A generous donor has offered to match gifts to ACT’s programs, dollar for dollar, through October 1st: every dollar you donate will be doubled and your support will have double the impact!

“ACT is so thankful to Embrace Home Loans for offering to share their lovely plaza with us” said ACT Board chairperson, Susan Wells, “it’s a great location with ample parking, and just in the nick of time too!”
The market permit was approved by the Middletown Council last night, clearing the way for the market to open as planned on Saturday, May 7, with the same hours of nine to noon, rain or shine, through October.

ACT: Where did your interest in food begin?

CB: From as young as I can remember, food was always the connection to family and all things happy. Whether it was cooking with my parents or going to a family member's house for a bigger meal, it was always something I've related to friends, family, and togetherness.
Read the entire interview with Bender here!

Mark your calendars for April 1st, 401 Gives Day!

Interested in becoming a farmers market vendor? Looking for space to grow your own food? Want to learn more about our organization? Read our February Newsletter to learn more!

We made it through this challenging year! Here are stories of people and organizations that make a difference in our community: everyone at ACT is deeply grateful for their support and for believing in the possibility that together we can make a better place for all to live.

Together we are building a more resilient and equitable food system for Aquidneck Islanders. Your continued support and partnership makes it possible for ACT's programs to thrive and grow, sustaining and cherishing community health now, and for generations to come.

One last chance to shop local for Thanksgiving this Wednesday afternoon at Stoneacre Garden!

We are arranging the final details before we can announce our new winter market home, please stay tuned for the exciting news! Until then, we hope to see you at our Saturday Market, which continues outdoors at Pell Elementary School from 9AM to 12PM and our Wednesday Market from 2PM to 6PM on Memorial Boulevard. Both markets will run through the end of October.

A chance to double your impact!

A generous donor has given ACT the challenge of raising $15,000 in new donations by September to secure their match. Will you help us reach our goal? Your donation will be put to work reducing food insecurity and empowering our community to grow and eat fresh foods.

An ACT supporter has given us a challenge: can we raise $15,000 in new donations by September 8 to secure their $15,000 match? We think we can ... with your help! Here is your opportunity to have impact on the building of a healthy future for all by making a gift today.

Our school and community gardens have been improved, prepared, and planted thanks to your ongoing contributions to ACT. We were able to purchase compost to add nutrients to the soil, make improvements to raised bed gardens, and plant an assortment of seedlings in our five garden sites in the North End of Newport. As warm days increase, the gardens are beginning to flourish which we plan to show off in public tours later this season to showcase what is made possible when a community works together to increase access to healthy foods by growing it themselves!

Spring is in full swing and our farmers' stalls are finally bursting with crunchy radishes, fresh greens, baby kale and a variety of other spring favorites. Save the date for May 1st, when the Saturday Summer Market opens at Pell Elementary School, 35 Dexter Street in Newport from 9:00 AM to noon. (The Summer Market will be open one extra hour - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM - starting on May 15.) Then on May 19th, the Wednesday Summer Market kicks off, running weekly from 2:00 to 6:00 PM on Memorial Boulevard. The opening of the Wednesday Summer Market is a sure sign of warmer days ahead!

Your gift to ACT's 401 Gives Campaign on April 1st will help us put more fresh, locally-grown produce on the tables of Aquidneck Island residents. 2,000 pounds of fresh-picked vegetables were donated from ACT's community gardens last year. With your help, we can double that number in 2021.

Thanks to the generosity of the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation, the URI Cooperative Extension, and the URI Master Gardener Program, Aquidneck Community Table has free vegetable, herb, and flower seed packets to share with our community. ACT will create surprise grab bags of seeds packets to share with customers outside the Aquidneck Growers Market at the Newport Gateway Center on Saturday mornings, 9AM to 12PM, in March.

Help us achieve our vision to connect Newport youth to North End gardens!

Biking between the five gardens that ACT manages within a quarter-mile radius of Miantonomi Park, the Root Riders crew will learn to care for plants from seed to fruit; after harvesting, they will prepare produce in the Pell Elementary cafeteria for sale at that afternoon's farmers market, learning basic sales and business skills while engaging and serving their community. The Root Riders program will empower youth as they learn to grow, harvest, transport, and sell produce in their neighborhoods.

Do you know a high school-aged youth who may be interested in applying for this summer job? Share our flyers (in English and Spanish) and the short interest form.

Hawk & Handsaw Herbals is the glorious lovechild born of the energy, vision, and labor of Kidder Gowen, Horus Khuit, and Kelsey Gowen, who together lease a parcel of land from ACT on a farm retired from development and held in trust by the Aquidneck Land Trust. Opened in early 2018, the Hawk and Handsaw team have turned their quarter acre of rich earth into a lush and increasingly productive corner of the farm where they grow medicinal and specialty culinary herbs using the organic, no-till methods of the expanding regenerative agricultural movement to build soil health, biodiversity and the future of our ecosystem.

This month launches a new monthly feature in our newsletter, in which we will focus on a grower, a food business or an individual who is making a contribution to building a healthier, more sustainable food system on Aquidneck Island.