Our mission is to provide food education and alleviate food insecurity with nutrient dense produce and protein.
What We Do
The JK Community Farm is a 150-acre working farm practicing regenerative, sustainable, chemical-free four-season agriculture, and growing solely for the food insecure.
We grow over 50 varieties of vegetables, fruits, protein, and herbs on 14 acres of outdoor fields, 2 high tunnels, 1 greenhouse, and 14 raised beds. Our crops are selected to optimize options that are best suited to the season, and the families that we serve. We offer an annual survey to the families we feed to ensure they have access to the healthy foods they desire.
The Farm donates its yield in partnership with Loudoun Hunger Relief, Food for Others, Arlington Food Assistance Center, and DC Central Kitchen and works to increase access to fresh produce and protein to the food insecure through educational programs in alignment with the Virginia standards of learning to educate students on nutrition and agriculture. The Farm provides a complete self-guided field trip curriculum, which includes community gardening activities, and opportunities for parents/caregivers to learn alongside their children at the farm.
With a staff of 3, our farm is operated primarily with the help of volunteers who join us for all planting and harvesting. hosts over 4500 volunteers annually, the majority as corporate team-building events from companies throughout the northern VA region, After harvest, the food grown at the JK Community Farm is picked up by our food pantry partners for immediate distribution. Harvests are picked up daily to ensure the food is reaching families as fresh as possible.
The JK Community Farm is open to the public as a hub for volunteerism and food education, a place for people to connect with their food and where it comes from. The JK Community Farm is the nation’s largest chemical-free nonprofit farm in the country donating 100% of what we grow.
Why?
Our food system is broken, and we are in pursuit of change. We believe that all people and all communities have the right to access nutritionally dense and culturally appropriate produce and protein.
Food insecurity refers to the inability to afford enough food for an active, healthy life. Common household responses to inadequate food supplies are food budget adjustments, and increased consumption of low cost, ultra processed, calorie dense foods with little nutritional value. Historically, much of the food donated to food pantries has been processed foods high in salt, fat, and sugar. These foods may alleviate hunger, but they do not provide the nutrients our bodies need to thrive. The USDA reports strong correlations between food insecurity, and negative health outcomes including a higher probability of diet related chronic disease – cancer, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, kidney disease, and COPD
In Northern Virginia alone, 90,000 people are facing food insecurity, and 40% are children. We wish to enhance quality of life for those people by creating access to fresh food, and food education, with a focus on regenerative agriculture.
By the end of 2023, the JK Community Farm aims to distribute 245,000 pounds of organic produce and protein to families who are experiencing food insecurity in Loudoun, Fairfax, Arlington, and DC. This contribution is expected to provide approximately 196,000 meals, with 175,000 pounds of produce and 60,000 pounds of protein. The farm’s efforts this season will bring the total amount of food donated to our food pantry partners since our establishment in 2018 to 1 million pounds. Through its tireless efforts, the JK Community Farm continues to make a significant impact in the lives of individuals and families in need in the local community.
Why?
Our food system is broken, and we are in pursuit of change. We believe that all people and all communities have the right to access nutritionally dense and culturally appropriate produce and protein.
Food insecurity refers to the inability to afford enough food for an active, healthy life. Common household responses to inadequate food supplies are food budget adjustments, and increased consumption of low cost, ultra processed, calorie dense foods with little nutritional value. Historically, much of the food donated to food pantries has been processed foods high in salt, fat, and sugar. These foods may alleviate hunger, but they do not provide the nutrients our bodies need to thrive. The USDA reports strong correlations between food insecurity, and negative health outcomes including a higher probability of diet related chronic disease – cancer, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, kidney disease, and COPD
In Northern Virginia alone, 90,000 people are facing food insecurity, and 40% are children. We wish to enhance quality of life for those people by creating access to fresh food, and food education, with a focus on regenerative agriculture.
By the end of 2022, the JK Community Farm is expected to produce 230,000 lbs of local, fresh, chemical-free produce and protein for our food pantry partners.
News & Events
2024 Plant-A-Thon
On May 17th and 18th the JK Community Farm's wonderful community will be working together to plant 52,000 seedlings. These seedlings will grow [...]
Purcellville’s JK Community Farm reaches 1 million pounds of food donated
February 16, 2024 Times-Mirror Staff Report - Feb 14, 2024 The JK Community Farm, a 150-acre farm near Purcellville, is [...]
JK Community Farm Finishes 5th Year, Reaching 1 Million Pounds of Food Donated to Local Food Pantries
February 6, 2024 Milestones among Many for Nonprofit Focused on Ending Hunger STERLING, Va. (February 5, 2024)—The JK Community Farm, [...]