Everyone’s Farm to Everyone’s Table. Just. Vibrant. Sustainable.
Just Roots is a nonprofit community organization located in Greenfield, Massachusetts. We began in 2008 as a grassroots group of concerned citizens looking to promote vegetable gardening and grow food on municipal land. Our goal is to increase knowledge about and demand for local food in Franklin County. The Greenfield Community Farm is the centerpiece of our work.
Perhaps best known as the organization that developed and operates one of the largest SNAP-enrolled, low-income Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share programs in Massachusetts, Just Roots is a leader in the effort to include and engage all people in the local food economy. In recent years, Just Roots has expanded our impact through our Food is Medicine work. Partnering with Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and other healthcare organizations, we connect food insecure patients throughout Massachusetts with food from our farm and other local farms. Just Roots empowers vibrant, inclusive and sustainable farm and food economies in Massachusetts.
Our connections with the community, including local farm organizations, food distributors, educators, community gardeners, public institutions and social service networks, are essential to our success.
In 2014, Just Roots was officially approved as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Our Mission
Create equitable access to healthy local food in Western Massachusetts, and work toward just, vibrant, and sustainable farm and food systems everywhere.
Our Vision
We envision a world in which our food systems are equitable, resilient, sustainable and inclusive of small farms, local businesses and people who are racially and economically diverse, healthy, thriving and empowered.
Our Guiding Principles
- To be accessible to all residents within the community, understanding that all must be well served for any to prosper
- To leave the land richer and more productive than the year before
- To produce food, products and services that are healthy both for people and land
- To enrich and sustain the native health and biodiversity of the Greenfield Community Farm
- To foster collaborative education that is local and hands-on
- To look for local solutions to local problems
- To promote and practice sustainability at all levels
- To build a diverse and inclusive community
- To improve food security and resiliency of local food systems