Press Releases

Gloucester-based food equity nonprofit organization shares details of 2024 market operation

Gloucester, Mass. - Backyard Growers, a food equity nonprofit organization, announced that Gloucester’s new farmer’s market will open for the season on Wednesday, June 19. Brought to the community by Backyard Growers, the Backyard Growcery is a weekly market at Burnham’s Field. The Growcery will operate every Wednesday from 2:30 to 6:30pm, from June through October.

Kicking off its first season, the Backyard Growcery is a community and food-centric market. The Growcery will feature multiple local farms and food purveyors. In addition to increasing access to locally-grown produce and food products, the Growcery will host a full calendar of workshops centered on gardening, art, and food systems.

The Growcery will be centrally-located at Burnham’s Field, nestled between two thriving community gardens managed by Backyard Growers. Burnham’s Field not only features a parking lot and adjacent street parking but is also highly walkable from much of downtown Gloucester and the MBTA. The Growcery is approved to accept SNAP, senior coupons and will be rolling out additional incentive programs to ensure that all of Gloucester is able to enjoy this new community resource.

“A thriving farmer’s market is essential to building a healthy and resilient local food system that supports both residents and food producers,” said Alison DiFiore, Executive Director at Backyard Growers. “At its best, a farmer’s market is a highly visible tie to where our food comes from as well as a tangible resource for community members and food producers. It’s also a space for connection around shared experience and community-building. The mission of Backyard Growers is centered around empowering people to grow their own food. It feels full-circle to offer a farmer’s market as a way to expand and strengthen the circle of growing and providing food within our community.”

Backyard Growers is a nonprofit organization with a mission to cultivate healthy, connected, resilient communities. Over the last decade, the organization has worked towards building a healthy food system on Cape Ann, increasing equitable access to resources like seeds, seedlings, and knowledge, as well as growing space in the form of community and residential gardens. The organization now manages six community gardens in Gloucester, including two community garden sites at Burnham’s Field. The organization also plants, grows, harvests, and provides taste tests of fresh produce to almost 2,000 Gloucester Public School students in their school gardens and cafeterias every year.

To learn more about the Backyard Growcery, visit www.backyardgrowers.org.

Gloucester, Mass. - Backyard Growers, a food equity nonprofit organization, and the City of Gloucester today announced that they are partnering in a mayoral initiative to launch a new farmer’s market in spring 2024. In partnership with the City, the market will be managed and operated by Backyard Growers at Burnham’s Field, a centrally-located public park in downtown Gloucester.

Over the past decade, Burnham’s Field has seen significant revitalization, and is now a locus of community activity, including a playground, walking paths, and athletic fields. The Field is also the site of the Backyard Growers-managed Burnham’s Field Community Garden, where over fifty local households grow their own food in two areas of raised garden beds.

“We are thrilled that the Verga administration approached Backyard Growers to lead the new farmer’s market,” said Alison DiFiore, Backyard Growers Executive Director. “The team who built the original Cape Ann Farmers Market created an amazing community resource and we’re honored to carry on the tradition of connecting Cape Ann through food. Backyard Growers is committed to cultivating healthy, connected, resilient communities, and a strong local food system is critical to achieving that mission. A farmer’s market that prioritizes public access, community development, and economic opportunity for small-scale farmers and business owners is an integral component of a resilient local food economy.”

The food produced in and around Gloucester is unique in its ties to the City’s fishing heritage as well as the contributions of the culturally diverse people who have called Gloucester home over the centuries. The new market will increase access to local food for everyone who lives in Gloucester, and add a bustling weekly market to a thriving public park.

North Shore- and Cape Ann-based market vendors will provide food and produce including fruit, vegetables, eggs, fish, baked goods, fresh cut flowers, and more. The market will focus on increasing access to fresh food in a downtown Gloucester food desert.

“We are excited to join forces with Backyard Growers to meet a need in our community and create a new tradition in Gloucester,” said Mayor Greg Verga. “We are grateful for the opportunity to work hand in hand with a well-established organization that knows the significance of nurturing not only our green spaces but also the health and well-being of our residents. This program represents a step forward in creating more access to local, fresh, and nutritious food. We are thrilled to see Burnham’s Field come alive each week with the flavors of our region.”

For farmer’s market updates and more, please visit www.backyardgrowers.org.

