Food clubs can fill their shelves in a variety of ways, including donations, purchases, food rescue efforts, and—often—community gardens. In fact, community gardens began as a way to combat food insecurity back in the 1890s to address a severe economic recession. Detroit Mayor Hazen Pingree initiated the “Pingree’s Potato Patches” program, providing unemployed workers with land, seed, and tools on vacant city lots to address hunger and poverty. This inspired other cities to create similar gardens, which then led to an abundance of school gardens and later victory gardens across the country. And now community gardens are resurging globally, tackling food insecurity and the ecological impacts of climate change.
Locally, Lakeshore Food Club (LFC) teams up with U Dig It Community Garden, a program of A Few Friends for the Environment of the World (AFFEW), a volunteer-run nonprofit based in Mason County. Nineteen of their beds are designated to local food programs and in 2024 they delivered 135 bags of leafy greens including lettuce, spinach, bok choy, and Swiss chard to LFC, along with 412 pounds of squash, peppers, potatoes, and cabbage. They also donated an additional 150 squash they had purchased.
Community Food Club (CFC) also enjoys partnerships with neighboring gardens, farms, and markets, with Fulton Street Market dropping off excess produce donated from farmers weekly. Other organizations partnering with CFC to bring fresh produce to their neighbors include New City Neighbors, Plainsong Farm, Super Bloom Farms, New Choice Project, Revolution Farms, and Kids Food Basket. While CFC sees summer favorites like lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes, they also take in more unique items like purple potatoes, patty pan squash, and romanesco broccoli. CFC staff note that, with the Food Club’s pricing model, there’s much less financial risk in trying these different produce items, which helps instill healthy eating habits and a willingness to try new things with kids.
Community Action House (CAH) dedicates volunteers to manage The Holland Community Garden (HCG) which provides locally-grown produce to both CAH’s Community Kitchen (a program that provides prepared meals daily to those in need) and Food Club. In 2024, HCG yielded 5,300 pounds of produce, with an estimated 4,000 pounds going to Community Kitchen and 1300 pounds to CAH Food Club. The HCG bounty includes the standard seasonal fare of green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, potatoes, celery, and onions, and they work hard to grow specific culturally relevant food requested by CAH based on feedback from their members: eggplant, hot peppers, green onions, sweet potatoes, and okra, for example. As a teaching garden, HCG also grows asparagus, rhubarb, and more unusual produce like cucamelons.
Through these creative local partnerships, Food Club Network food clubs are reinforcing their core food procurement systems. Along with other community gardeners, they are helping expand access to the nutritious foods that support good health. Prospective food clubs interested in learning more about starting their own community garden can check out this step-by-step guide.
