Home Garden Grants — MS Farm to School Network

We want to help Mississippi families experience the joys and benefits of home gardening.

Home gardens enhance household food security and nutrition and give families complete control over the chemicals and products used during the growing process.

They are also a great way to get families outside and active and can be a fun tool for teaching children about delicious food that is full of nutrients. In fact, according to Mississippi Farm to School Network co-director, Dorothy Grady-Scarbrough, children will be more likely to eat food that they had a part in growing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made home gardens even more essential as more and more families struggle to purchase fresh, nutrient-rich produce that can often be expensive. At the same time, many students that transitioned to virtual learning lost access to the produce and fresh food options that many Mississippi schools work hard to supply as part of their farm to school programs.

Mississippi Farm to School Network’s Home Garden Grant program is helping families across the state start their own home gardens. Families that apply for the grant are given a $150 gift card to their local co-op or garden center to purchase everything they need, including tools, soil and seeds, to start planting.

Grant recipients are given a list of supplies and gardening instructions. We also regularly update our website with easy-to-follow how-to gardening videos that anyone can follow along with. So far, we have been able to provide grants to hundreds of families across the state, but our goal is to make these grants readily accessible for any and every family that applies.

100% of funds raised through this campaign will go to our Home Garden Grant program.

Donate today to help families get their gardens growing. The mission of Mississippi Farm to School is to connect farmers with schools to bring Mississippi-grown products into school cafeterias. We advocate for local farmers and schools because we believe that purchasing locally-grown, locally-sourced food benefits everyone.

To learn more, please visit our website .