Greeneville, TN-For over 20 years, Rural Resources has found innovative ways to meet critical community needs for economic opportunity, access to nutritious foods, and the preservation of our heritage and ecosystem through the use of local food. Our work is rewarding and meaningful, but it has never been easy! It became even more challenging in 2009 when our primary facility burned to the ground. They never let this setback stop them, and they have continued to grow and thrive since then.
2015 Farm Day Camp participants work on crafts and make dilly beans in an old tobacco barn. The Farm & Food Learning Center will include indoor and outdoor learning spaces, with access to running water and a teaching kitchen.
For example, through the Farm & Food Teen Training Program, which serves at-risk teens in Greene County over a five year span of time, Rural Resources has provided about 15,000 hours of individual instruction on growing, cooking, and marketing food, as well as important career and business skills. In just the last two years this has included the establishment of 16 gardens across the county, providing food to teens and their families.
The time has finally come for a facility that can be a central hub for the education and innovation at the core of Rural Resources’ mission. The Farm & Food Learning Center will be a welcoming space that will allow at-risk teens, Farm Day Camp participants, school children, and many others anxious to learn about farms and food through growing, cooking, marketing, and eating it!
The Farm & Food Learning Center will provide multiple educational spaces for children, at-risk teens, and other community members, encompassing the entire farm-to-table process.
Through generous community support along with grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission, USDA Rural Development, and the East Tennessee Foundation, Rural Resources is well on its way to constructing this desperately needed facility. They are excited to begin the next phase of this project–getting the equipment, furnishings, and other materials that will make this building a “home” for all lovers of local food and community development. You can help Rural Resources achieve this mission by naming a part of the building and grounds after yourself or a loved one.
Those who would like to establish a lasting legacy in their own name or that of a loved one can choose from one of several naming opportunities we have listed on our website. For contributions of a specified amount, donors can have a room or feature of the building dedicated to a name of their choosing. All donations are deeply appreciated, of any size from anyone who values Rural Resources’ work on agricultural education, food security, nutrition, and the wise cultivation of our region’s rich agricultural heritage and natural resources. To make a donation, please visit www.ruralresources.net, call us at 423-636-8171, or mail a check to Rural Resources, 2870 Holley Creek Rd., Greeneville, TN 37745.