Resources

to help you dive deeper into our food system

Welcome to our Resource Library!  Here you will find reports, how-to guides, links to websites, and more! 

The information is organized by topic:

Urban Agriculture   Advocacy & Policy    Shop Local

To search for a specific resource, try pressing the CONTROL key and the F key at the same time on your keyboard and use the search field to type in key words that you’d like to find.  Can’t find what you’re looking for?  E-mail us at finlouisville@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to help!

Know of a useful resource or report that’s not listed?  Let us know by e-mailing finlouisville@gmail.com!

Urban Agriculture Resources

How-To & Do It Yourself

Composting: It’s Only Natural

From how to get started, what to add, why to compost, and how to troubleshoot compost symptoms, this brochure will answer many of your composting questions.

Dept of Public Works

View the Brochure

Composting and Landscaping at Home  

An introduction to composting and a list of useful links to learn more.  Great for people incorporating compost systems at home or in the garden.

Home Advisor

Read the Article

How to Test Your Soil  

This link is for testing nutrient content in your soil- NOT for lead testing.  For lead testing call (502) 569-2344.

UK Cooperative Extension

Visit the site

Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky

Developed annually by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension.2018: UK Extension

Read the PDF

Growing Fruit Trees at Home in Kentucky

Published by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.

UK Extension

Read the pdf

Garden Advice

The Jefferson County Master Gardener Association has a great collection of resources for gardening, landscaping, and fruit production available to the public, as well as information on upcoming Master Gardener classes.

Master Gardeners

View more resources

Urban Gardening Guide

Garden Safe Garden Well: An Urban Gardening Guide is an accessible primer on soil testing, including a myth-busting section, and it covers basic techniques for urban gardening.  A handy feature of this guide is the ability for anyone to add local urban agriculture organizations and resources on the last page by typing into the PDF and saving, thereby customizing it to your community, town or city.  Links to more in-depth instruction and resources are also included on the last page.Presbyterian Hunger Program

Read the PDF

Incorporating Conservation Practices

The Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District provides conservation resources to all residents of Jefferson County, Kentucky.  Programs include: Technical Assistance, Financial Incentives, & Urban Agriculture Education. 

Jefferson Co. Soil & Water Conservation District

visit the site

How to Attract Pollinators

Kentucky Pollinator Handbook: A field office technical guide reference for the management of pollinators and their habitats.

2016: NRCS Ecological Sciences

view the Pdf

How to Use Beneficial Insects

Idlewild houses a number of insects, arachnids and other arthropods, including tropical species that cannot be found anywhere else in the state. They let guests hold and interact closely with many of these amazing creatures as part of a guided tour through their rearing lab, insectarium and live butterfly flight house.

Idlewild

visit the site

Raising Chickens in Louisville

5 facts about raising chickens in Louisville: Before you start counting your backyard chickens before they hatch, here’s a look at what you need to know.

Courier Journal

read the article

Organic and Sustainable Practices

ATTRA, A National Sustainable Agriculture Assistance Program, is a great resource for finding information on organic and sustainable practices.

National Center for Appropriate Technology

learn more

Lots of Food Resources

Lots of Food was started at the end of 2013 to demonstrate the value and viability of transforming a vacant lot into a thriving orchard and market garden. There are hundreds of similar vacant lots in Louisville and other cities and other folks like Amanda who are doing similar projects to improve food security and restore some vitality to neighborhoods. What Lots of Food is doing is well within reach!  Take a look at their resource library for more information.

Lots of Food

find Resources

Accessing Vacant Land to Grow Food

A guide put together by FIN to help Louisville residents access vacant property to grow food.

2020: Food in Neighborhoods

View pdf

Louisville Area Garden Supplies & Resources

A collaborative list of Louisville garden supply stores organized by neighborhood.

2020: Food in Neighborhoods

View doc

BearFruit & Grow, LLC Youtube Channel

BearFruit & Grow, LLC was created to encourage, empower, educate, and participate in your vegetable garden journey! We farm vegetable and herb plants and offer coaching services for anyone who wants to grow a vegetable garden in any space. Check out their youtube channel for helpful how-to videos!

BearFruit & Grow, LLC

Watch videos

Blackacre Conservancy Youtube Channel

Blackacre’s community garden has over 300 plots! Check out their youtube channel for helpful how-to videos.

Blackacre Conservancy

watch videos

Kentucky State University Publications

Kentucky State University (KYSU) Cooperative Extension Program strengthens underserved communities, families, farmers, individuals and youth to improve their quality of life with state-of-the-art, research-based educational programs. You can find all of their publications at the link below!

