Gaining Ground

The mission of Gaining Ground is to improve access to locally grown food, provide nutrition education, and inspire engagement in regional agriculture. We envision a vibrant, well-nourished community.

In order to create an affordable, healthy food system for all, we operate a local farm store, manage chronic disease prevention programming, and serve as a hub to connect the community with resources. 

Gaining Ground Grocery, the first project of the organization, is a 500-square foot grocery store featuring locally-grown/sourced produce, meat, dairy, eggs, bread, honey, and kombucha from over 35 regional growers and producers. Sustainability is essential to Gaining Ground Grocery -- a variety of organic goods (beans, grains, teas, spices/dried herbs, etc.) are stocked in bulk to avoid unnecessary plastic waste, and customers are encouraged to bring their own bags and jars; unsold produce is donated on a weekly basis to the Chattanooga Community Fridge, a nearby mutual aid effort, or composted by New Terra. 

Our chronic disease prevention programming consists of several projects. Firstly, we maintain a nutrition incentive program called Double Up Food Bucks, which provides a dollar-for-dollar match up to $20 per day for any purchases EBT customers make at the following partner sites: Bingo's Market, Brainerd Farmers Market, Crabtree Farms, Gaining Ground Grocery, Main Street Farmers Market, and the YMCA Mobile Market. We are planning to expand the program into Cleveland, TN in the following years! 

Alongside Double Up, Gaining Ground provides nutrition education and cooking classes for school children, older adults, and vulnerable populations located in low-income/high-health disparity zip codes as defined by the Hamilton County Health Department's Picture of Our Health. We currently hold strong nutrition education partnerships with the Howard School, East Lake Elementary, Calvin Donaldson Elementary, the Glenwood Community Center, and the Foxwood Food Center. Our curriculum heavily emphasizes utilizing seasonal, local produce while still prioritizing affordability and simplicity. We work with chefs, farmers, and registered dieticians in the community to offer more specialized classes - from Chef Kenyatta Ashford leading a Black History Month food demo at Howard and guiding students in preparing dishes from the African Diaspora, to RD Rebecca Greer teaching older adults at Silvertree Senior Housing how to cook delicious low-sodium meals.

Lastly, we prioritize ways to connect with food and one another through resource sharing. Gaining Ground is a proud participant of multiple local food initiatives, including the Chattanooga Food Coalition and Southeast TN Young Farmers. We host a local food map on our website, as well as detailed information about where the community can find local community fridges and gardens, food assistance services, farming and ag resources, and more. At our current location in the historic St. Andrews Center, our free food garden offers our neighbors freshly grown herbs and vegetables to pick at their leisure; inside the building, we offer a free cookbook library, seed library, community board with additional resources, free, clean reusable containers to use in the store, and snack bags for our local unhoused/underhoused population. We truly believe in creating a place for everyone at Gaining Ground!