
The Community Food Distribution Project makes food available five days per week.
Grow Food Northampton delivers food to 13 local sites twice per week and on-site distribution is available at the Northampton Survival Center three days each week (see below for details) .
Food is available to area residents even if they have not needed help accessing food in the past.
Northampton Survival Center Pickups
Mondays 2pm-6pm
Wednesdays 12pm-3pm
Fridays 12pm-3pm
Closed Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends.
Northampton Survival Center, 265 Prospect Street, Northampton
Bags will be distributed to clients directly outside the Northampton Survival Center and volunteers will assist with loading into your car.
Tuesday Deliveries
9:30-11:30am
Throughout the winter, doorstep delivery is available at all sites. Signup is required. Please call Sarah Pease at the Northampton Survival Center at (413) 586-2646 to request a delivery. If you have any questions, you can also contact Francie Lin, Grow Food Northampton’s Food Access Coordinator, at: francie@growfoodnorthampton.
Thursday Deliveries
Thursdays: 10am-12 Noon
- Salvo House
- McDonald House
- Forsander Apartments
- Cahill Apartments
- Tobin Manor Apartments
- Live 155
- Sergeant House
- Earle Street
- The Lorraine
Grow Food Northampton will deliver packages to these sites and Northampton Housing Authority and Wayfinders staff will distribute the packages to residents.
FAQ's
Bags will include shelf-stable pantry items and fresh produce, in large part purchased from local farms. Bags are sized according to household size and are generally enough food for one week.
About the Community Food Distribution Project
The service area for on-site food distribution at the Northampton Survival Center includes the following towns: Chesterfield, Cummington, Easthampton, Florence, Goshen, Hadley, Hatfield, Haydenville, Huntington, Leeds, Middlefield, Northampton, Plainfield, South Hadley, Southampton, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Worthington. If you live outside of these towns and need help, get in touch with us and we will connect you.
About the Community Food Distribution Project

In March 2020, in response to the needs of the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grow Food Northampton and Northampton Survival Center partnered with other local organizations such as Community Action Pioneer Valley, the Northampton Housing Authority, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, the City of Northampton, and Northampton Public Schools to swiftly launch the Community Food Distribution Project (CFDP). The CFDP ensures that members of our community who are experiencing increasing food insecurity in the pandemic have access to nutritious food on a weekly basis.
Grow Food Northampton’s role in the project is unique: we are purchasing fresh produce, winter-storage crops, and other farm products from local farmers to keep them afloat during this time. This local produce serves as a staple in all of the food packages, along with other food items from the Northampton Survival Center, that are being distributed and delivered throughout the community. We are proud to have constructed this just and sustainable food system in Northampton; we are keeping our local farmers whole while feeding members of our community!

We are especially grateful to the local funder collaborative, Local Roots Care, that came together to provide the very generous seed funding necessary to ensure that Grow Food Northampton could procure produce and other products from farms around Northampton. Thank you Marty Wohl, for your initiative and all of the other funding partners that joined you!
Increase in emergency food needs due to COVID-19
Monthly averages before March 2020:
-
Individual visits: 2,300
-
New individuals: 63
During the first three months of the CFDP:
-
Individual visits: 12,427
-
New individuals: 2,545
Community Food Distribution Project Stats
-
Over 100 Northampton families fed per day
-
Groceries to make over 500 meals per week
-
200+ volunteers packing, distributing, and delivering
-
Nutritious produce sourced from over 22 farms in the Western MA region
-
In 2020, since the start of the pandemic, over 26,000 food packages were delivered to community members experiencing food insecurity

Local Farms
In 2020, since the start of the pandemic, we purchased over 130,000 pounds of produce and other products from the following local farms:
- Apex Orchards of Shelburne Falls
- Astarte Farm
- Crimson & Clover Farm of Florence
- Hart Farm of Conway
- Joe Czajkowski & Lakeside Organics of Hadley
- Flora Farm
- Good Alchemy Agriculture
- Kitchen Garden Farm of Sunderland
- Mycoterra Farm of South Deerfield
- New England Wild Edibles of Amherst
- Nourse Farms of Whately
- Red Fire Farm of Granby
- Red Barn Honey of Northampton
- Riquezas del Campo of Hatfield
- Riverland Farm of Sunderland
- Sage Farm of Bernardston
- Shelburne Honey Company of Shelburne Falls
- Song Sparrow Farm of Florence, MA
- Sunrise Farms of Colrain
- Tanstaafl Farm of Greenfield
- Warner Farm of Sunderland
- Wingate Farm of Hinsdale, NH
- Winter Moon Roots of Hadley
Featured Recipes
Maple Dressing
Maple Dressing This dressing is a classroom favorite in our Grow Food Kids program! It sweetens up any tossed salad! Couldn’t we all use a little sweetness? 3 TBSP Fresh…
Glazed Carrot Coins
Ingredients: 12 medium carrots (2 pounds) 1½ Tbsp veg. or olive oil 2 tbsp orange juice ¼ teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper* *optional Directions: Wash and slice carrots carrots…
Baked Sweet Potato
Ingredients: 4 medium sweet potatoes (1-2 large) Butter Salt Black pepper ** Optional: a splash of maple syrup, sour cream, chives, yogurt, or cinnamon. Directions: Scrub potatoes and pierce with…
One Pot Chicken and Rice
Ingredients: 2 cups chicken 1 cup water 1 cup pineapple, diced 1 cup pineapple juice 1 bell pepper, diced ¼ white onion, diced 1 cup long grain white rice 1…
Related Posts
Community Food Distribution Project Video
Learn all about the Community Food Distribution Project (CFDP) in 3 minutes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=essoSxIwnSQ Enjoy this short documentary about the CFDP,…
CFDP Volunteer Spotlight: Janet, Whitney, Ari and Diana
The Community Food Distribution Project (CFDP) has been working to provide food and fresh produce to Northampton residents since March…
Food Access Heroes
We are so grateful for the ways our community has shown up these past 5 months since the pandemic hit.…
Grow Food Kids: At Home Vol. 4
Even though it's summer, we've continued to put together packets of activities and more for Northampton families to enjoy at…
Thank you to all of our funding partners!
We are enormously grateful to our funders for this project! Our community has been generous beyond belief in supporting our local farmers and feeding our neighbors. We could not have done this work without the donations of hundreds of individual donors, the local business community, and local foundations.
Local Roots Care








We are in it for the long haul.
Grow Food Northampton is committed to continuing to deliver food to our neighbors in need throughout the pandemic and in the post-pandemic recovery period. Your continued financial support will make this possible. Please donate to the Community Food Distribution Project so we can feed our community.