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About Backyard Growers

Backyard Growers is a grassroots organization that cultivates healthy, connected, resilient communities by empowering people to grow their own food. Founded in 2010, its community programs and award-winning school programs increase access to vegetable gardens in community gardens, backyards, schools, public parks, housing developments, and more. Learn more at www.backyardgrowers.org.

About The City of Gloucester, Massachusetts

America's oldest seaport, the City of Gloucester, is known throughout the world as an authentic, working waterfront community, a place of spectacular natural beauty, and home to a diverse population of approximately 30,000 residents. Its sharp focus on economic development has helped build its reputation as the ideal location to live, work, and play. An important center for the fishing industry, Gloucester is also proud of its vibrant cultural life and rich art heritage. Gloucester is a destination for thousands of visitors who visit the harbor and its beaches during the summer months. The City is currently celebrating its 400th Anniversary.

For more information, please visit: www.gloucester-ma.gov

Gloucester, Mass. - Backyard Growers, a food equity nonprofit organization, today announced that it will be partnering with Seacoast Nursing & Rehabilitation to engage residents and patients in growing their own fresh food in the facility’s vegetable garden. Seacoast Nursing & Rehabilitation is a 142-bed rehab and nursing center that offers a wide array of services, allowing patients and residents to receive medical care, restorative therapy, and support, from short-term rehabilitation to traditional long-term care.

Backyard Growers will work with Seacoast staff and residents to plant a spring garden full of lettuces, radishes, and other fresh food ready for harvest in May at a Salad Harvest event. They will then work together to plan and plant a low-maintenance summer vegetable garden for harvest by residents in August. Backyard Growers will also work with Cape Ann Garden Club to establish a “sensory garden” full of perennial plants, including herbs, for residents to enjoy.

“We are looking forward to a busy spring and summer growing fresh vegetables with the residents and team at Seacoast Nursing & Rehabilitation. Partnerships like this one allow us to maximize our impact both in the Gloucester community and beyond,” said Backyard Growers Program Director Jessica Reid. “This work directly fulfills our mission to build healthy, connected, resilient communities by empowering people to grow their own food. We can’t wait to get started.”

Seacoast Nursing & Rehabilitation joins a diverse group of organizations that partner with Backyard Growers to bring fresh, culturally-meaningful vegetables to their service population, as well as the experience of growing food. Backyard Growers’ additional partners include the City of Gloucester, The Open Door food pantry, Action, Inc., Gloucester Housing Authority, and the Cape Ann YMCA.

“The positive health impacts of vegetable gardening are well-established - from anxiety and stress reduction to enhanced memory retention and increased happiness,” said Alison Cox, Director of Activities at Seacoast. “We are thrilled to be able to bring Backyard Growers’ vegetable garden and education programs to our residents this year.”

For more information on Backyard Growers’ award-winning vegetable garden and urban agriculture programs, visit www.backyardgrowers.org.

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Backyard Growers is a grassroots organization that cultivates healthy, connected, resilient communities by empowering people to grow their own food. Founded in 2010, its community programs and award-winning school programs increase access to vegetable gardens in community gardens, backyards, schools, public parks, housing developments, and more. Learn more at www.backyardgrowers.org.

Gloucester nonprofit receives 10 years of funding from Cummings Foundation

Gloucester, Mass. – Backyard Growers is one of 140 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 to $500,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s $25 Million Grant Program. The Gloucester‐based organization was chosen from a total of 580 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $250,000 over 10 years.

Backyard Growers is a grassroots organization that cultivates healthier, connected, sustainable communities by empowering people to grow their own food. Founded in 2010, Backyard Growers has since built 400 raised garden beds in backyards, six community gardens, all of the Gloucester Public Schools, and at partner nonprofit organizations including The Open Door and Action, Inc. Emergency Shelter. Committed to connecting low- to moderate-income kids, families, and seniors to the resources to grow their own food, the organization recently launched a new GrowBag Garden Program, which increases access to fresh produce through modular container vegetable gardening.

“We are so honored to receive this multi-year award from Cummings Foundation,” said Backyard Growers executive director Alison Woitunski DiFiore. “It really speaks to the evolution of Backyard Growers over the last decade from a scrappy grassroots startup to an established and respected community organization. We are grateful to Cummings Foundation for acknowledging the impact of Backyard Growers’ food equity work to date, and this tremendous vote of confidence in our future.”

