Astoria Harvest: Growing Food & Community

Six months ago, Astoria Harvest was an idea. Today we're a multi-site community resilience network serving 750+ families across Clatsop County, Oregon — built entirely by volunteers, on zero institutional funding.

That's not a typo. Six months. Zero budget. All community.

We launched in response to SNAP benefit cuts that threatened to eliminate 828,000 meals annually in Clatsop County alone.

What started as emergency food distribution has grown into a full mutual aid and food sovereignty network — 75+ volunteers, 1,200+ community members, a grant from the American Humanist Association, and food going in the ground right now.

Here's what we've built:

A working farm — On a 5-acre property on the Oregon Coast, we're growing free organic food for Clatsop County. Chickens rotating the land. 23 tomato varieties from TomatoFest. Hundreds of starts ready to share. All free. All organic.

Root & Refuge — Our garden matching program connects people who have land with people who want to grow food. Every match made by hand. No algorithms. All organic and non-GMO. Learn more at astoriaharvest.org/root-refuge.

Direct mutual aid — Gas cards to get to doctor's appointments. Emergency supplies. Systems navigation. The asks coming in are incredibly granular — a single pair of shoes that fit, cat flea medicine, a bus pass. We show up for all of it. No gatekeeping. No means-testing.

️ Little free food libraries — Coming soon to neighborhoods across Clatsop County. Free food, free starts, free seeds. Right in your neighborhood.

The metaphor we keep coming back to is grouting between the tiles. The agencies, the nonprofits, the government programs — those are the tiles. People fall through the gaps. We're the grout.

Every skill you don't have is a product someone can sell you. We're teaching people to need less, share more, and rely on each other.

What your donation does:

$10 — A gas card that gets someone to a doctor's appointment

$25 — Keeps someone warm through the end of the month

$100 — Seeds and supplies for food production

$500 — A season of community programming

$1,000 — A month of emergency mutual aid capacity

What $30,000 unlocks:

$7,000 — Garden infrastructure, seeds, tools, and supplies across three growing sites

$5,000 — Little free food libraries and community distribution infrastructure

$5,000 — Emergency mutual aid reserve

$5,000 — Program materials and community events

$3,000 — Organizational infrastructure

$2,000 — Transportation and logistics

$3,000 — Communications, outreach, and website

Can't donate? Share this. Show up on May 1 at the Free For All Market, 1268 Commercial St, Astoria.

Find current events, programs, and locations at astoriaharvest.org.

The network is the resource.

Astoria Harvest Community Network · astoriaharvest.org · Venmo: @astoriaharvest · A program of Clatsop County Humanist Community (CCHC) · EIN: 41-4369382 · 501(c)(3).