Working Food’s Giving Garden: Building Resilience in Alachua County’s Food System
With the rate of food insecurity on the rise, local gardens are supporting families in Alachua County who need a helping hand.
In fall 2025, The Gainesville Giving Garden joined forces with local nonprofit Working Food to increase access to food, education, and seeds in Alachua County. By uniting together, the organizations are adapting to make our food systems more resilient.
From government shutdowns to the holidays, nonprofit grows food for Gainesville families in need
Since the Gainesville Giving Garden launched around April 2021, when 3.27 million Floridians were enrolled in SNAP, participation has remained high, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
During COVID-19, in June 2020, 3.73 million residents relied on the program, compared with 42.9 million Americans nationwide, USDA figures show. SNAP use has steadily declined since then, dropping to 2.95 million Floridians in April 2025 and 2.93 million in June 2025, the latest USDA data indicates.
Gainesville's Giving Garden: Food Community Tour 2024
By Bailey Daigle
“Trust that small-scale efforts to steward the land are not only achievable but the ripple effects are profound,”said Boria-Meyer.”
“When Meg Boria-Meyer founded the Gainesville Giving Garden in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated food insecurity, she said. Many people lacked accessibility to fresh food, she said, creating a nutritional health gap in the community.”
“The Giving Garden currently grows and donates 3,000 pounds of produce annually, which is carefully cultivated by the nonprofit’s volunteers. The garden hosts open volunteering each week, where citizens can learn the entire process of urban farming, including how to plant and harvest different crops.”
The Alligator article: Gainesville community implements urban farms to fight food insecurity
Gardening Know How - Summer 2023
Gardening Know How, online publication and grant program, awarded the Giving Garden a grant in Spring 2023. To follow, was a spotlight article on our farm and our founder.
“Meg feels that food is the medicine that fuels us and determines whether we succeed and whether our children succeed. The generational cycles of poverty can only end when there is truly nutritious food available to everyone in equal measure.”
Read more at Gardening Know How, linked in the button below!
For Women’s Month, WUFT interviewed the Women of the Giving Garden.
WUFT - March 2023
The Alligator -
October 2022
“We hear about the wealth gap… really, oftentimes, that equates to a health gap.”
The Orlando Voyager - December 2022
With only volunteer help, we developed several 100 ft long beds and transformed a forgotten site into a community hub for growing food. Today, we see upwards of fifty volunteers on a given Volunteer Day. With only volunteer power, we harvest weekly for those in need. The Giving Garden partners with local nonprofits and aid organizations to distribute the food we grow.
What’s Growing On - November 2021
“It provides ritual and a sense of family week after week for volunteers who come here and see this as a means to learn together, learn how to work together, all to achieve something bigger than ourselves individually.”
What’s Growing On - June 2021
Gainesville Giving Garden aims to help families struggling with food insecurity