UNADILLA COMMUNITY FARM EDUCATION CENTER INC

Unadilla Community Farm Education Center Inc's Food Access Program consists of partnerships with local food pantries across Central New York to provide free nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables, and culinary herbs for their clients. Our nonprofit is located in, and serves communities in, USDA designated low-income, low-access, urban & rural food deserts. Feedback from the food pantry partners that we work with across the region indicates that they are under increased pressure to address rising food insecurity, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, inflation, and recent SNAP cuts. Pantry partners frequently share with us that there is a lack of fresh produce available to their clients, and that some fresh produce programs that were available as a result of COVID relief funding have since dried up. By increasing the amount of high-quality fresh produce available to their clients, we can both improve nutrition for food insecure communities and reduce their family food budgets, freeing up family funds for other needs. In 2025, the Food Access Program delivered free produce to 15 food pantry partners across Central New York State, donating produce valued at $45,814.40. Our food pantry partners then distributed our produce to an estimated 7,078 people, based on the estimates of our food pantry partners on how many people they serve on a regular basis. The Food Access Program incurred $32,902.09 in programmatic expenses during 2025.

Unadilla Community Farm Education Center Inc's Herbal Aid Program grows and delivers free, fresh medicinal herbs to mutual aid groups, free herbal clinics, and community apothecaries to increase herbal health access, particularly for economically disadvantaged and marginalized communities. Our herbal aid partners fill an important gap by providing free herbal health services to low-income and uninsured people who would otherwise fall through the cracks in the U.S. healthcare system. Additionally, distributing free herbal medicine to marginalized communities serves to reclaim plant medicine traditions that have been historically erased by the for-profit pharmaceutical industry. We provide fresh medicinal herbs to our herbal aid partners at no cost, including free delivery within a 90 minute radius of the farm and free shipping via priority mail in insulated coolers to preserve freshness. Our partners then utilize our herb donations to provide free herbal services including health & wellness consultations, internal and external herbal preparations, and supplies for home medicine making, particularly for low-income, BIPOC, unhoused, and immigrant communities. In 2025, we donated medicinal herbs valued at $55,338.87 to 12 herbal clinics located in New York State, Pennsylvania, Vermont, North Carolina, and Georgia. Our herbal aid partners then distributed our herbs and derivative herbal products to an estimated 1,427 people, based on the estimates of our herbal aid partners on how many people they serve on a regular basis. The Herbal Aid Program incurred $31,733.14 in programmatic expenses during 2025.