DC Central Kitchen Gets Food Donations From JK Community Farm

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — JK Community Farm, a 150-acre farm in western Loudoun County, is partnering with DC Central Kitchen to expand its food distribution to reach those facing food insecurity in Washington, D.C.

The farm plans to donate close to 230,000 pounds of food in 2021 throughout the region, with 40,000 pounds of food — the equivalent of 28,000 meals — going to DC Central Kitchen to combat hunger.

“COVID challenged our efforts to keep up with demand, but we adapted our volunteer workforce and were able to increase yield to ensure more families had healthy meals on their plates,” Samantha Kuhn, executive director of JK Community Farm, said in a statement Tuesday.

“Our increased production is enabling us to grow our footprint, and we are excited that DC Central Kitchen is becoming a distribution partner to serve more with our healthy yield,” Kuhn said.

DC Central Kitchen combats hunger and poverty through job training and job creation. The nonprofit group will be picking up from the farm twice per month.

JK Community Farm’s food will be used in the kitchens at DC Central Kitchen, which provide culinary job training and prepared meals to local shelters and emergency mobile feeding sites, as well as using the fresh produce in produce bags that they distribute across D.C.

SEE ALSO: JK Community Farm Sets Goal Of 108,000 Meals To Reduce Hunger

DC Central Kitchen will also send groups of volunteers to harvest food at the JK Community Farm for distribution at DC Central Kitchen. In 2020, DC Central Kitchen served 3.8 million emergency meals and brought groceries to more than 200 locations.

JK Community Farm’s other partners in the D.C. area include Loudoun Hunger Relief, Food for Others and Arlington Food Assistance Center.

With the goal of nearly doubling production in 2021, JK Community Farm is planting on 14 acres, up from eight, as well as continuing to grow in high tunnels, greenhouses and raised beds. The farm produces a variety of vegetables, such as lettuce, arugula, kale, broccoli, radishes, onions, Swiss chard, spinach, cabbage, squash, zucchini and protein.

JK Community Farm is a nonprofit farm started in 2018 with the support of JK Moving Services. The farm does not use chemicals in its operations.

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