03/01/2026
FreshGreens Market is a Black-led urban farm and neighborhood market rooted in Montgomery, Alabama’s West Side — a historic Black community long excluded from healthy food access
and economic opportunity. Our mission is to restore food as a right, not a privilege, by bringing fresh, real food directly to the people and building a local food economy grounded in
self-determination, community ownership, and wellness.
Erica and Erin Washington began this work with a dream to re-open our great-grandfather’s neighborhood grocery store — once a cornerstone of this community — to transform it into a modern version of what he built: a space for nourishment, dignity, and belonging. Today, FreshGreens operates as a small but growing network of farm stands, micro-markets, and urban farms that connect Black farmers to their neighbors through affordable, locally grown produce. Our work is about more than food; it’s about reclaiming power over what we eat, how we live, and who benefits from our labor.
FreshGreens Market envisions a community where every household has access to nutrient-dense food within walking distance; where youth can learn how to grow their own food and elders can pass down traditional agricultural knowledge; and where local farmers are valued as healers, teachers, and stewards of the land. Through our programs — including our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) partnership with Black farmers, the mini-market near
completion to open to the public, and the green zone learning lab teaching kids and the community how to grow their own food by getting their hands in the dirt — we are building a circular economy that keeps dollars in our neighborhoods and food on our tables.
Our organizing model centers people and place. We work with local growers, churches, neighborhood associations, small businesses, and mutual aid groups to identify what the community truly needs. Volunteers pack and distribute fresh food boxes, elders host storytelling sessions about the neighborhood’s agricultural past, and youth participate in hands-on learning at our urban farm and larger farm sites. Each of these activities connects back to our larger
mission: to heal and rebuild our local ecosystem — both human and environmental — through food sovereignty and collective care.
Our impact is both immediate and long-term. In the last few years, FreshGreens has distributed thousands of pounds of produce, supported more than a dozen local farmers, and reactivated
an underutilized commercial property into a vibrant community asset. As we prepare to open our first location and expand our mobile market and construct a second location, we remain
grounded in our founding belief: that real food is medicine, and when we control our food, we control our future.
We are not just feeding people; we are restoring a system of care, wealth, and wellness built by and for us. FreshGreens Market exists to remind our community of what’s always been true: we already
have what we need to heal — it’s in our soil, our stories, and ourselves.
