Foundation Hosts 'Farm Field Trip' to Connect, Collaborate With D.C. Food Partners

Over the past year, our work in food and nutrition has evolved and expanded. We started by growing food at the Bainum Foundation Farm for underserved communities in the District of Columbia. Last week, at the tail end of our first growing season, we gathered 20 partners from food-related organizations at the Farm to share our work and to explore ways we can work together to strengthen the local food system.

Our Farm Field Trip for food partners took place on a beautiful fall day.
Many Foundation staff supported the event both behind-the-scenes and in-person to make it all possible.
Leila Otis, Senior Director of Program Operations, and Katie Jones, Director of our Food Security Initiative, welcomed our guests and explained the mission, vision and strategy behind the Farm and our food-related work.
Prior to the official Farm tour, Katie shared the mission, vision and strategy of our Farm and our Food Security Initiative as a whole.
Tonya Taylor, Production Manager of the Bainum Foundation Farm, explained how our greenhouse extends our growing season, enabling us to care for and strengthen seedlings before planting them in the field, grow a variety of produce and ultimately give more to our community.
In our first year, cultivating just under four acres of our land with low-till agricultural practices and primarily drip- and hand-irrigation, our Farm and our sustainable approach have yielded 19,500 lbs of fresh produce.
We have also integrated flowers in our market field, shown here, to attract pollinators.
Kasey Clark, Operations Manager of the Bainum Foundation Farm (and husband to Tonya), presented our equipment shed and cooler, where we wash and prepare produce prior to distribution in the District.
Using a site map of our property, Katie discussed future expansion plans for the Farm.
Kasey also introduced our food partners to the Bainum bees, explaining the pollinators' critical role on our Farm and for food production as a whole.
The Farm tour was capped by a lovely outdoor lunch on our property.
Barbara Bainum, Chair of the Board, CEO and President of the Bainum Family Foundation, extended a warm welcome to our partners, sharing her family's connection to the property and how the Farm — and our larger Food Security Initiative — supports the Foundation's overall mission.
While enjoying their meals, partners and Foundation staff engaged in lively discussions about our work and how we can better collaborate and support each other in this space.
No partner left the Farm empty-handed — our guests walked away with small jars of honey from our bees, fresh herbs from the Farm and bouquets of wildflowers from our market field.
A fun, informative and jam-packed day, our Farm Field Trip, we hope, will be the first of many as we continue to tackle food insecurity and better serve children and families in the District of Columbia.

“It was an honor to host so many local change agents at our Farm,” said my colleague Katie Jones, Director of the Food Security Initiative for the Foundation. “I strongly believe we can create a sustainable, end-to-end solution that provides equitable access to healthy food for all residents of the District — but only by coming together and collaborating. We hope this event will serve as the catalyst for multiple powerful partnerships and real change for our community.”

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Foundation Hosts ‘Farm Field Trip’ to Connect, Collaborate With D.C. Food Partners

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