Mutual Aid with Peoria Grown: Increasing Access to Nutrient-Dense Vegetables in Peoria

Down River Farm is honored to be partnering with @peoriagrown to improve access to nutrient rich vegetables for more areas of our Peoria community. 

Is food sovereignty something you're passionate about?

There are many areas of Peoria that don't have access to grocery stores within a reasonable range, leaving them with poor, unhealthy options for food. Many people don't have the ability or the desire to go to a farmers market.

This year, we are partnering up with Peoria Grown to improve access to farm fresh vegetables in Peoria. We support Peoria Grown because they're bringing healthy foods into these areas themselves through their Market 309 program. This allows access to healthy/affordable options in the most underserved neighborhoods.

Peoria Grown also works with nutritionists from Bradley to put on cooking classes for both youth and adults in these underserved, underrepresented communities, offering valuable opportunities to learn how to create meals with healthy recipes featuring local produce. 

By doing this, we are helping to ensure these overlooked parts of our community have access to the highest quality, most nutrient dense foods. We are working to send food from the farm to their various programs and ensure culturally appropriate, desirable foods are provided. 

Play the video below to learn more about this inspiring organization, and the read on for how you can help us support their mission.

We can only do this with your help.

We are a small farm that doesn't have the ability to donate our produce just yet. If you have the ability to contribute, it will go directly towards sending produce to Peoria Grown to be distributed. Upon purchase, you will be sent a link to a Googlesheet that gives you the ability to see your donation go into the database, see when that food is delivered, and at what price point. We also welcome checks sent directly to the farm at 3404 Springfield Road, East Peoria. Please include in the Memo line "Mutual Aid" and send us an e-mail (downriverfarm@gmail.com) saying a check was sent. 

Transparency is key in making sure you know how your money is being utilized and so all parties can be held accountable. Contributions will be combined and then distributed among the growing season to coincide with our harvests. Meaning if you contribute in May, your contribution may not be utilized until September. Rest assured, it will get used the 2022 season.

While this is no perfect solution to a very big problem, we are eager to start taking small steps towards food equity and security within Peoria. We think it is a worthy first step. At this point, we believe there may not be a "perfect" solution to a complicated issue, but will partner with those who are willing to try SOMETHING. TO DO SOMETHING.

If you've watched us from afar and haven't been able to buy our produce, this is a great way to support our mission, Peoria Grown's mission, and our own neighbors within Peoria all at once. We are treating this as a learning experience for all parties involved. We welcome your participation in this trial run as well as your feedback. 

​Thank you for your consideration in this project. With your help, we can do something no other farms in this area have attempted.