Kentucky State University

View resources

Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund

Th  KADF in statute is administered by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board. The mission of the board is to invest these funds in innovative proposals that increase net farm income and affect tobacco farmers, tobacco-impacted communities and agriculture across the state by stimulating markets for Kentucky agricultural products. This includes finding new ways to add value to Kentucky agricultural products and exploring new opportunities that will benefit Kentucky farms now and in the future.

KADF

View portal

Community Land Ownership Micro Grant

FIN will use available funds to directly support community land ownership. Individual applications are eligible for up to $500 and will be accepted on a rolling basis to be reviewed on the first of each month until funds are spent. After this initial amount is awarded, FIN’s intention is to continue raising money in order to fund more projects. There is no limit to the number of times a single applicant can apply for funding.

FIN will prioritize the following applications:

  • Applications from BIPOC (People identifying as Black, Indigenous, Latinx, or Person of Color)
  • Projects in South and West Louisville
  • Projects that address food security and/or food justice in some way (through food growing and/or distribution)

FIN

Download application

 

Community Gardens

Find a Community Garden

Use this map as a guide to discover local food resources in your community. Click on a point to find out more information about each garden and how to get involved.

Urban Agriculture Coalition

Visit the map

How to Start a Community Garden

Community Gardens in Louisville: A Start Up Guide, developed by the Louisville Metro Department of Economic Growth and Innovation.  This resource walks you through many important steps to take when starting a community garden.

Dept of Economic Growth and Innovation

read the pdf

Community Garden Toolkit

It’s always a great time to get your community together and plan for a garden! If you’re starting a garden from scratch or want to better organize an existing garden, the Community Garden Toolkit will help you get growing.

2017: Louisville Grows

read the pdf

Community Garden Grant

Want to start your own community garden? Check out Louisville Grows’ Community Garden Grant (awards up to $1,000)! Louisville Grows

More About the Grant

 

UK Cooperative Extension Service

The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service manages many community gardens around Louisville. This popular program provides access to plots that range in size, depending on the garden. Plots are rented by the year, with the option to renew your plot rental each year. At most gardens, water and small equipment, like tillers, are provided at no additional cost.

UK Cooperative Extension

Learn More About CES 

 

Common Earth Gardens

Common Earth Gardens is dedicated to improving the quality of life of refugee families and Louisville communities through agricultural opportunities.  They support the creation of new gardens and farms, connect new Americans to land at community gardens and community farms in Louisville, and run an incubator farm program for people to learn how to run their own farm business.

Common Earth Gardens

Visit Common Earth Gardens

 

Community Garden Guide

The goal of Grow Pittsburgh’s Community Garden Guide is to help neighborhoods like yours create sustainable community food gardens that will be enjoyed for generations to come.  Here you will find steps to take with your community to develop a vision, organize your group, build community partnerships, find land, and more!

Grow Pittsburgh

Visit the Site

 

Benefits of Community Gardening

Looking for some talking points and statistics to start or sustain a community garden in your neighborhood?  Take a look at this resource for information about benefits like crime prevention, mental health, exercise, municipal benefits, food production, youth education, and others!

Gardening Matters

View the PDF

 

Community Garden Management Toolkit

This is a great resource that includes strategies to develop the community, land, and organizing aspects of a community garden.  Compiled by Betsy Johnson for the Springfield Food Policy Council Springfield, Massachusetts.

2014: Springfield Food Policy Council

VIEW THE PDF

COVID-19 Guidelines for Safe Community Gardening

Information assimilated from the CDC, WHO, John’s Hopkins Center for Health Security, and Harvard Medical School.

Wallace Center Collaborative Group

view the doc

COVID-19 Food Safety Resources

Local and national resources on food safety during Covid-19. Compiled by North Carolina Cooperative Extension.

NC State Extension

Visit Site

American Community Gardening Association

The American Community Gardening Association builds community by increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening across the United States and Canada

ACGA

Visit Site

“Don’t Just Care for Yourself: Understanding Leadership Approaches and Volunteer Engagement in Community Gardens”

Scholarly article in Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development by Jeffrey Gilbert, Christina Chauvenet, Brett Sheppard, and Molly De Marco.

2020: Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development

Read the article

Legal Resources

Agriculture Ordinances in Louisville

Visit the Louisville Land Development Code for ordinances regarding community gardens and market gardens.

4.3.17 Community Gardens: Scroll down to Chapter 4, Part 3, Section 17.

4.3.18 Market Gardens: Scroll down to Chapter 4, Part 3, Section 18.2006: Louisville Land Development Code

Read the Ordinances

 

Zoning in Louisville

Check your zoning using the LOJIC map and then refer to the Land Development Code to see what’s allowed in your zone.

LOJIC

View the LOJIC Map

 

Building the Legal Backbone of our Community

We are all stronger when we work together. When farmers and attorneys share knowledge, the entire local food system moves forward. Farm Commons fosters the discussions and connections that build a strong legal backbone for our community and provides resources and services.

