Friends,

I’m asking for your support on a mission that is very important to me. Please donate to the FarmOn! Foundation, a non-profit organization and public charity I personally joined 5 years ago because I believe in Tessa Edick and her vision of a world where a career in sustainable agriculture is valued and profitable for the next generation to feed us.

I strongly believe in the FarmOn! mission, and Tessa’s hard work, and this year especially, I am even more committed and supportive of the Foundation’s core drive to inspire and train the next generation for a career in sustainable farming and fund better school lunch. And I need your help.

THE CHALLENGE: $100,000.00 fundraising goal by March 31, 2018

As a special thank you, the first TEN people who give a tax-deductible donation to the FarmOn! Foundation of $5000+ (received by December 15, 2017) will receive a complimentary farm stay weekend at our historic 220-acre Empire Farm in the Hudson Valley New York. The farm chic 1810 farmhouse is complete with culinary and foraging experiences for up to eight overnight guests, connecting you to where your food comes from and gives back too.  

MY ASK TO YOU

I’m asking for your support with an impactful year-end contribution to help us scale our work in 2018 in New York State and beyond with a small recurring monthly donation or legacy gift for our programs.  Your contributions will directly support the following key initiatives:

• Funding Milk Money for 35,000 kids daily at school lunch keeps kids healthy & farmers farming (and in business!) by providing local milk “Cow-to-Kid” in 36 hours

• Advocacy for farmers to be paid a fair living wage for growing food that is not subsidized by agendas and corporate interests from the farm to your table with hands on training in business for beginning farmers at FarmOn! Academy where scholars learn to custom grow for NYC chefs by contract at organic Empire Farm

• Education for the community at large about why locally grown fresh organic food is vital to sustainability and rural prosperity in programs for school gardens – FarmOn! Victory Garden NBA Slam Dunk your Veggies program serves 610,000 kids to date

• Farm Tech puts FarmOn! the Map with Google NYC Farm to Table Group providing technical assistance and consulting to 1000s of rural family farms, producers and small businesses in a scalable program to drive rural prosperity for a stronger and healthier America, starting with New York State. 

FARM ON!  WHAT’S​ ​NEXT?

FarmOn! Academy at Empire Farm with SUNY/Cornell Cals

The FarmOn! Academy program is awarded by scholarship as an in-residence incubator for beginning farmers and young adults (21 years+) in partnership with the State University of New York/Cornell University CALS. This beginning farmer business program at our historic 220-acre Empire Farm in the Hudson Valley of New York curates an applied learning opportunity for the next generation fostering the entrepreneurial spirit in agriculture.  Scholars learn to manage clients and develop business plans while overcoming real life challenges daily on our time and dime! This immersive and authentic hands-on learning experience allows scholars to manage the farm-to-table needs of a NYC client on the farm, directly connecting rural and urban marketplaces, shifting the paradigm in food through economics and sustainable farming practices.

Farm Tech & The Starmer! with Google NYC Farm to Table Group

We live in a culture today where the Chef has become the Star, but the Farm On! mission reminds us all to celebrate the real stars in food – our Farmers.   

This summer we launched a campaign highlighting the true stars of food – our star Farmers – or as we like to say, the Starmer – with a goal of raising awareness and connecting like-minded individuals to find and support their local businesses in the Hudson Valley.

Four out of five people search for local businesses online. The search term ‘Farm to Table’ has grown nearly 5x in the past 5 years. A challenge today is that most NY farms do not currently have business listings on Google search, making their local ingredients and family farms harder to find.  Our goal is to close this technology gap to drive rural prosperity by facilitating economic development connecting consumers to where their food comes from and building local business.

We were fortunate to partner with Google’s NYC Farm to Table employee volunteer group where together we conducted Farm Tech Workshops, helping local farmers and businesses identify key business challenges to find opportunities to solve by leveraging technology best practices.

You can make a big difference in 2018 helping FarmOn! Foundation to scale and advance our important work that started with a farm girl and her good food dream.

Make this a reality at everyone’s table. Join me in supporting FarmOn! by making a charitable year end contribution today in the envelope provided or online at FarmOnFoundation.org/donate.

Warm regards for a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2018 from our farm table to yours,

Joyce Varvatos 

President, Board of Directors FarmOn! Foundation