This month, the CFOC Nonprofit Spotlight features the Unadilla Community Farm Education Center.

Transformed from an abandoned corn field, the Unadilla Community Farm Education Center was originally founded by a group of friends as an agricultural cooperative space for learning to grow their own organic produce, utilize natural building methods, make their own household products, and live off-grid in a solar powered community. UCF was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2020, their agrarian and egalitarian origins exemplified by their school bus dorms and barn kitchen.

Unadilla Community Farm Education Center showcases climate-resilient agriculture while increasing access to fresh and organic foods, herbs and education for low-income, low-access and food deserted communities throughout New York state. Their multi-story Food Forest currently provides over 160 varieties of perennial, cold-hardy crops, including over 350 fruit and nut trees; over 480 berry-producing shrubs; ⅓ of an acre of culinary and medicinal herbs; and over 4,600 square feet of bed space for annual vegetables. Annually, UCF provides fresh food, herbs, and education to over 6,500 people a year, free-of-charge.

The list of programs is impressive:

Food Access Program – provides free nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables, and culinary herbs to locals through partnerships with food pantries across Central New York

Herbal Aid Program – provides free, fresh medicinal herbs & berries to mutual aid groups, free herbal clinics, and community apothecaries distributing herbal care at no-charge to locals 

Internships – self-guided learning programs that allow locals to engage food access and herbal aid programs, learn alongside paid fellows, conduct research and participate in special projects on their own schedule throughout the season

Community Volunteer Days – locals assist with production and harvesting for our food access and herbal aid programs while learning from our practices, research findings, fellows and community members.

Beginning Farmer Fellowships – provides experiential, hands-on learning alongside the farm team in how to efficiently carry out sustainable farming techniques at-scale while earning a living wage

In 2024, Stolen Lands Community Land Trust purchased the 11 acre property, placing the Food Forest into permanent conservation and bringing new leadership from a team of first-generation farmers who are all sharing an equal voice in the long-term development of the farm and education center through consensus-based decision-making.

This year, UCF is breaking ground on an off-grid education center and commercial kitchen, with fundraising still underway. UCF’s work is a practical form of activism that concretely teaches the hands-on skills necessary to advance social, environmental, and economic regeneration in our local communities.

For more information on joining an education program, increasing access to food and herbs, or supporting their building construction,  please visit unadillacommunityfarm.org.