Imagine a farm that helps thousands of D.C. residents a year and produces over 170 unique items of fresh food. It smells of composting fruit, a plethora of vegetables, and the strong essence of invasive mint. Within the garden, a faint humming of bees and the crunching of leaves fill the air. And even in the fall months, everything is green and flourishing.
Located in Alexandria, Virginia on land once owned by George Washington, Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture is a sustainable agriculture non-profit that grows food, provides a grocery store on wheels for those living in food deserts in D.C., and educates the next generation on the importance of food accessibility.
According to D.C. Policy Center, food deserts make up 11 percent of D.C.’s total area. A present-day D.C. food desert is defined as having these three factors:
- The walking distance to a supermarket or grocery store is more than 0.5 miles.
- Over 40% of the area's households have no access to a vehicle.
- The median household income is below the federal poverty level (under $27,750 for a family of four).
According to D.C. Hunger Solutions, there are 49 full-service grocery stores in Washington, D.C., but only two are located in Ward 7 and one in Ward 8.
The Census Reporter states that over 160,000 people live in Wards 7 and 8. 97% and 94% of Wards 7 and 8, respectively, are people of color. Without access to grocery stores, the only solution is fast food or convenience stores, which do not provide many healthy or nutritious food options.
Source: D.C. Policy Center | Infographic: Alyssa Landolfi
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Arcadia Farm provides those living in D.C. food deserts with fresh and affordable food through their mobile market. One of Arcadia's managers understands the need to combine sustainable agriculture with helping those who are experiencing food insecurity.
Juan Pablo Echeverria moved from Guatemala to Washington, D.C. five years ago. As the outreach and education manager at Arcadia Farm, he educates students on the importance of healthy nutrition and is one of the main farmers growing food sold at Arcadia Farm's mobile grocery store, Arcadia Mobile Market.
Echeverria understands food insecurity because he has seen his own community experience it.
After realizing he had a gift for gardening, Echeverria created a sustainable agriculture non-profit to help rural Guatemalan communities gain access to fresh and healthy food. Through education, workshops, and promoting gardening, Echeverria fed communities and taught them how to grow their own food.
"Guatemala has great soil and lots of water, but unfortunately, we are also an impoverished population with an unfair distribution of wealth and opportunity," said Echeverria.
Among Echeverria's community, many rural farmers grew one crop to sell in the cities daily. After a long day's work, the farmers would come back with unhealthy junk food for their families -- which was the most accessible food from the cities. Through Echeverria's non-profit, he aimed to teach the farmers how to grow multiple crops to enhance their own families' nutrition.
Similarly to Guatemala, many longtime residents of D.C. have experienced an unfair distribution of wealth and opportunity. Today, Echeverria works in the DMV area with Arcadia Farm to bring his passion for gardening, his knowledge of food insecurity, and his experience of educating to the farm.
According to Arcadia Farm's website, "Unsustainable farming practices are one of the major factors contributing to environmental degradation like erosion, polluted waterways, and a changing climate."
Echeverria gives a short tour of the farm:
He believes it is necessary to not only engage farmers but also the public in showing how small-scale and sustainable farming can be economically feasible, benefit the environment, and become a source of healthy food for the entire community.
Of the many fruits and vegetables grown on Arcadia Farm, the Virginia passion fruit is a favorite of Echeverria's. The sweet and slimy fruit has been a high-producing fruit on the farm for years. In addition to passion fruit, Arcadia Farms grows foods such as grapes, mint, arugula, tomatoes, garlic, and much more.
One way to deliver on Arcadia Farm's sustainability promise was to develop a mobile market to create a sustainable way for those in D.C. food deserts to have access to food in their own neighborhoods.
Arcadia Mobile Market, established in 2012 and located in Northeast Washington D.C., provides a way to bring the fresh food grown from Arcadia Farm to residents in D.C.. In addition to the farm, the grocery store on wheels locally sources dairy and meat from small and sustainable farms within a 100-mile radius.
This photo shows a D.C. event hosted by Arcadia in 2021 with Mayor Bowser. Photo Credit: Arcadia Mobile Market
The mobile market has sold over $1.4 million worth of affordably priced food for those living in food deserts in DC. The market's priority is to bring convenience to underserved neighborhoods.
In 2021, the market had over 3500 transactions throughout the year, and their top produce were corn, apples, peaches, cabbage, kale and sweet potatoes.
To this day, Arcadia Mobile Market provides donations for its partner programs. According to their 2021 annual report, the market donated over $63,000 worth of food to Produce Plus, a D.C. health program. They also donated $40,140 worth of food to Bourne2fly, a company that provides groceries for those in need within the neighborhood, +One, a non-profit that provides groceries and meals for over 500 families a week, and DC Dream Center.
In addition to their donations, the market has a matching program that doubles the value of SNAP, WIC, and Senior FMNP checks so that those facing challenges can purchase sustainable food for half the price at an accessible location. According to DC Action, over 110,000 residents in the district participate in SNAP, formally known as the food stamp program. DC Health states that over 15,000 people participate in WIC benefits and over 5,000 seniors participate in Senior FMNP checks, which are checks offered to low-income seniors in the farmers’ market nutrition program.
Back on the farm, Arcadia conducts volunteer days at least once a month throughout the year from March to November. On these days, volunteers might rotate the compost, pick fruits and vegetables, feed the chickens, or provide any other service the farm needs that day.
When Echeverria is not out working in the garden, he focuses on educating students on sustainable agriculture -- something he is extremely passionate about.
Among many schools on the Virginia side of the DMV area, Echeverria and Arcadia Farm provide the resources to develop gardens on school grounds for students to learn about sustainable gardening practices.
One of the biggest challenges Echeverria faces is the lack of support for sustainable school gardens. He believes that teaching students about sustainable food practices and the importance of food accessibility while they are young is extremely valuable, but many parents, teachers, and school boards do not see it as a priority.
Arcadia Farm and the Arcadia Mobile Market have their own challenges as well. Receiving fresh and local produce in the winter can be extremely difficult, and Arcadia Farm only recently started producing few crops throughout the winter, like onions. Since the mobile market sources food from a 100-mile radius, they are limited in what food and produce they can buy. Due to this, there is no mobile market during the months of March and April, forcing customers to find food somewhere else to buy groceries amidst food deserts.
For next season, Arcadia Farm and Arcadia Mobile Market are looking to expand their grocery store on wheels to more food deserts in DC. They are also overcoming some of the winter obstacles by building a greenhouse to extend the growing season.
With an increase in community engagement efforts done by Arcadia, Echeverria hopes that more people will understand the importance of food accessibility in DC and how sustainable agriculture can create a lasting impact.
For more information, below is the Arcadia Mobile Market winter schedule and a map of the grocery stores in DC compared to where Arcadia Mobile Market sets up shop throughout the year.