News
December 8th, 2025
Our Visit to Groundswell!
Visiting Groundswell in Ithaca was a deeply inspiring experience. From the moment we arrived, we felt the warm welcome of the community: delicious, sweet, and savory treats and freshly brewed coffee greeted us, a simple but powerful gesture that set a generous and hospitable tone for the day.
Organizations like Groundswell are what sustain our community. Groundswell is not just teaching farming — they’re ensuring that underresourced, aspiring farmers can actually access the land they need. Their Incubator Farm program makes this possible: providing newcomer growers with ¼‑acre plots, shared infrastructure, deer fencing, high tunnels, a wash station, storage, and mentorship. They are doing the work by actively dismantling barriers in the food system for refugees, immigrants, people of color, women, trans, and non-binary folks.
They also have incredible workshops and educational programs that aren’t just theoretical — it’s deeply practical, rooted in real, day-to-day farm life. Their broader educational mission also reaches learners of all ages and backgrounds: school tours, college-level practicums, community volunteer days, and mentorship from experienced farmer‑educators. At the foundation, we are big on capacity building and their programs are genuinely capacity building for the next generation of farmers.
Groundswell has already helped launch dozens of new farms and food businesses — over 30, by their own count — and trained hundreds of farmers through their programs. Their vision extends beyond a single farm: they imagine a Finger Lakes region where locally owned farms flourish, small-scale food businesses thrive, and everyone has access to healthy, sustainably grown food. They also embed justice into their work: they offer sliding-scale fees, interpretive services, and transportation help so educational programs are accessible to all.
On our tour, the greenhouse filled the air with warm, earthy, green scents that felt grounding and alive. The visual beauty was breathtaking — vibrant greens, delicate leaves, and the most beautiful flower that I have ever seen…the amaranth!
I also found personal testimony online that really resonated: in their Incubator Farm FAQ, a farmer named Carlos said,
“having other farmers there is motivating. You see them working and you want to work … They may know things you don’t, and they can help you learn to grow in this climate.”
groundswellcenter.org
There’s also Paw Pha whose journey shows how Groundswell supports cultural and culinary diversity — he grows Southeast Asian vegetables and builds community through his work.
groundswellcenter.org
Thank you, Groundswell team, for hosting us so graciously, for sharing your beautiful, thriving grounds, and for giving us a window into how land, care, and community can grow together. Your stewardship of the land is not just ecological — it’s deeply social and just. And yes — I actually ate a flower. It was spicy, surprisingly bold, and absolutely delicious!
~written by Gloria Coicou, Chief Engagement, Equity, & Grants Officer