Advancing Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems in Virginia

Our Virginia Tech Center for Food systems and Community Transformation, in partnership with Virginia State University’s (VSU) Small Farm Outreach Program and the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), is leading a project titled “Advancing Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems in Virginia.”

This project emerges from a national call from the USDA’s FSA to support urban growers through culturally appropriate education, technical assistance, and outreach programming.  The five main project objectives include

1. Build organizational, farmer, and agency capacity to assist VA urban farmers
2. Increase understanding of urban agriculture in Virginia
3. Increase knowledge, awareness, and participation in FSA and USDA programs and services associated with growing food in an urban area
4. Assist farmers with expanding farming operations, accessing land, and implementing climate-friendly practices in urban areas
5. Increase access and participation of underserved farmers in FSA programs and services in urban areas.   

Activities to help achieve these objectives include:

• Co-designing and implementing urban agriculture enhancement project mini-grants
• Conducting a Virginia Urban Agriculture Landscape Assessment
• Hosting a 2025 Mid-Atlantic Urban Agriculture Summit
• Hosting regional urban agriculture convenings
• Creating an online resource center with urban agricultural content
• Launching a Richmond area urban agriculture tool lending library
• Leading FSAs Train the Trainer program in Urban Food Systems and Farming

Key Activities

We will be offering a new round of mini-grants for programs and projects that enhance urban agriculture activities across Virginia. We will announce the call for proposals soon via our listserv. Feel free to join our listserv to stay in the loop. 

Mini-grant Recipients 2024-2025

Our 2024-2025 mini-grants were able to award seven urban agriculture projects across Virginia.

Outreach

This project supports a variety of outreach activities to foster networking and education around urban agriculture in Virginia.

Stay Connected

Stay connected and receive updates on this project by joining our Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation Listserv! Email ketrozzo@vt.edu with "Join Center Listserv" to join.

Advisory Group

• Cameron Terry (Garden Variety Harvests) (Roanoke)
• Duron Chavis (Happily National Day and Sankofa Community Garden) (Richmond)
• Jeanette Abi-Nader (Piedmont Housing Alliance and Liaison for Cultivate Charlottesville)  (Charlotteville)
• Kathryn Strong (Virginia Cooperative Extension) (Fairfax County)
• Morgan Bradley (Appalachian Sustainable Development) (Bristol)
• Renee Foster (USDA FSA Urban Ag Executive Director) (Hampton Roads) 
• Sharon Manana (Work Program Architects and Hampton Roads Urban Agriculture Community) (Norfolk)
• Tyrone Cherry (Petersburg Oasis CommUNITY Farm) (Petersburg)
• Tatiana Gill (NRCS State Coordinator Virginia)
• Herbert Brown (USDA FSA Virginia) (ex officio)
• Briana Stevenson (VSU NuAg Initiative Coordinator) (ex officio)

Team

• Dr. Ron Howell (USDA FSA)
• William Crutchfield (VSU) (lead)
• Alston Hilliard  (VSU)
• Katie Trozzo (VT)
• Stephanie Zhu (VT)
• Eric Bendfeldt (VT)
• Kim Niewolny (VT) (lead)

Partners