About Us

Our Mission

To grow a healthy local food system, accessible to all on our island.

We work in many ways to build a vibrant food system on Aquidneck Island: distribution of fresh foods at our farmers markets, education in school and community gardens, programs that inspire young people to love healthy foods, and an annual challenge to eat locally to benefit community health and our regional economy.

Aquidneck Community Table, or "ACT," brings together partners in our community to collectively build a healthy future, generating events and discussion to explore solutions that strengthen the island’s food system, support the local economy and expand access to fresh healthy food for everyone. Aquidneck Community Table is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Our History

A coalition of island organizations, informally known as Island Commons, that included Aquidneck Growers Market, Aquidneck Land Trust, and Sustainable Aquidneck began discussions in 2008 towards a food hub and community farm on land at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Portsmouth.  Over time, the discussion morphed into the need for wider understanding of food and agricultural issues, woven around the health of our bodies, our community, our land, and their entwined future.

Grants from The Kendall Foundation and The Apple Pickers Foundation allowed us to explore this vision with strategic planning consultant, Gayle Gifford of Cause & Effect. More than 40 interviews with community leaders and stakeholders informed our understanding of the current island food system and made clear a need for an agency that could connect, enhance, and educate about growing and strengthening our food system, eventually resulting in the merger of Island Commons, the Growers Market and Sustainable Aquidneck in 2016 to form one new organization, united by not-for-profit status and a new name – Aquidneck Community Table.

Recognition

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