Arcadia Food, Inc.

COOL: Arcadia trains military veterans to be farmers.

VERY COOL: This is the same farm George Washington cultivated when HE retired from the military.

COOLEST: We plan to launch a veteran farm incubator – land where veterans who train to be farmers with us can start small farms of their own. We have 10 acres set aside where our vets can start their small farms; share our equipment and expertise; and sell to our Mobile Markets. 

NOT SO COOL: We need to drill a well and fund other farm infrastructure to make the incubator possible. Arcadia relies on rain and water from a nearby creek to irrigate our 3-acres vegetable farm. We need more water and a more reliable irrigation system if veterans are going to start their own businesses on our farm.

EVEN LESS COOL: It costs about $30,000 to install a new well.

Know what would be SUPER COOL? If you would help Arcadia launch a veteran farm incubator on land that George Washington farmed on.

 

If you’re interested in helping to fundraise for the Veteran Farmer Program, please contact Matt Mulder at Matt@Arcadiafood.org.

To learn more, visit the Veteran Farmer Program page on our website! 

Arcadia stands on the shoulders of giants -- ordinary people who, 180 years ago, saw what was wrong with the world and set about creating something better on this very farm. Surrounded on all sides by slave plantations, the people of Woodlawn -- Quaker, Black, White, and Immigrant -- established a free farming town where everyone was equal. They used this farm to advance the causes of freedom and equal justice, with good food and farming their cornerstone. 

We take a lot of courage from them now, and -- just like them -- we aim to use these acres to create something better for all of us. 

Good food.
Strong connections to the land, and to each other. 
Healthy communities. 

Your Spring2Action donation to Arcadia this year will help us make sure our most vulnerable neighbors have good food, and neighborhood children in need can come to Arcadia Farm Camp on full scholarships. 

At our Mobile Markets, your donations support doubling the face-value of food stamps, and support our Produce and Proteins Program in Hybla Valley. At camp, more than 30 kids will come free of charge. 

Many of our neighbors are currently in peril -- losing their jobs and livelihoods after years of faithful service, losing health care and food benefits, and some the only home they have ever known.

We can't do everything, but we can do this. 

Thank you for being an Arcadian (which you become, the exact moment you click donate!).

When Chef TV Andrew Zimmern visited Arcadia for his television series, “What’s Eating America,” here’s what called our farm: "54 acres of paradise."
Funny, because that's actually the idea that gave Arcadia its name. In Greek mythology, Arcadia was an agrarian utopia, a place where people and plants and wildlife lived together in harmony and abundance. That’s what we’re trying to do here -- a small corner of paradise, with sustainable food and agriculture, and community health and equity...always at the center. A place that helps everyone get their hands on the good stuff. 

Thank you for making Arcadia real for the last 15 years. Please support Arcadia during Spring2Action so we can continue to support ... all of us.



Who We Are

Arcadia is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a more equitable and sustainable local food system in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. Arcadia's mission is to improve the health of our community, support the viability of local farmers, and preserve the environment for future generations.

Through our programs, we:
Work to address issues of food access and food justice
Raise awareness about healthy food and its sources
Establish innovative connections between local, sustainable farms and consumers