Farm Commons

Visit Farm Commons

 

Kentucky Organizations

Community Farm Alliance

Community Farm Alliance (CFA) works to organize and encourage cooperation among rural and urban citizens through leadership development and grassroots democratic processes to ensure an essential, prosperous place for family-scale agriculture in our economies and communities.

Community Farm Alliance

More About CFA

 

Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK)

The Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK) is a non-profit, membership-based organization dedicated to improving the health of the environment and the citizens of Kentucky. OAK provides resources and educates Kentucky farmers and consumers who are interested in driving change for a more sustainable and organic food system.

Organic Association of Kentucky

More About OAK

 

KSU’s Third Thursday Thing

The Third Thursday Thing is a monthly sustainable agriculture workshop targeting
small farmers, beginning farmers and agricultural professionals.  Third Thursdays are hosted by Kentucky State University and cover a different topic each month.  Workshops generally take place from 10am-3pm in Frankfort, KY.

Kentucky State University

More About Third Thursdays

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group

Southern SAWG’s mission is to empower and inspire farmers, individuals, and communities in the South to create an agricultural system that is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, and humane. Because sustainable solutions depend on the involvement of the entire community, Southern SAWG is committed to including all persons in the South without bias. Southern SAWG

Visit the site

 

 

 

 

 

Advocacy & Policy Resources

Supporting Black Farmers

List of Resources 

A list of organizations and resources dedicated to supporting Black farmers locally and nation-wide.

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

View the Google Doc

Black Farm Cooperatives

Discussion about how cooperative farming and racial equity in federal food policy can create economic sustainability in Black communities.

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

watch the video

 

 

2018 Farm Bill

Eater’s Guide to the Farm Bill: Kentucky Edition

We know that food and farming activists make an impact when they are able to impress upon policy-makers the importance of sustainable farming and community food systems. This guide provides questions you can ask candidates for elected office to understand their positions on the policies that impact farms and food systems. Questions for Candidates aims to get candidates and their communities thinking about farming, food security, urban agriculture, the environment and food.

2018: Food In Neighborhoods

Learn How to Take Action 

The Farm Bill-From Seed to Plate

To learn more about the 2018 Farm Bill and how you can take action, watch this great 4-minute video from National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

2018: National Sustainable Ag Coalition

The Farm Bill- From Seed to Plate

 

 

Louisville Food Economy

The Louisville Local Food Demand Analysis

The Louisville Local Food Demand Analysis is a comprehensive, qualitative and quantitative analysis of demand for local food in Louisville Metro/Jefferson County, Kentucky.  The findings will be used to support efforts by Mayor Greg Fischer and others to create linkages between urban consumers and rural producers as a long-term, regional, integrated economic development strategy.

2012: Karp Resources

Read the Report

 

Hunger Innovation Fellowship

The Hunger Innovation Fellowship is a collaboration of the Lift a Life Foundation and the Community Foundation of Louisville providing social, intellectual and financial capital for an individual to research opportunities for systems-level change within Louisville’s food ecosystem. Identified opportunities will have the potential to significantly accelerate and elevate the collective efforts of local organizations and their partners. Solutions may even inspire change for communities facing similar challenges.

Community Foundation of Louisville

Learn More

Louisville Food Ecosystem Map

The Louisville Food Ecosystem Map lists the locations of various food access organizations and resources within Jefferson County, KY. It includes
information on food insecurity, food access organizations, community food pantries, restricted food access points, free meal services, community gardens, farmers markets, fresh stop markets, grocery stores, other SNAP retailers, and poverty rates.

Community Foundation of Louisville

View Map

 

Louisville Health Equity

Health Equity Report: 2017

The 2017 Health Equity Report is designed as a tool for policy makers and residents to better understand how they can create more equitable policies and practices, and it examines the history of Louisville and how our past has influenced our present. It reviews 21 health outcomes such as infant mortality, homicide and heart disease, and examines 11 root causes for those outcomes, ranging from food systems to neighborhood development. These health outcomes are arranged in the order of the life course, from infancy through old age, to demonstrate how root causes have different impacts at every life stage and can have cumulative effects over time.

Center for Health Equity

read the report

Farmworker Advocacy

Farm Labor Organizing Committee

FLOC has built a membership of thousands of migrant farmworkers by incorporating two key principles:

1. Farmworkers need a voice in the decisions that affect them.

2. Bring all parties to the table to address industry wide problems.

Stephen Bartlett is the FLOC KY Field Organizer. Phone number: 502-415-1080. Email: estebanbartlett@gmail.com

FLOC

visit site

The Farmworker Support Committee

Founded in 1979, the Farmworker Support Committee (CATA) is non-profit organization focused on organizing and empowering the immigrant community as they fight for justice for themselves, their families and their communities.

