Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Intitiative
Growing Together in Newburgh!
At NUFFI, we're more than an urban farm. We're a movement dedicated to empowering the Newburgh community through sustainable urban agriculture.
Feeding Newburgh: We harvest and donate several thousand pounds of fresh produce to local food pantries every season, ensuring our neighbors access healthy food.
Affordable Fresh Bags: Visit us throughout the summer season for affordable, freshly harvested produce from the Downing Park Urban Farm and beautiful flower bouquets.
Youth Programs: Through our Youth Education Programs and Partnerships, we inspire the next generation, teaching them the importance of agriculture in urban settings.
Community First: We're actively surveying and collaborating with Newburgh residents, local food markets and restaurants, pantries, and local growers to build a stronger, food secure community
Our Story:
Nurturing Community and Cultivating Change: The Journey of NUFFI and Downing Park Urban Farm
In the heart of Newburgh, a transformation is taking root, one that intertwines the growth of plants with the flourishing of the community. This change has been spearheaded by the Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative (NUFFI), which just celebrated its fifth season at Downing Park Urban Farm. This milestone is not just about the passage of time but the profound impact NUFFI has made on the local community.
Reviving the Heart of Newburgh
The story of NUFFI is a testament to resilience and community spirit in the City of Newburgh. It began in 2015 when a HUD Community Development Block Grant provided the means to restore the long-neglected greenhouses at Downing Park. These structures, once vibrant with flowers, had succumbed to decay. Yet, in this state of disrepair, a new vision was born: to build an urban farm in Newburgh.
Our mission was clear: to cultivate community and residential gardens, distribute fresh produce, and educate residents about the interconnections of food and community.
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Downing Park Urban Farm
Learn more about our farm and how it helps our community. Downing Park Urban Farm, under the stewardship of the Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative (NUFFI), stands as a beacon of community-driven change and urban agricultural innovation in Newburgh.
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Volunteering and Programs
NUFFI is committed to creating opportunities for community gardens to flourish. Volunteers are an important part of NUFFI’s work, and there are lots of ways you can help!
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The Newburgh Food Project
The Newburgh Food Project is a collective of community members working together to cultivate a more nourishing and equitable food system for the City of Newburgh.
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We grow your generosity
NUFFI would not be possible without the community’s generosity. It is how we grow approx. 15,000 lbs of fresh food to distribute to the City of Newburgh every year.
NUFFI believes that there must be a system in our community that provides residents access to healthy, nutritious, culturally appropriate foods to make it easier for City of Newburgh residents to be food secure.
What is Food Secure or Food Security?
Food security means that everyone has access to enough good quality food to live a healthy life. It's about making sure that people can always get the food they need, that it's safe to eat, and that it matches their dietary needs and personal tastes.
This concept includes a few key points:
Enough Food: There should always be plenty of food available.
Getting to the Food: People should be able to buy or obtain the food easily.
Affording the Food: The food should be affordable so people can buy enough without struggling financially.
Right Kind of Food: The food should be nutritious and suitable for different diets and preferences.
Consistency: This access to food should be stable, not just a one-time thing or occasionally available.
In simple terms, food security is about making sure no one goes hungry and everyone has access to the kind of food that keeps them healthy.
grow food. grow change.
Upcoming Events
NUFFI is actively working towards building a fair and resilient food system in Newburgh through two main initiatives. They manage the Downing Park Urban Farm under a long-term lease with the city, focusing on providing the community with access to fresh, nutritious produce while also offering educational opportunities for youth and residents to learn about urban agriculture. Additionally, NUFFI addresses food insecurity challenges by launching the Newburgh Food Project, funded by grants from the USDA and NY Health Foundation. This project aims to collect critical data on food distribution in Newburgh to identify gaps in the food access system and create a comprehensive action plan to enhance food accessibility for all residents, including policy and program reforms to transform the local food system.
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Downing Park Urban Farm
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The Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative
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The Newburgh Food Project