Food producer network 2020 grantee

Ridge to Reef

Established in 2010 on St Croix as a working model of “beyond sustainable” agriculture, Ridge to Reef (R2R) Farm is today the only certified organic farm in the US Virgin Islands. Their long list of clients include market stands, grocery stores, restaurants, a CSA/farm share program, agritourism events, and most importantly the territory’s Farm to School program on both St. Croix and St. Thomas, which effectively ended a 50-year absence of locally produced crops in school cafeterias. R2R aggregates from 15+ other local small farms to serve more than 20,000 students with thousands of boxes of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, kale, collards, cucumbers, herbs, peppers, mangoes, and more. R2R also started the first CSA program on the island, as well as the Virgin Islands Farmers Alliance (VIFA).

The Ridge to Reef team will buy a refrigerated cargo vehicle for aggregation and delivery of crops from R2R and partner farms. This vehicle will instantly more than double their delivery capacity of fresh produce directly from farms to public schools and other complementary markets. Additionally, with stand-by power it will keep crops at the proper temperature for longer term storage and will greatly increase the efficiency and flexibility of aggregation logistics. This vehicle will dramatically increase R2R’s ability to reach their goals in increasing the amount of locally produced food on St Croix, as well as to their sister Virgin Islands, who have a strong unsupplied demand for fresh products.