Addressing Food Insecurity in the US Virgin Islands

Like many islands in the Caribbean, the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) face a high degree of food insecurity because they are dependent on imports from Puerto Rico and the continental United States for more than 95% of their food supply.  There are, however, many opportunities to strengthen the productive capacity and resilience of farms and fisheries to increase local food production and lower food imports, and World Central Kitchen is excited to play a role in these efforts.

WCK expanded its Food Producer Network (FPN) to the USVI in 2020 to support smallholder farms, fisheries, and food-related small businesses in order to strengthen food security and sustainable economic development throughout the food producing communities on St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas for many years to come.

FPN works to connect FPN partners to each other and bring together a vibrant community of food producers who now actively collaborate through new production and distribution partnerships, resulting in greater reach and increased market presence. Through these efforts they can  become stronger as a whole than as individuals food system operators, and increase their productive resilience against future disasters.

Applications for the Food Producer Network in the USVI will open twice a year, in the spring and fall. For more information, please contact us at fpn@wck.org.

FPN by the numbers:

$ 3.7+ Million

Awarded via 234 grants

7,900+

Hours of learning and networking

1,015+

Volunteers on farms and at events

USVI Grantees

Get to Know the Grantees

2020 Grantees

ARTfarm LLC

ARTfarm employs diversified, organic, sustainable, and permaculture-type commercial production and actively cultivates 35 to 45 seasonal crops.

Badeau Farm VI

Christophonte Badeau has been farming since he was a kid. Working on other people’s farms, he learned from others and taught himself until he was ready to launch his own business. Now, on Badeau Farm VI, he grows pumpkin, peppers, watermelons, cucumbers, and plantains.

Captain CC’s Fresh Catch

James Kreglo, aka Captain CC, has been fishing since the age of five. He has a BS in wildlife ecology with a minor in food and resource economics and is one of the few licensed lobster divers in the territory.

GLG Plants and Produce

Grantley Samuel spent much of his early career as an accomplished professional baker, but as a third-generation farmer started his own agricultural enterprise more than ten years ago with a quarter-acre plot. He gradually increased to five acres, where he now grows plantains, melons, cucumbers, eggplants, and other vegetables.

Julian Magras

Julian Magras is a fourth-generation licensed commercial fisher, with more than 30 years of experience, promoting sustainable fishing in the USVI.

My Neighbor's Garden STX

My Neighbor’s Garden is home to a small yet diversified fruit and vegetable farm operation.

New Breed Farm

As some of the youngest successful farmers on St. Croix, Edmon Titre and Leroy Peets have dedicated their farm to supplying the people of the Virgin Islands with fresh, healthy, and homegrown fruits and vegetables.

Ridge to Reef Farm

Established in 2010 on St Croix as a working model of “beyond sustainable” agriculture, Ridge to Reef Farm is today the only certified organic farm in the US Virgin Islands. 

Sejah Farm of the Virgin Islands

Sejah Farm is a multi-faceted farm operation that produces goats and sheep, poultry and eggs, and vegetables for local and off-island demands.

St. George Village Botanical Garden

The St. George Village Botanical Garden is home to over 1,000 plant species, which serve as a seed bank for the Virgin Islands, and a 3,000 square foot nursery.

Strictly Roots LLC

Lenn Bully has been farming for more than three decades and focuses on seasonal cut flowers, fruits, microgreens, and other vegetables at Strictly Roots LLC.

Syotos Fishing

Gerson Martínez was born to fish. He’s been doing it for 28 years and fishes and traps lobsters from St. Croix’s crystal blue waters with pride.

Tropics Hydroponics Farm 

Established in 2008 with a humble greenhouse that housed a single lettuce rack, Tropics Hydroponics Farm has since expanded to three greenhouses, open-air plots of tomatoes and cucumbers, and an orchard of 100 breadfruit trees.

VI Wildflower Honey

Roniel Allembert is a second-generation beekeeper who started farming commercially in 1998. His farm, VI Wildflower Honey, where he produces honey, fruits, vegetables, and herbs, is nestled in the dense, misty forest on St. Croix’s western end.

We Grow Food

We Grow Food is a non-profit farming organization that began in 1993, located in the heart of the Bordeaux farming community on St. Thomas. Its 20 members are crop and livestock farmers who each lease between one and fifteen acres of land from the USVI Department of Agriculture.