This grant will enable Backyard Growers to expand the reach of its consulting services, which leverage over a decade of organizational experience to enable schools, districts, housing developments, and communities regardless of location to adapt Backyard Growers’ award-winning programming to their community’s needs.

The Cummings $25 Million Grant Program supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties.

“We are so fortunate in greater Boston to have such effective nonprofits, plus a wealth of talented, dedicated professionals and volunteers to run them,” said Cummings Foundation Executive Director Joyce Vyriotes. “We are indebted to them for the work they do each day to provide for basic needs, break down barriers to education and health resources, and work toward a more equitable society.”

With the help of about 90 volunteers, the Foundation first identified 140 organizations to receive grants of at least $100,000 each. Among the winners were first‐time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings Foundation grants. Forty of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected to have their grants elevated to 10‐year awards ranging from $200,000 to $500,000 each.

“Our volunteers bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which is so critical to our grant selection process,” said Vyriotes. “Through this democratized approach to philanthropy, they decide more than half the grants every year.”

This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including food insecurity, immigrant and refugee services, social justice, education, and mental health services. The nonprofits are spread across 45 different cities and towns.

The complete list of 140 grant winners, plus more than 900 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $375 million to greater Boston nonprofits.

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About Backyard Growers

Backyard Growers is a grassroots organization that cultivates healthy, connected, sustainable communities by empowering people to grow their own food. Founded in 2010, its community programs and award-winning school programs increase access to vegetable gardens in community gardens, backyards, schools, public parks, housing developments, and more. Learn more at www.backyardgrowers.org.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn‐based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings and has grown to be one of the largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn, and Cummings Health Sciences, LLC. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Lara Lepionka Leaving Strong Legacy to Incoming Executive Director and Food Systems Expert, Alison Woitunski DiFiore

Gloucester, Mass. - The Backyard Growers Board of Directors announced today that Founder and Executive Director Lara Lepionka is stepping down to explore new opportunities after over 12 years of committed leadership and inspiring vision at the Gloucester-based nonprofit. The Board is also pleased to share the appointment of food systems expert Alison Woitunski DiFiore as the incoming Executive Director who will lead Backyard Growers into its next chapter.

Lepionka founded Backyard Growers at her kitchen table in 2010. The organization began as a program of the Cape Ann Farmers’ Market (CAFM) until transitioning to become its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2014. Backyard Growers also received significant partnership support from The Food Project and FoodCorps over the years to launch and grow programming. At its helm, Lepionka nurtured the organization’s mission of building healthier, more connected, sustainable communities by empowering people to grow their own food. She developed and operated the organization’s widely-recognized model of school, backyard, GrowBag, and community garden programs from the ground up for over a decade.

Backyard Growers has continued to grow in size and impact, now with seven staff members and serving over 3,000 local children, families, and seniors annually. Several thousand additional children in communities across Massachusetts have learned to grow and eat fresh vegetables from the Backyard Growers school garden program model, which has been replicated in 24 schools to date through the organization’s consulting practice.

“Backyard Growers is part of my DNA – I have the dirt under my nails to prove it!” Lepionka said. “But as founder, I know that I have seen my initial vision through, and that Backyard Growers is in a fantastic position to welcome new energy, ideas, and innovation. I am beyond grateful to our generous community of supporters, and proud of the work that we’ve accomplished together. I can’t wait to see what Backyard Growers accomplishes under the energetic new leadership of Alison Woitunski DiFiore, who has been a supporter of our work since the beginning.”

“Our entire community has benefitted from Lara’s hard work, creativity, and influence for more than a decade,” said Dr. Brian Orr, Board President. “We are grateful for her dedication to ensuring Backyard Growers is positioned for continued organizational growth, financial stability, and limitless potential. Now, we are thrilled to welcome Alison Woitunski DiFiore to the team and look forward to working with her to further the organization’s mission in new, creative ways.”

Woitunski DiFiore joins the Backyard Growers leadership team following over a decade of experience pairing sustainable agriculture with sustainable business models, most recently as the Director of Small Farms Initiatives at Apeel Sciences. She is a sustainable business and food systems expert with the proven ability to lead in both for profit and nonprofit settings. Throughout her career, Woitunski DiFiore has worked on both local and national levels to create food systems impact.

