Programs

At SPROUT NOLA, we work towards a better food system by making farming accessible to everyone—that means anyone who wants to farm as a hobby, as a career, or anywhere in between. We build community around growing food and bridge the gaps in resources for farmers of all kinds. Our initiatives for bridging these gaps fall into one of these three categories:

 

Producers & Sustainability

To address problems resulting from capitalism and industrial agriculture, SPROUT’s Producers & Sustainability programming supports Louisiana farmers and farmworkers by connecting them to resources, encouraging collective organizing, and working on agricultural policy. 

Producers & Sustainability Programs: 

  • SPROUT works with partners to provide resources and support such as community classes, office hours, technical assistance, and workshops for both beginning and established farmers. 

  • We support cross-sector coalition building for farmers to meet and discuss their businesses and share ideas to become more successful, all while building community around local agriculture. 

  • SPROUT organizes on a city, state, and national level to grow support for the farmers of the Gulf South. Our work is to increase awareness of the challenges facing all small-scale farmers like lack of access to land, capital, and other resources; climate change adaptation and disaster recovery; and low profitability and as well as difficult-to-navigate bureaucracies. 

Land & Equity

SPROUT’s Land & Equity programming seeks to dismantle historic racial injustices in land access and ownership. We work with Black, Indigenous, Women, and other low-income, beginning, and systematically underserved farmers on the direction of this programming. 

Land & Equity Programs: 

  • We connect farmers of color to grants and programs to expand land access and each other to create cooperative models for shared success. 

  • SPROUT facilitates a process between local community leaders and land stewards to distribute reparations to growers to make the purchases they need to thrive. 

  • We organize to shape federal policies on land and equity. 

Community Food

Our Community Food initiatives help re-envision an inequitable and extractive food system by connecting people to land, food, and each other. We build communities in gardens and markets, work to facilitate local food aggregation and distribution, respond to community needs following natural disasters, and advocate for city policies that support urban agriculture. 

Community Food Programs: 

  • SPROUT facilitates a Community Garden for 30+ members. By creating social spheres that revolve around local food, we take a holistic approach to nutritional justice, encouraging people to enjoy every step of the process of food.

  • Our Truck Farm Table at the Farmers Market is an outlet for small-scale farmers to sell their goods and keep all the profits. In a food system that often exploits its farmers, it is important to maintain marketplaces that are designed with farmers in mind.

  • We host community classes, share resources, and do policy advocacy on the city level to ensure that urban growers can thrive in New Orleans.