The Nashville Food Project was born from the belief that all people should have access to the food they want and need. In pursuit of that vision, we bring people together to grow, cook, and share food, cultivating community and working to alleviate hunger across our city.
In Nashville, one in seven people lacks consistent access to enough food to sustain a healthy lifestyle, while more than 40% of all food goes to waste. Hunger is not caused by a lack of food alone. It is shaped by systems. Poverty, unemployment, low wages, and rising housing costs all contribute to the challenges many of our neighbors face.
We believe food can be a powerful tool to foster health, belonging, and justice in our community. Through our kitchens, Community Agriculture Network, and partnerships across Nashville, we work to transform surplus into nourishment and connection.
In 2026, we will share more than 344,000 scratch-made meals and recover over 330,000 pounds of food, supporting after-school programs, immigrant communities, homeless outreach organizations, and many others across Nashville.
- Grow — In our gardens, we grow organic food intensively, and share resources with others interested in growing their own food.
- Cook — In our kitchens, we use recovered, donated and garden-grown food to prepare and cook made-from-scratch meals.
- Share — In our community, we share nourishing meals in partnership with local poverty-disrupting nonprofits and community groups.
The Nashville Food Project embraces a vision of vibrant community food security in which everyone in Nashville has access to the food they want and need through a just and sustainable food system.