“Joining Backyard Growers is a full circle moment for me,” said Woitunski DiFiore. “My career began at The Food Project, when I was living in Gloucester and collaborating with Lara as she founded Backyard Growers. I even built some of Backyard Growers’ very first raised beds! Since then, my career in food systems has led me to Hawaii, Connecticut, and, most recently, California. During the pandemic, my husband, a Gloucester native, and I had the opportunity to move back to Gloucester, the place that has always been home. Over the years, I've been so impressed by what Lara and the Backyard Growers team have accomplished, and I feel honored to lead Backyard Growers into its next phase.”

The transition process will take place over several months with support of the Backyard Growers Board of Directors and current Executive Director Lara Lepionka. Lepionka will depart in April 2022. Watch this video featuring Lepionka and Woitunski DiFiore to learn more about the transition. For more information on Backyard Growers, visit www.backyardgrowers.org.

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About Backyard Growers

Backyard Growers is a grassroots organization that connects people and communities through access to healthy food. Founded in 2010, its community programs and award-winning school programs have connected thousands of people to resources to grow their own food. Its work is supported by a community of donors, volunteers, companies, and funding organizations. Learn more about Backyard Growers and its work in schools, public parks, and housing developments at www.backyardgrowers.org.

Projects include Agri-Culture, led by Gloucester-based food access and urban agriculture nonprofit Backyard Growers

Gloucester, Mass. - After a long winter in isolation, the Gloucester community will come to life through new public art projects that seek to promote hope, connection, and diversity. Agri-Culture, headed by nonprofit organization Backyard Growers in collaboration with Gloucester Housing Authority and Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, is just one of six new collaborative public art and creative placemaking projects being funded by Essex County Community Foundation’s Creative County Initiative (CCI). Launched in 2018 through a partnership with the Barr Foundation, CCI is designed to elevate arts, culture and the creative economy in Essex County.

Agri-Culture is a project that will use storytelling, multimedia arts, and a participatory design process to create dynamic spaces in and around the community garden managed by Backyard Growers at Willowood Park, a Gloucester Housing Authority development on Maplewood Avenue in Gloucester.

“We are thrilled to forge this expanded partnership with Gloucester Housing Authority and the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce aimed at connecting and celebrating the voices of diverse communities in Gloucester through public art,” said Lara Lepionka, Executive Director of Backyard Growers. “We are also pleased to be in such good company with LuminArtz, the other Gloucester-based project funded through CCI in this selective round.”

“The idea of creating a space where anyone and everyone can access art and culture is paramount to our vision for Essex County,” said CCI Program Director Karen Ristuben. “We were really inspired by these new collaborations, which have not only designed innovative, creative plans to bring people together through art and culture but have also managed to persevere through COVID-19,” added Ristuben.

“During these difficult times, it is vital that our residents have a sense of hope and transformation, and that our community increase its sense of inclusivity,” said Gloucester Housing Authority Executive Director David Houlden. “Our public art project, Agri-Culture, based in and around the Willowood Community Garden, will bring new energy to the Willowood community using the arts to celebrate diverse cultures and improve healthy food access.”

A second Gloucester project was also funded by CCI called Centuries in the Making, led by LuminArtz. It is a project which brings the iconic fishermen’s and fishermen’s wives’ memorial statues in Gloucester to life through art technology and sound effects. These two new Gloucester-based projects will join an already impressive list of CCI-funded public art projects that have successfully mobilized collaborations of nonprofits, artists, municipalities and local businesses to transform their communities through art. For more information about ECCF’s work in arts and culture, please visit eccf.org/arts-and-culture.

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About Backyard Growers

Backyard Growers is a grassroots organization that connects people and communities through access to healthy food. Founded in 2010, its community programs and award-winning school programs have connected thousands of people to the resources to grow their own food. Learn more about Backyard Growers and its work in schools, public parks, and housing developments at www.backyardgrowers.org.

About ECCF

The mission of Essex County Community Foundation is to inspire philanthropy that strengthens the communities of Essex County. We do this by managing charitable assets, strengthening and supporting nonprofits and engaging in strategic community leadership. Since 1998, ECCF and its family of 250 charitable funds have granted $85 million to nonprofits, schools and students in Essex County and beyond. Our ultimate goal is to have 34 thriving cities and towns in Essex County and to improve the quality of life for the region’s nearly 800,000 residents. Learn more at eccf.org.