Common Earth Gardens has received a $50,000 grant from the Novak Family/Lift a Life Foundation. The grant will be used to pursue and secure additional acreage, and to expand current garden sites, to make more land available to more growers.

Common Earth Gardens develops and supports farmers who have resettled as refugees in urban Louisville from more agricultural regions around the world. Aimed at helping these new Americans continue their centuries-old heritages of farming after resettling to a less agricultural area, CEG works with more than 400 growers on 14 acres throughout metro Louisville. In addition, 14 farm teams participate in the incubator farm, where they learn commercial farming and conservation skills and develop their business and marketing capabilities.

Last year, farmers with Common Earth Gardens harvested 521,000 pounds of food valued at $781,000. Our data shows that on average, the more than 400 families farming with CEG feed seven people in addition to their families, meeting a crucial need for family and friends who often experience illness when exposed to processed versus the whole foods that they are accustomed to, who cannot find produce that they are familiar with, and who cannot afford fresh, whole foods.