A one-of-a-kind town farm

Since Freight Farms sold its first farms in 2013, we have had farmers join our community from all over the world, with a range of backgrounds and business models. Yet, the Robbinsville Farm stands out from all of them because it is the first and only Freight Farm owned by a whole town.

That’s right! The Robbinsville Township of New Jersey came together to bring the Leafy Green Machine™ (the fore-bearer of our current Greenery™) to their town, and the farm operations and distribution has remained a town activity ever since. 

We spoke with farm coordinator, Hope Cahill, about her role at the one-of-a-kind Robbinsville farm and how the project gets the entire community–from student to senior citizen–involved.

The town hydroponic farm

A fresh take on a public service.

When the Robbinsville Farm arrived at the local Senior Center in November 2017, Robbinsville became the first municipality in New Jersey (and in the world!) to install a vertical hydroponic Freight Farm. For the town, it was about more than bringing healthy, and local food to the community. Robbinsville quickly made their Freight Farm a key piece in education, volunteer, and food access initiatives. The farm’s location on site at the Senior Center was no coincidence either, with a large part of the harvest dedicated to the center’s dining operations and the local chapter of Meals on Wheels.

The initiative was spearheaded by the Robbinsville mayor, Dave Fried, who–upon seeing a similar type of container farm–sent the Robbinsville Recreation Manager a message saying ‘I would love this for the township. Let’s figure out how to do this’. After a long research phase, the town found Freight Farms. For the town, Freight Farms was the perfect choice since they were able to get everything they needed to run the farm–from purchase, to supplies, to training, to customer service–in one. To this day, Mayor Dave is one of the farm’s staunchest supporters.

Nearly three years after its installation, the Robbinsville Farm is still serving its community faithfully. The produce goes directly to the seniors at the Robbinsville Senior Center, Meals on Wheels, and the food bank at Mercer Street Friends (a New Jersey non-profit that offers school and employment opportunities and hunger relief programs). In this way, Robbinsville is able to improve food security, increase access to fresh food, and reduce the risk of obesity and obesity-related diseases.

Hope explains the additional value of having a farm directly in Robbinsville

“Because we are distributing so local, we are able to reduce “food miles” that are required to transport nutritious food...Many who volunteer say how relaxing it is therefore we are also improving mental health and promoting relaxation. We also offer field trips to schools, businesses and families to educate people about healthy eating, sustainable agriculture and [hydroponics].”

Town-owned, community-operated

It takes a village to raise a farm.

With so many important outlets for the produce, one challenge for Robbinsville was to ensure the farm ran smoothly while also engaging as many community members as possible. For that, Robbinsville hired Hope to manage the operations and the large group of volunteers that run the farm. Unlike many of our farmers for whom hydroponics is their first foray into agriculture, Hope came to the Freight Farm a seasoned expert. 

While attending a vocational high school, Hope took courses in Horticulture and Landscape Management which exposed her to a range of plant-related topics, with everything from floral design and landscaping, to pest and greenhouse management. With this experience, she was able to join the Future Farmers of America after graduating; In the years following high school, Hope got certifications from Rutgers University in fields like bee keeping, landscape management, and aquaponics. During that time she served as the New Jersey FFA State Reporter and then State President, which gave her the opportunity to travel the whole state teaching students the importance of agriculture. All this combined experience made her eager to join the Robbinsville Farm team, seeing it as a perfect way to combine her passion for agriculture with her desire to teach and help fight hunger in the local community.

While Hope is the mastermind behind the farm operations, it is the volunteers who really give the farm program life, and capture the whole scope of the Robbinsville community. Volunteers include the seniors who attend the senior center, Meals-on-Wheels recipients, students–and anyone else with the interest and willingness to learn more about hydroponics.

Together, Hope and the volunteers grow a variety of lettuces, such as Butterhead, Bibb, Red and Green Leaf Romaine, Summer Crisp, Oakleaf, Lollo Rossa, and the occasional herbs. The community reaction? They love it.

Hope explains how she manages her large group of volunteers

“Monday and Tuesday are Harvest and transplant days. Wednesday’s, we seed, rotate the towers and do farm maintenance such as cleaning and mixing fertilizers...As Farm coordinator I oversee everything that goes on in the farm and schedule the volunteers. Every Monday I send out the following weeks farm tasks listing jobs to be done and time slots. Then the volunteers will sign up and I will schedule them in.” 

COVID-19 had an obvious impact on the volunteer workforce that drives the Robbinsville farm. When the virus reached New Jersey, only Robbinsville Township paid staff were able to run the farm for the purposes of health and safety. This led Hope and her coworkers to change their operations to best meet the needs of a community in crisis. A simple change, like eliminating a Spring Harvest mix, helped them maximize their weekly harvest and reduce time spent in the small space farm.

In spite of all this, Hope believes that the volunteer program will bounce back after the pandemic thanks to the hard work she and her team have done to get the whole community invested in the farm’s success over the years.

Get to know Hope as she shows us how she plants seeds at the Robbinsville farm!

Interested in starting a farm in your town? Get in touch.