developing employment opportunities and economically sustainable social enterprises.

FRESH New London, New London, CT  — Based in New London, CT, FRESH is a small non-profit organization dedicated to building a sustainable, accessible, and healthy local food system. They engage all members of the New London County community through their five-acre vegetable farm, urban community garden, farmshare program, mobile farmers’ market, and outreach initiatives.

Garden Club of Windham, Windham, CT — Seeks to aid in the revitalization of the Town of Windham through education and the physical improvement of public property via a partnership with the town, which engages citizens to beautify their community and promotes civic responsibility and pride. The Garden Club aims to progressively improve the social capital of Windham by creating attractive public spaces to be used for community activities, including cultivating educational, artistic, historic, cultural, and environmental resources.

GROW Windham, Willimantic, CT —  A youth/community gardening program.

grown conNECTed Grown ConNECTed is coordinated by UConn Extension. We strive to work with food-producing farmers across the region to guide our work. Our hope is that this project will help make local food more visible, easier to find, and more convenient for residents of the "Quiet Corner" so that they can get a full taste of local flavor on their plates. So get ConNECTed, and Find Your Farm!

Neighbors Paper, Ashford, CT — A local paper for exchanging ideas and events.

WAIM (Windham Area Interfaith Ministry), Willimantic, CT — Founded in 1984 as an association of churches, synagogues, fellowships and concerned citizens, to help neighbors in need in the greater Windham area.

Willimantic Renaissance, Inc., Willimantic, CT— In partnership with the Town of Windham, Willimantic Renaissance brings the Third Thursday Street Fest to the town from May through September, truly a community event, completely organized by volunteers and with no paid staff. Willimantic Renaissance is a grassroots 501(c)3 non-profit organization formed to revitalize downtown Willimantic by celebrating diversity, building community and attracting consumers.

Willimantic Whitewater Partnership, Willimantic, CT— Founded in 2003, its mission is to recapture the waterfront of the Willimantic River in order to develop an urban waterfront and whitewater park.

National Organizations We Admire

Center for an Agricultural Economy, Hardwick, VT — Through programs that support food access, farm viability, and working landscapes, CAE is building a healthy, regenerative food system by promoting local foods and the people who produce them.

DC Central Kitchen, Washington, DC  — DC Central Kitchen is America's leader in reducing hunger with recycled food, training unemployed adults for culinary careers, serving healthy school meals, and rebuilding urban food systems through social enterprise.

Franklin County CDC, Greenfield, MA  — An economic development non profit organization providing comprehensive business development education, access to capital, commercial office and manufacturing space, plus home of the Western Massachusetts Food Processing Center.

Homeboy Industries, Los Angeles, CA —  Homeboy Industries serves high-risk, formerly gang-involved men and women with a continuum of free services and programs and operates seven social enterprises that serve as job-training sites.

Hot Bread Kitchen, NYC, NY —  Hot Bread Kitchen increases economic security for foreign-born and low-income women and men by opening access to the billion dollar specialty food industry. They do this through their culinary workforce and business incubation programs, Project Launch and HBK Incubates.

Just Food, NYC, NY  — Just Food is a non-profit organization that connects communities and local farms with the resources and support they need to make fresh, locally grown food accessible to all New Yorkers. Just Food empowers regional farmers and food producers, CSA organizers, and everyday eaters to establish and experience healthy food systems—in every neighborhood.

La Cocina, San Francisco, CA  — The mission of La Cocina is to cultivate low income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance, and access to market opportunities. They focus primarily on women from communities of color and immigrant communities. Their vision is that entrepreneurs gain financial security by doing what they love to do, creating an innovative, vibrant, and inclusive economic landscape.

Nuestras-Raices, Holyoke, MA —  Nuestras Raíces is a grassroots organization that promotes human, economic, and community development in Holyoke, Massachusetts, through projects relating to food, agriculture, and the environment.

Rise and Root Farm, Orange County, NY — A cooperatively run farm run by a team of strong women, teachers, leaders, students, and growers. They grow vegetables, flowers, and herbs using sustainable growing techniques, never using chemical pesticides or herbicides. Instead, they focus on building up a healthy ecosystem and restoring balance to the land.

The Campus Kitchens Project, Washington, DC — The Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) is a national leader in community service for students and is the future of hunger relief. CKP is empowering the next generation of leaders to implement innovative models for combating hunger, developing food systems, and helping communities help themselves.

The Food Trust, Philadelphia, PA —  The Food Trust's comprehensive approach includes improving food environments and teaching nutrition education in schools, working with corner store owners to increase healthy offerings and help customers make healthier choices, managing farmers’ markets in communities that lack access to affordable produce, and encouraging grocery store development in underserved communities.

The Happy Kitchen, Austin, TX  — A nationally recognized cooking and nutrition education program, aids individuals and institutions in making lasting dietary and behavioral changes.

The Vermont Food Venture Center, Hardwick, VT —  VFVC supports job creation, strengthens Vermont’s value-added food businesses, creates opportunities for farmers, and further integrates the agricultural economy into the community and the state of Vermont.

Truelove Seeds, Philadelphia, PA — Offers rare, open pollinated, and culturally important vegetable, herb, and flower seeds grown by more than 20 small-scale urban and rural farmers committed to community food sovereignty, cultural preservation, and sustainable agriculture

Fresh Please, Farmers use the FRESH PLEASE product list to share their current inventory right as it’s brought in from the field. Families can see what their local farms have to plan their shopping trip, or find which farm in the area has that one product they need for dinner.