National Nonprofit Opens Affiliate Program in Seattle
Giving Grove orchards provide free fruits, nuts and berries for neighborhoods facing food insecurity
Seattle, WA — The Giving Grove, a national nonprofit serving food insecure communities, announces today it will expand into Seattle in partnership with Tilth Alliance, a Seattle nonprofit that works in community with Washington farmers, gardeners and eaters to build a sustainable, healthy and equitable food future.
Since its launch in 2013, The Giving Grove network has planted 304 orchards across the nation that transform unused and vacant land into safe green spaces that provide free holistically-grown fruits, nuts, and berries. Giving Grove’s mission is to provide healthy calories, strengthen community, and improve the environment through a nationwide network of sustainable little orchards that dramatically increase access to healthy foods.
“We are excited to partner with Giving Grove to bring resources and expertise in support of the establishment of Community Orchards, which we view as a vital component to a healthy and equitable food future in Seattle,” said Melissa Spear, Tilth Alliance Executive Director. “Establishing these new orchards as a community food resource will result in fresh, culturally relevant, and accessible food for decades to come and provide increased access to public green spaces stewarded and enjoyed by local communities.”
After finding success with its model in Kansas City, The Giving Grove began expanding to other cities with high food insecurity rates, launching affiliate programs in St. Louis and Omaha in 2017 and in Memphis, Louisville, rural Kansas, and Cincinnati in 2020. This month The Giving Grove has announced its expansion into Dallas, Atlanta, and Seattle. The Giving Grove’s expansion plans include launching affiliates in 11 more U.S. cities by 2025.
“We now have Giving Grove programs from the East to the West coast. With each new affiliate added, we expand the diversity of programming, growing smarter and nimbler as a network. Volunteer orchard stewards caring for a single orchard in one city will have the lessons and experience of the 300 that came before,” said Giving Grove Chief Replication Officer Ashley Williamson.
The typical Giving Grove orchard will produce more than 9,800 servings of holistically-grown, free, healthy foods worth more than $8,200 each year. With a 50-60+ year lifespan, each orchard will produce over its lifetime more than 212,000 servings of food for people in need while sequestering carbon, reducing stormwater runoff, and providing urban tree canopy.
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Giving Grove’s vision is thousands of little orchards in food insecure urban neighborhoods across the nation, creating a local food production system that feeds people for decades. Learn more at www.givinggrove.org.
Tilth Alliance works in community with Washington farmers, gardeners and eaters to build a sustainable, healthy and equitable food future. Learn more at www.tilthalliance.org
