Funding Local Food in Virginia
September 2019
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We are excited to reveal our new look under the name Virginia Foodshed Capital. This is the name we filed our 501(c)(3) under earlier this year and we feel the time is right for a transition. Not much else has really changed. We are still affiliated with Slow Money and our SOIL Fund is the same as always. In fact, we believe our 0% SOIL Loan Fund will always be vital to building long-term financial resiliency into our local foodshed. However, since we began in May 2018, we recognized the need and opportunity to financially support farms and food enterprises in Virginia in other ways. Our new name speaks more directly to the vision we have for the future. We are optimistic about that future in Virginia with so many amazing farms, businesses, organizations, and citizens working together to ensure the most vibrant and resilient local food system possible.
We made our 12th loan in early September to Commune restaurant in Virginia Beach. You can read more about it below. With this loan we have now made a total of nearly $80,000 in 0% SOIL loans this year. Please help us keep the momentum going and consider donating to our fund or renewing your pledge...
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Please Support Our SOIL Fund!
By participating in our signature SOIL fund you are “investing” by way of a charitable contribution. The contribution goes into our revolving fund, and Virginia Foodshed Capital takes care of the rest by making 0% loans to farmers who are in need of capital and are dedicated to using resilient, eco-friendly practices that produce healthy, nutritious food for our local communities.
While charitable contributions may not traditionally be considered “investments” per se, we’re confident your contribution to our SOIL fund will produce valuable returns in the form of healthier soil and nutritious food for our communities in Virginia. PLUS, as a revolving loan fund your contribution will continue to give for years on-end as loans are repaid back into the fund.
This is a grassroots effort! We hope as many people as possible will support our mission.
Any size charitable contribution
you can make to our SOIL revolving loan fund goes a long way toward helping us help the local foodshed with its financial needs.
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Commune
Commune is a real food, farm-to-table restaurant with locations in Virginia Beach and Norfolk. Owned by Kevin Jamison, the business has established a reputation for sourcing nearly all of its ingredients from local producers, including its large backyard garden and its own organically tended 21-acre farm in nearby Pungo called New Earth Farm. Commune is one of the few restaurants in the entire nation that owns its own farm. It’s all part of a vertically integrated food business that includes the farm, the two restaurants, a bakery in Virginia Beach called Prosperity Kitchen & Pantry, and an events business. We are excited to support this enterprise that we believe is so integral to the forward momentum of the local food movement. With their SOIL loan from our Tidewater fund, Commune will pay for modifications to and expansion of its kitchen at the Virginia Beach location. The expected benefits will be to provide better working conditions for the kitchen staff, more cold storage for the fresh ingredients that come in daily, and an ability to serve meals more quickly, which can help them turn over more tables and reduce customer wait times. The renovations began on Sept. 23 and will likely be done by the time this newsletter goes out.
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Kevin Jamison from Commune in Virginia Beach
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Nurture Capital At Work
Nurture Capital continues to do its job in our local foodshed and it's been a busy month! Pictured below are the results from several loans we've made recently.
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Processing day at River Oak Farm with their new outdoor walk-in cooler/freezer
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New chipper at Heart & Bones Hollow
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Fence installation at Panda Homestead
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New used tractor at delli Carpini Farm
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Kitchen renovations underway at Commune
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Soil, Conservation, and Place
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Virginia Cooperative Extension is working on an initiative to deepen community understanding of the importance of agriculture and soils to a sense of place, community, and culture. Their first video series included an interview with one of our SOIL fund borrowing partners Renard Turner from
Vanguard Ranch. Renard is such an amazing spokesperson for local sustainable agriculture, particularly in regard to farmers of color. Check out the video below and also check out the outstanding article featuring Renard in the September issue of
Acres magazine...
CLICK HERE.
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Virginia Foodshed Capital will provide the $1,000 first place prize money for this local food business pitch competition in Richmond organized by
Real Local RVA
,
Hatch Kitchen RVA
, and
The Apple Cart
.
The preliminary round will take place at Real Local RVA’s October meeting on Oct. 7 at 10:30am. At the preliminary round, 15 local products will be narrowed down to five finalists for the Oct. 15 pitch competition.
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Va. Farmers Market Association Conference
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VAFMA's 7th annual conference is scheduled for November 13-15 at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Staunton. This year's theme is "Virginia is for Farmers Market Lovers." It will focus on agritourism but will include a variety of learning experiences, including a workshop led by Virginia Foodshed Capital called "Business Essentials," featuring a panel of several of our borrowing partners.
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Always Accepting Farmer Loan Applications!
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The mission of Virginia Foodshed Capital is to support the financial needs of farmers and food entrepreneurs in our region. Our signature grassroots program called
SOIL
is a 0% revolving loan program. We accept applications on a rolling basis. We can’t stress enough that no request is too small, as we want to be a friendly source of capital to help farm businesses grow in a way that’s best for them.
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Other Events & Opportunities
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Virginia Biological Farming Conference
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January 11-13 15, 2020
Roanoke, VA
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Virginia Association for Biological Farming
invites you its 21st annual conference at the Hotel Roanoke. The Conference brings together farmers, gardeners, eaters, educators and advocates of sustainable agriculture.
The conference is looking for sponsors and exhibitors. Event registration opens soon.
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