ABOUT US

Farm Box 2 Family charity food box program is a nonprofit 501c3 that has been established to provide quality Arkansas produce to feed families in need, providing opportunity for small local farmers, and utilizing Arkansas talented chefs and educators for food education. 
 

What is FarmBox2Family Charity Food Box Program?

 
  • The goal of this program is to provide education, tools, and access to healthy, Arkansas-grown produce to families in need.
  •     This program aims to educate program participants on how they can make changes in their eating habits that will in turn enable them to live healthier lifestyles and improve their overall health.
  •     Focus is on SNAP eligible individuals and families.
  • Low-income neighborhoods
  • Food Desert communities
  • To Support Arkansas Farmers

Who is Involved?

  •  A partnership between Baptist Health Foundation and members and supporters of the FarmBox2Family Foundation
  • Includes 14 locally owned central Arkansas restaurants
  • 16 Executive Chefs;  
  • 13 Arkansas farmers 
  • Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance
  • Department of Health
  • DHS/SNAP Outreach
  • Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention
  • Pulaski Tech Culinary and Hospitality Institution
  • The Altheimer Foundation
  • Baptist Health Foundation

Here is what we have done!

  • We kicked off in June 2016
  • We delivered Charity Food Boxes for a total of 10 weeks in 2016. 9 weeks in the summer, and 1 Fall Harvest delivery in November.
  • We served families in the Little Rock area, Altheimer area, and families of the CASA Women's Shelter in Pine Bluff.
  • We partnered with 13 Arkansas farmers from 10 different communities to purchase the produce from weekly. The majority of these farmers are limited-resource farmers, who struggle to make ends meet, thus, they greatly benefitted from this program as well.
  •  We conducted 10 cooking demonstrations by professional chefs from top restaurants in central Arkansas (these chefs volunteered their time and resources). These cooking demos were designed to teach the people receiving the boxes how to cook the produce they were receiving in a healthy way.
  • We delivered 1,300 total boxes - each box serves a family of 4.
  • Each box of produce cost an average of $23.00, for a total of $30,000 worth of produce purchased fromArkansas farmers for this program in 2016.
  • We delivered over 30,000 pounds of healthy, Arkansas produce to families in need.
 

Where Does FarmBox2Family Take Place? 

  • ​Produce is purchased from Arkansas Farmers at their farms and brought to the Baptist Health Farmers Market
  • Produce boxes are assembled by volunteers each week at the Baptist Health Farmers Markets
  • Boxes are then delivered out into targeted neighborhoods and communities