CATA

visit site

United Farm Workers

Begun in 1962 by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Gilbert Padilla and other early organizers, the United Farm Workers of America is the nation’s first enduring and largest farm workers union. The UFW continues organizing in major agricultural sectors, chiefly in California.

UFW

visit site

Shop Local Resources

Food in Louisville

Local Food Guide

Your one-stop resource for hours, locations, and additional information for farmers markets, Fresh Stop Markets, and Healthy in a Hurry Corner Stores!  Developed by the Louisville Farmers Market Association and the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness.

2018: Dept of Public Health & Wellness

2018 Local Food Guide

 

Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program Brochure

Many seniors are eligible to receive $28 in checks per season to purchase fresh, unprocessed, locally grown fruits, vegetables, herbs, and honey at farmers markets!  Learn how to sign up for the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) and where you can use your SFMNP checks!

2018: Dept. of Public Health & Wellness

2018 SFMNP Brochure

 

Louisville Community Grocery

The vision of the Louisville Community Grocery is to combine the best features of a value-oriented grocer and a modern consumer food cooperative offering everything available at a large grocer. This will be a place where everyone feels welcome, owner and non-owner alike. The success of this business will be driven by the ideas and input of ALL customers and workers.  Get involved to share what you want out of a cooperatively owned grocery store in Louisville!

Louisville Community Grocery

Louisville Community Grocery Site

 

Farmers Market Calendar

Visit the Food In Neighborhoods calendar page and click the top right arrow if you would like to view Farmers Markets and Food in Neighborhoods meetings and events.

Food In Neighborhoods

Farmers Market Calendar

 

Find your Community Fresh Stop

Fresh Stop Markets—New Roots’ main initiative—are run by volunteer leaders in a grassroots food justice movement that operates from the belief that fresh food is a basic human right.  Connect with a Fresh Stop Market near you and sign up for a share of ten varieties of seasonal, local, organic produce you’ll pick up during the scheduled two hour “pop-up” you choose, at your choice of 17 different Kentucky and southern Indiana Markets. Each FSM pops up biweekly in the same location for the 22-week growing season, from June through November.

New Roots Fresh Stops

Fresh Stop Market Map

 

Find Food Assistance Near You

Dare to Care Food Bank leads our community to feed the hungry and conquer the cycle of need.  They fulfill this mission through innovative programs, efficient operations and by partnering with local food pantries, shelters and kitchens to get food to people in need.  Check out the map to find food near you!

Dare to Care Food Bank

Dare to Care Location Map

Reports on Farmers Markets

Is Local Food Affordable for Ordinary Folks?

A Comparison of Farmers Markets and Supermarkets in Nineteen Communities in the Southeast. In regards to some criticisms of farmers’ markets as being “elitist,” in 2011, SCALE, Inc. conducted a study of twenty-four farmers’ markets throughout six states in Appalachia and the Southeastern United States. The findings showed that farmers’ markets closely compete with mainstream supermarkets, and this was demonstrated in their slightly lower prices comparative to that of the supermarkets. The majority of produce was less expensive at farmers’ markets than at mainstream supermarkets.

2011: Anthony Flaccavento

Link to PDF (4 pages)

 

From Farmer to Market

The rhetorical construction of farmers in the local food movement. This thesis is composed of two parts. First, the author deconstructs images and ideas regarding farmers, farming, and food movements in works by authors such as Michael Pollan and Wendell Berry. Second, the author examines the rhetoric used at a farmers’ market and two farm-to-table restaurants in Louisville. Harrison focuses on The Omnivore’s Dilemma, The Memory of Old Jack, Fast Food Nation, and other books in her analysis of the imagery and identity of the farmer in food movements. She expands upon the theory by demonstrating how farmers are represented in the language, space, and physical objects found at these three locations.

2013: Hannah Virginia Harrison

Link to Thesis (91 pages)

 

Analyzing Healthy, Local Food Systems

This study provided insight into the local food system in Owensboro, Kentucky. Though this study was specific to Owensboro, the author does a great job of outlining how to understand and analyze a community food system. Hayden makes reference to several other cities in Kentucky, including Louisville, which she feels are leading the state in terms of the local food movement. The author provides a questionnaire used to survey participants at local farmers’ markets and other local food distribution sites. The questionnaire allows readers to understand exactly how Hayden learned about the specifics of the Owensboro local food movement. Hayden not only discusses how to strengthen the local food movement in a given community, but also acknowledges the challenges involved with promoting this social and food movement.

2013 Callie Ann Hayden

Link to Thesis (92 pages)