Urban Ventures

Urban Ventures, an education-based nonprofit in south Minneapolis, opened in 1993 and began addressing food insecurity and hunger in low-income neighborhoods in 2011, when it created the Farm and Nutrition Program. Today the program distributes thousands of pounds of produce and meals to food-insecure families and provides farming, nutrition, and environmental education to hundreds of children, youth, and adults each year.

Urban Ventures (UV) opened in 1993 to provide educational services to children and youth. UV now has a broad range of programs in-school and out-of-school, beginning with an early learning center and going through college/career prep. Parents of children enrolled in UV's programs have access to adult programs that help them become better parents. Everyone has access to UV's Farm & Nutrition program. UV's mission is educating children, strengthening their families & building a healthy community.

The UV Farm and Nutrition Program ensures that low-income children and families are able to access, afford and prepare healthy food. The program has 2 farm sites that serve as living laboratories where UV participants and neighbors learn about sustainable farming, especially in dense urban areas; the environment; and plant and animal life. The program's Nutrition Educator provides nutrition education to UV program participants and to neighbors and other individuals who visit the UV farms.

Funding would be used to
• Increase access to food by expanding food procurement, farming operations, & organic produce distribution sites;

• Expand agricultural, environmental & nutrition education that includes healthy eating, farming classes, field trips, urban gardening, & community events;

• Enhance sustainability practices by providing families with the resources to understand the local food system and providing youth & families hands-on experience in sustainable farming in their neighborhoods.

UV's Farm & Nutrition Program works with partners to reduce hunger, food insecurity, and health disparities and increase accessibility to locally grown food. Our approach to determining the needs of the local food economy is rooted in relationships with other community nonprofits, urban farms, and inner-city churches. Through our community relationships we hold and participate in neighborhood dialogues, group gatherings, and focus groups involving neighbors who will be part of the solution.