RVAFarms

How did your venture start? RVAFarms is an urban farm that will grow fresh vegetables for food deserts in the city of Richmond. The idea came to life as a result of the systemic poverty in the city and the health disparities that exist due to lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in Richmond’s East […]

April 11, 2013; 4:12 PM • by RVANews staff

How did your venture start?

RVAFarms is an urban farm that will grow fresh vegetables for food deserts in the city of Richmond. The idea came to life as a result of the systemic poverty in the city and the health disparities that exist due to lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in Richmond’s East End and Southside. Our goal is to connect low income communities to locally grown food that is organic, nutrient dense and pesticide and herbicide free.

What does your start-up business do?

RVAFarms will develop and manage an urban farm in the city. The food that is grown on the farm will be sold direct to consumer and restaurants in the city. We will operate pop-up farmers’ markets that target food deserts within the city and accept SNAP benefits and WIC. We will also provide culturally relevant programming for urban communities in nutrition education, culinary arts, and urban agriculture.

How will you use the $10,000 cash prize to help your start-up?

We will use the $10,000 to build our first sustainable year-round urban farm. We will use the money to acquire the land for site development, and for marketing outreach into the community regarding our programs and produce.

April 11, 2013 4:12 PM 0