Grow Appalachia is headquartered in Berea and operates as a program of Berea College. Grow Appalachia was created in 2009 through funding from JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation of John Paul Dejoria. Grow Appalachia emphasizes food production in order to introduce as much low-cost, fresh, healthy food as possible to the region. The basic goal is to help as many families grow as much food as possible for both personal use and commercial sale. Grow Appalachia is the contact for growers participating in this project.

Grow Appalachia emphasizes food production in order to introduce as much low-cost, fresh, healthy food as possible to the region. The basic goal is to help as many families grow as much food as possible for both personal use and commercial sale. The programs include:

Grow Appalachia makes gardening grants available to communities through partner nonprofits (called “partner sites”). These partner sites have a high level of credibility and history of service in their communities, a demonstrated history of working in food security/food access issues and a reputation for rigid fiscal management standards.

• Grow Appalachia educates and learns from every community. Each Grow Appalachia participant chooses from classes offered by their partner site throughout the year on topics such as garden planning, planting and maintenance, heart-healthy cooking and up-to-date food processing and preservation techniques. Grow Appalachia practices “science assisted craft agriculture”. The use of open pollinated and heirloom varieties is required at every site as is the practice of seed saving to preserve and strengthen Appalachia’s horticultural heritage. Classes are shaped by the unique needs of each community and then education is then shared between partner sites.
• Grow Appalachia provides technical and physical assistance to every grower throughout the growing season, ensuring that they have access to solutions and help getting started. Grow Appalachia provides plants, seeds, organic soil amendments and pesticides, and quality hand tools.
• Grow Appalachia donates a portion of the harvest from each partner site to a local food bank or others who cannot garden for themselves.
• Grow Appalachia encourages growers to move toward entrepreneurship by providing technical assistance, which improves garden yields, and access to efficient kitchens and markets. Grow Appalachia also encourages growers to develop value-added goods such as jellies and salsas through community commercial kitchens.
• Grow Appalachia builds high tunnels. Grow Appalachia is involved in cutting edge development of household scale high tunnels. These tunnels—commonly known as hoop houses—extend the growing season for families to produce vegetables year-round and participate in markets on which they would otherwise miss out.