Our Mission, VISION & History
Our Mission
Common Grain Alliance connects and supports farmers, millers, bakers, and grain artisans to build a vibrant, integrated, equitable and regenerative grain economy in the Mid-Atlantic.
Our Vision
We envision an integrated grain economy of local and regional businesses that produce nutritious, flavorful, and consistent regional grain products for the communities they serve. These businesses empower communities by granting control over their supply of staple crops, stewarding the land, creating livable jobs, and producing delicious food.
Our organization:
Expands and strengthens the network of grain-economy participants in the Mid-Atlantic, including members of communities that have been historically excluded from regional food systems.
Helps participants acquire the knowledge and skills they need through speaker series, workshops, hands-on training, and other educational opportunities.
Assists participants, especially farmers, with market access and equitable distribution of resources.
Educates consumers and policymakers on the value of local and regional grains and artisanal grain products through advocacy and marketing.
Works toward developing equitably shared resources including infrastructure, crop genetics, information, and social capital.
Commits to actively discuss and frame our work in the context of white supremacy, racism, and exploitation in Mid-Atlantic food and agriculture systems and in the US more broadly; and importantly taking action towards equity and justice in our region.
Our History
In 2018, a group of artisan bakers, millers, and grain farmers formed the Common Grain Alliance (CGA) in Roseland, Virginia. Since 2018, CGA has built a network of 140+ farmers, millers, bakers, and food businesses from southern Pennsylvania to northern North Carolina.
Key accomplishments and milestones in our organization’s history include:
2018 - CGA was formally incorporated as a nonprofit with 13 founding members. CGA primarily focused on network building through quarterly member meetings organized and hosted by volunteer members.
2020 - CGA won its first grants and hired its first paid staff. CGA won a USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant to develop a Growing Grain handbook to provide guidance to farmers interested in growing grain for the regional economy. CGA also became a partner on a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to produce a video series highlighting how members advance soil health through developing regional grain economies. We ended the year with 50 members.
2021 - CGA hired our first Executive Director. We secured a USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program grant to launch the Mid-Atlantic Grain Stand and Grain Share Program. We also became a partner to Future Harvest and launched the Agricultural Leadership Development Initiative (ALDI), a 9-month professional development program for BIPOC and veteran farmers. We ended the year with 80 members.
2022 - CGA launched the Mid-Atlantic Grain Stand and Grain Share program and developed our first strategic marketing plan to build consumer education and awareness of local grain. We ended the year with 90 members.
2023 - CGA hired its first full-time Executive Director. We hosted our first Mid-Atlantic Grain Fair and Conference, bringing together 150+ regional grain businesses and thousands of consumers for technical assistance and education about local grain. We ended the year with 112 members.
In the press
“Alliance Aims to Grow Virginia’s Grain Economy”
Radio feature on WMRA, the NPR station based in Harrisonburg, VA, December 2019.
“Five Lessons For Making Change From 18 Impact”
CGA mentioned in an article about farm entrepreneurship on Forbes.com written by Nell Debevoise in January 2019.
“Saving Grains”
Online article in The Roanoker written by Suzanne Hodges Irby.
“With the Grains”
Feature article in Richmond Magazine written by Stephanie Ganz in October 2018.