3/24/20

COVID-19 Spring 2020 Field Trip Updates

Dear Educators,

Following VA Governor Ralph Northam’s announcement to close all Virginia schools for the remaining portion of SY 2019/20, it is with a heavy heart that Arcadia has decided to cancel the upcoming Spring 2020 Field Trip season.

In order to make this situation a little easier, we wanted to offer schools who are already scheduled for a Spring 2020 field trip two options for refunding their payments and rescheduling: 

Option 1: Reschedule your school’s confirmed field trip to the Fall 2020 Field Trip season with a guaranteed spot on the calendar, dates TBD. Arcadia will contact you in late August 2020. We will reassess student numbers, and arrangements will be made to accommodate changes in group size. New contracts will be distributed and signed. We will hold on to any payments that your school has made thus far.

Option 2: Cancel your field trip and waive the option to schedule a Fall 2020 Field Trip at this time. Arcadia will return your field trip fees in the form of a check at the beginning of the 2020/21 school year. Checks will be mailed to your school’s office administrator.

We understand that this decision may take some time, and we ask all schools to let us know how they would like to adjust their plans by August 30th.

Please contact Ivy Mitchell at Ivy@Arcadiafood.org with your preference or for more information. 

In the meantime, Arcadia is sharing links to online educational resources as well as locations where affected students and families can access meals and food supplies. Feel free to share the link to our Educational Resource Master Sheet which we will update as new materials become available: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PVKfR7hc6hC5wV6OrcdRq1unYNec8KRlkM2fT9AOyn8/edit?usp=sharing.

Finally, stay tuned to our social media as our Farm Education staff and farmers share educational videos and farm inspired crafts.

Thank you for your continued support — we will miss you all so much this Spring. Stay safe and take care of yourselves.

All the best,

Ivy Mitchell, Farm Education Director and the entire Arcadia Farm Staff

3/17/20

#HealthyTogether: Join us in looking out for our neighbors!

Many residents, workers, families and children in the DMV will be adversely impacted by closures and concerns due to COVID-19.

We can all help.
 
As we mark the occasion of  Arcadia being featured in the March 22nd episode of MSNBC’s, What’s Eating America with Andrew Zimmern with a Facebook Watch Party Event.

Arcadia, The Capital Area Food Bank and Neighborhood Restaurant Group are 
pleased to announce a joint fundraising effort to help our community.


Click HERE to donate to #HealthyTogether

50% of proceeds will go to Arcadia’s Mobile Market Program 
More than 5,000 families in 10 neighborhoods in DC rely on Arcadia's Mobile Markets 
for affordable access to nutritious, fresh food.   
.
50% of proceeds will go to the Capital Area Food Bank 
As the area’s largest hunger relief organization, the Capital Area Food Bank has significant regional infrastructure and storage capacity, which it is rapidly mobilizing to continue providing help for thousands of kids and families during this time.


Learn more about our organizations and collective response below.



ARCADIA – 10th Anniversary
Since its establishment in 2010, Arcadia's mission has been to improve the health of our community, support the viability of local farmers, and preserve the environment for future generations.

More than 5,000 families in 10 neighborhoods in DC rely on the Arcadia Mobile Markets for  affordable access to nutritious, fresh food. At our winter pop-up markets and our regular weekly markets starting in May, we double the purchasing power of federal nutrition benefits. That means $10 on an EBT card – formerly known as food stamps – gets our customers $20 in the best food local farms have to offer. We also double WIC vouchers, for mothers of young children and pregnant women, and Senior vouchers, for low-come seniors.

Learn more about Arcadia's COVID-19 response HERE


CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK – 40th Anniversary
Now commemorating our 40th anniversary year, the Capital Area Food Bank works to address hunger today and create brighter futures tomorrow for the nearly half a million people across the region experiencing food insecurity. As the anchor in the area’s hunger relief infrastructure, we provide over 30 million meals to people in need each year by supplying food to 450+ nonprofit organizations, including Martha’s Table, SOME – So Others Might Eat, DC Central Kitchen, Food for Others, Manna, and others. Through these partnerships, the food bank supports 10 percent of our region’s mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, and grandparents.

Learn more about the Capital Area Food Bank’s response to COVID-19 HERE

3/13/20

Arcadia Coronavirus Policies and Program Information

Friends,

Nutritious food is essential, now more than ever. So we wanted to update you on how Arcadia is caring for caring for the community during the pandemic.

Arcadia’s Mobile Market pop up on March 18th will honor pre-orders only, in order to support both food access and social distance. Please place your order at this link by midnight on March 17th: tinyurl.com/march18popup. We will have your food packed up and ready to go when you arrive!

Arcadia’s Mobile Markets will also distribute FREE MEALS at both locations for any youth affected by school closures. Thank you to DC Central Kitchen for collaborating with us on this!

The two pop-up locations on March 18th are:
11:00am-1:00pm in Edgewood, Edgewood St NE & Evarts St NE, 20017
2:00-4:00pm at Bellevue Library, 115 Atlantic St SW, 20032

Place your pre-order here by Tuesday, March 17th at midnight: tinyurl.com/march18popup

ARCADIA FARM
Arcadia Farmers Katherine and Kenny, and our three new Veteran Farm Fellows Zeek, Vanessa, and Megan, are hard at work on the farm preparing the soil for planting and tending seedlings in the greenhouse for the upcoming growing season. On Monday, they will glean winter greens and other crops to donate to an area food bank.

Our partner and landlord, Woodlawn & Frank Lloyd Wright's Pope-Leighey House, is closed to the public until at least March 27th. Therefore, we are not accepting volunteers or visitors on the farm until further notice.

FARM AND NUTRITION EDUCATION
Arcadia Farm Education team Ivy and Juan Pablo are foster-parenting seedlings started in local school greenhouses and classrooms that might otherwise wither during school closures. When the kids get back to school, we will return their healthy seedlings ready to be planted, and their gardens won't miss a beat.

Fairfax County Public Schools has currently cancelled all extracurricular activities and field trips through April 12th. We do not believe this will affect the upcoming field trip season which begins April 22, and are eagerly preparing for students and teachers to join us. However, we will follow FCPS’ lead, and should anything change, we will update our website and social media with new information as it becomes available.

We will continue to operate all non-public programming during this time, and will be available by phone and internet for meetings and program coordination.

We are taking prudent steps to keep Arcadia staff, customers, and volunteers healthy, so all other public programming is cancelled through March 27.

We will revisit and update this policy every Friday and share to our social media accounts (@arcadiafood) and Arcadia's website: arcadiafood.org/CoronavirusUpdates

Please contact us if you have questions or concerns.

Wishing you all health and safety,
Team Arcadia