Written by Morgan Barlin, 12/12/2025

This growing season, Eastie Farm donated 22,920 pounds of free food: fruits, vegetables, eggs, and even turkeys to neighbors in need.

According to the USDA in this NPR article, the average person eats 1,996 pounds of food in a year. That means that Eastie Farm provided the equivalent of an entire year’s supply of food to feed 11.5 people. While we spread that supply out between 220+ families, Eastie Farm donated many of the fruits and vegetables on families’ plates from late May through November. 

Here’s a breakdown of Eastie Farm’s free food programming:

28 Weeks of Free Food Shares, thanks to Gaining Ground

Eastie Farm partners with Gaining Ground, a non-profit organic farm in Concord, MA that grows food for the sole purpose of giving it out for free. Gaining Ground donates hundreds of pounds of organic vegetables every week during the growing season to Eastie Farm.Thanks to weekly donations from Gaining Ground from May to November, we distributed 980 shares of free food, packed into reusable Eastie Farm tote bags. Our volunteers, Youth Climate Corps, and staff packed 35-40 bags every Wednesday, largely with produce from Gaining Ground. Check out this video to see how our free food distribution with Gaining Ground worked this year.

Using our free food questionnaire and referrals from other organizations, we selected 35 individuals and families experiencing food insecurity in East Boston to pick up weekly shares of organic produce. Families had 4 different options for pickup, 2 morning and 2 afternoon pickups at 2 different locations, giving flexibility that is not always possible in free food distributions. 

The benefits to our change in free food distributions are:

• We cultivate more substantial relationships with our neighbors
• It saves time for community members because they are helped as soon as they walk in the door, rather than waiting in long lines
• It eliminates people arriving hours in advance of the distribution to be the first few in line, eliminating fighting and frustration
• Families are guaranteed that they will receive food every week instead of waiting in line and not knowing if there will be enough
• We screen for food insecurity to select families to participate, and we know that the food is feeding families in East Boston in need. While we know that the need is more than we can service, we have a screening process that works for the volume we can provide

 Free summer CSA’s

For 6 weeks during the summer, Eastie Farm selected 30 additional individuals and families to receive free CSA shares. That’s 180 CSA shares, over $8,000 worth of CSA’s. Using the same free food questionnaire, we selected 30 more East Boston residents who were in need of food. We distributed about 1,440 lbs of free CSA’s including summer crops like tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and peaches, along with eggs every other week. 

Here’s what some free CSA customers had to say about the program:

Evelyn: “Para mi familia fue de gran ayuda con los alimentos, pues el costo de estos esta demasiado elevado.”

Translation: “Yes, it was a great help to my family with food, as the cost of food is too high.”

Fatema: “Provided clean and green organic vegetables for my young infant”

 Donations to community partners and neighbors

Eastie Farm provided 80 free CSA’s worth of local food to senior housing facilities Victory Gardens and Barnes School Apartments. Meeting seniors where they are, we delivered hundreds of pounds of produce to both facilities.

Lisa Gallotto, Property Manager at Barnes School Apartments, says:

“Eastie Farm’s food distribution has benefited the elderly tenants at the Barnes School by providing easier and safer access for food collection as it is right in the building, allowing them to cook their favorite recipes without the extra cost, they are now enjoying vegetables that are an important sources of vitamins and dietary fiber, which because due to the higher prices they could not afford and would not eat.

We all appreciate what you do for the elderly in our building/community”

When we had extra produce at the end of the week, we would also donate leftover shares to neighbors in need. We texted families on our waitlist who picked up extra food on Fridays. These shares were often shares that were unclaimed by the end of the week, or if we just had extra. Additionally, Eastie Farm tabled at community events and donated produce, like at the East Boston Showcase hosted at the Mario Umana Academy and organized by Every Child Shines, through the East Boston Social Centers.

 Thanksgiving free food shares

Eastie Farm gave out Thanksgiving meal shares to 20 East Boston families in need of food support.Thanks to Mayor Michelle Wu’s Office for donating 20 turkeys for us to distribute, and the Boston Food Hub, where we purchased butternut squash, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and apples from local farms!

 Heavily discounted CSA shares

89 subscribers to our Community Supported Agriculture program subscribed to our Leg Up share, which is priced at $20/share compared to the market rate, $47/share. The price of this share is 58% off to make our farm share more accessible to neighbors in need. For families on SNAP subscribed to our Leg Up CSA, the cost of a bi-weekly CSA share (at a minimum) was covered by the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), which gives MA SNAP recipients money back on their EBT cards for purchasing local fruits and vegetables from a participating vendor. This means that families didn’t have to spent any of their SNAP dollars on the CSA. Just by taking advantage of this program, HIP covered the cost of bi-weekly (or more) groceries. Learn more about SNAP and HIP here. 

If you’d like to fill out our free food questionnaire, please do so here.

If you’d like to support our future food access programming, please consider making a donation to ourFood for Families Campaign and/or volunteering with Eastie Farm.

If you’d like to subscribe to our CSA, learn more here.