Growing Community on Martha’s Vineyard Through the Power of Food

Since 2006, Island Grown Initiative has worked to build a strong local food system for all on Martha’s Vineyard.

Today, our programs touch the lives of the majority of year-round islanders. 

Between farm to school education for every island child, food access programs that support more than 1 in 5 year-round residents, and a 42-acre regenerative farm that helps heal the environment while producing abundant food for the community, IGI has become an integral part of the fabric of life on the Vineyard.

Learn more about what we do, and join us!

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Coordinating the System

IGI is one player in a vibrant local food system, and we work closely with dozens of partner agencies.  We keep a bird’s eye view on the state of the island’s food system, recognizing gaps, encouraging networking and collaboration, and developing innovative programing to meet our community’s needs.

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Sustaining our Community

It is through the power of food that we can care for our neighbors, support a resilient climate, honor the Vineyard’s agricultural and fishing heritage, and build a food secure future for all.  It is through food that we can sustain a vibrant community and honor the natural world here in this place we love.

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Sharing our Model

We believe this island can be a microcosm of what we want the broader food system to become.  While we focus our work on the Vineyard, we aim to share our model widely.  Through partnerships, policy advocacy, mentoring, workshops and presentations, and more we take what we are able to build here and beam it out beyond our shores.

Land Acknowledgment

We offer our respect and acknowledgement that these lands are the ancestral and contemporary home of the Wampanoag people, and we are indebted to their millennia of responsible stewardship.