Retire-to Volunteering

098 Mariah Ragland—The Nashville Food Project Grow, Cook, Share—The Nashville Food Project Think about times you have been hungry. Have you ever missed multiple meals? Have you not known where your next meal was coming from? One in every seven people in Nashville experiences food insecurity every day. Nearly 1,000 volunteers every month have looked back on their own experiences of hunger—however brief or long—and decided that they don’t want their neighbors to go without. They put their love of food and their love of people to work at The Nashville Food Project (NFP). The Food Project serves 200,000 fresh-cooked, nutritious meals each year! With only 22 staff members, they can do what they do only because of the volunteers who grow, cook, and share the food. Grow. Scattered around Nashville are five small—but very productive—organic gardens. Volunteers help with preparing the beds, planting, weeding, harvesting the food, and even composting. Although the largest garden is only 1.5 acres, these gardens produce