Farm Fresh Rhode Island

10/13/2026

Front-page news: good food deserves a second chance. 🥬

Our farmers market food recovery program is featured in today’s The Providence Journal! The story highlights how our staff and volunteers collect unsold produce at the end of farmers markets to donate to food pantries across Rhode Island.

As Breanne Penkala explains, the program has allowed us to reach new food pantry partners and feed even more Rhode Islanders.

The impact so far this season?
🥕 3,000 pounds recovered at the Hope Street Farmers Market
🥬 1,400 pounds recovered at the Armory Park Farmers Market

And we’re not done yet!

Read the more at the link in our bio, or sign up help us get good food where it’s needed most 🔗

📸 Photo credit: Ryan T. Conaty/The Providence Journal

10/08/2026

Meet Sean Kontos, the chef behind Harvest Kitchen! 👋

After years in professional kitchens across New England and Europe, Sean began volunteering and working with Farm Fresh RI in search of something more meaningful. Today, he leads Harvest Kitchen, our culinary job training program for Rhode Island youth ages 16–19 involved with DCYF.

At Harvest Kitchen, students get hands-on experience in the kitchen and café while building culinary and workplace skills, learning about local ingredients, and gaining confidence they can carry wherever their paths takes them.

For Sean, the best part is the young people he gets to work alongside:

“I love working with the kids. I learn a lot from them, and it’s rewarding to get to teach them skills they’re going to use in their lives, whether they work in a restaurant or are cooking at home for someone.”

Hey Rhody recently sat down with Sean to talk about his journey, Harvest Kitchen, and what he hopes to build next—including growing our café and catering program. 🌱

Read the full story at the link in our bio!



📸 Photos by Austin Delin

10/07/2026

We had a great time celebrating RI Grown Day at our food hub on Monday! 🌱

The day brought together farmers, growers, producers, food businesses, and folks from across Rhode Island’s food and agriculture community to celebrate all that’s growing here in the Ocean State.

The afternoon included panel discussions, opportunities to connect with resources on everything from financial support and marketing to succession planning, and funding announcements for local food purchasing, disaster relief for farmers, and more.

A big thank you to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management for bringing everyone together—and the celebration isn’t over yet!

💚 There’s still time for farms, farmers markets, and retailers to sign up for RI Grown Week. Learn more and join in at dem.ri.gov/rigrown-week-signup.

Here’s to everyone who keeps Rhode Island growing! 🌾

10/07/2026

10/02/2026

October is National Farm to School Month! 🌱🍎 All month long, we’re celebrating how Farm to School work boosts healthy eating, supports our communities, and feeds our future—starting with our youngest eaters.

In September alone, RI K-12 schools sourced an incredible variety of local food through our Market Mobile program, including:

🍎 90,000 apples
🥬 10,000 heads of lettuce
🥔 9,000 pounds of potatoes
🌽 8,300 ears of corn
🐟 4,000 monkfish sliders

The celebration continues this month with the Annual Apple Crunch on October 22nd! We’ll be delivering 80,000 local apples to schools across the state, where students will bite into a crisp Rhode Island apple together in celebration of Farm to School Month.

Here’s to local food in local schools, and the farmers and food producers who make it possible! 🍎

09/29/2026

Today is Hunger Action Day—a reminder that hunger doesn’t take a holiday.

For too many Rhode Islanders, rising costs are making it harder to put enough food on the table. Today, we’re sharing one simple way you can help: give a meal. 🍽️

Our Local Harvest Boxes are now available, filled with fresh, locally grown vegetables, herbs, and a turkey spice rub—enough to prepare a holiday meal for 6–8 people.

Donate a box to a neighbor, or order one for your own table. All donated boxes will be distributed through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and Better Lives Rhode Island.

📦 Help put good food on every table: farmfreshri.org/thanksgiving

09/25/2026

⛈️ Weather update: Saturday farmers markets canceled ⛈️

Due to the incoming nor’easter, our Broad Street Farmers Market in Providence is canceled tomorrow, Saturday, September 26th.

We also received word that the Hope Street Farmers' Market in Providence has been canceled tomorrow as well.

Please stay safe—we’ll see you at the market next week!

09/22/2026

🚨 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THIS WEEK’S GLEANING TRIPS 🚨

Good food needs you. Help us harvest surplus local produce and get it to hunger relief agencies in our community!

🌱 Wednesday, 9–11 AM | Cranston
🌱 Friday, 10 AM–12 PM | Portsmouth

No farming experience needed—just bring yourself, clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, and a willingness to help!

Every gleaning trip helps move good food from local farms to our neighbors who need it most.

👉 Sign up to volunteer farmfreshri.org/volunteer

09/17/2026

🫐 We picked 44 lbs of blueberries—and put them to work!

After Harmony Farms’ pick-your-own season ended, there were still plenty of blueberries ripening on the bushes. So last week, Farm Fresh RI staff headed into the fields to harvest them for two Providence food pantries.

In all, we picked 66 pints of fresh blueberries! Fresh fruit isn’t common for pantries to receive, making this an especially sweet way to get local food to our neighbors during .

Thank you to Harmony Farms and to our amazing staff! 💙