New Farmer Incubator

The ecological wealth of the George Jones Farm and the logistics and distribution expertise of longtime leaseholder City Fresh provide a powerful opportunity to support new farmers and food-justice initiatives with a commitment to the local community.

Following the methods and orientation of environmental justice, our project hears and values the knowledge of Indigenous, diasporic, historically exploited/enslaved, Black, urban, and immigrant communities, including the expertise held by marginalized farmers, farmworkers, cooks, and food justice activists and advocates. We recognize the history of discrimination and exclusion from life with the soil and seek to foster opportunities to grow beyond these obstacles.

Through our collaboration, we seek to prepare the next generation of community and academic leaders to embody an approach to food justice and to build a community-academic network that will have lasting impact beyond the funding period for the local community of Lorain County, Ohio, as well as regionally and nationally.

Now Accepting Applications for 2025 New Farmer Incubator Cohort

City Fresh, in conjunction with Lorain County Community College, is excited to announce Year Two of the New Farmer Incubator program housed at George Jones Farm in Oberlin. We are particularly focused on supporting growers from communities who have faced historic land access barriers.

City Fresh is a non-profit local foods organization working to create and promote a more healthy, vibrant, and just local foods system. The New Farmer Incubator joins an affordably-priced farm box program established in 2005 in our docket of projects.

The request for proposals has been extended to February 15, 2025. We encourage any aspiring growers able to commit to apply.

Questions regarding the application should be directed to gjf@cityfresh.org.

 

Get Involved

We love volunteers and could always use assistance keeping programs like these running. We invite individuals, teams, or groups (community or student) to come out to the George Jones Farm to help us with a variety of tasks, year-round. Tasks may include weeding, watering, harvesting crops, preparing City Fresh shares, natural building, sustainable energy projects, trail building and maintenance, and equipment and facility upkeep. Sports teams, church groups, corporations, and student clubs are all welcome to schedule service days with us.

Contact us or use our Volunteer Form to get started. 

The Vision

The New Farmer Incubator Program explicitly seeks to bridge the gaps created by historical barriers to land access by offering aspiring farmers the resources, mentorship, and support they need to build successful farm businesses. The Incubator works with academic and community leaders to grow new farmers by sharing agricultural land and resources, an established distribution network, and above-market purchasing for farm produce.

Meet Our New Farmers

Our inaugural cohort are working hard and getting growing!