The Farmpreneurs program (see job description here) exposes budding youth entrepreneurs to new ideas, careers, and skills in agriculture, culinary arts, and entrepreneurship with Montclair Community Farms and several community partners including River Valley Community Grains, Ruthies BBQ & Pizza, Ruthie’s Farm, Montclair Bread, and Le French Dad.

Between 2021-2023, 45 farmpreneurs participated in hands-on, in-person, and immersive activities where they grew fruits and vegetables and used them to create, market, and sell their own food products from seed to sale with a goal of expanding the market for local organic grains and produce. Participants will start by growing their own seedlings in the greenhouse at Van Vleck House and Gardens, some of which was planted out in our farm sites and others donated and sold to the community. Farmpreneurs learned how to grow thriving gardens, harvest/clean/mill/prepare fruits and vegetables for consumption, and then use them to develop, market, and sell food products in pop-up markets, and online marketplace and agri-events. Pickles, tomato sauce, pizza, doughnuts, herb butter and salt are just some of the products you can expect.

Thanks to the Aibtikar Foundation, New Jersey Healthy Community Network, and U.S. Department of Agriculture for supporting this project from 2021-2023. A full report of program outcomes and lessons learned can be found HERE.

See more photos of our April 17 event at Montclair Bread from Renee Lim HERE.

Supporting New Jersey Local Grains

Supporting New Jersey's Local Grains

One of the projects objectives was of this project was to boost the demand for locally grown organic small grains and produce. By creating and marketing value-added products, it sought to create a sustainable market for these goods, supporting local farmers and strengthening the overall food system infrastructure in the region. Below are recipe cards created that support the use of New Jersey Local Grains.