Who we Are
The smithville agricultural education community is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that was incorporated in December of 2023 by courtney dyer. Our operations and programs aim to serve our local community of smithville, texas and its neighboring regions.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide education and service to our local community surrounding food and agriculture in order to increase interest and access to seasonally fresh foods. While partnering with local schools, organizations, and businesses, our programs aspire to share knowledge about farming, farm-to-table food preparation, and gardening, as well as to provide connection through community and to serve All types of families including those with limited resources.
OUR projects
enriching lives through partnership
Smithville’s Sunday Market
We host a weekly farmers market that takes place in downtown Smithville in order to provide education to community members through cooking demonstrations, farmer chats, the sharing of healthy recipes and ideas for using the goods you find at market, as well as sharing what’s in season each month. In doing so, we hope to raise awareness about healthy food options as well as increase access to fresh, locally grown and locally made foods for our community and neighboring regions. In addition, many of our other projects and initiatives are run during the farmers market each week.
Smithville Food Pantry Partner Program
We love partnering with our local food pantry in order to join them in their fight against Hunger within our community. Throughout the year, we have a number of initiatives that directly benefit and support them. We started a Plastic grocery bag recycling program in their honor in which community members can donate their gently used bags that are used to bag up weekly meals. We also host a Thanksgiving Sides Food drive in October & November for them that complements their thanksgiving turkey program. Lastly, they are one of the direct beneficiaries of our spare change campaign that takes place at the farmers market.
Food Access incentive programs
Did you know that texas is one of the hungriest states with over 3.4 million people relying on food assistance programs? we believe all people should have access to food, but often times, healthier foods are out of reach. Therefore, to increase the quality of life for all as well as to increase the overall access to healthier foods, we partner with a number of different state and national organizations to provide food access and Nutrition incentive programs to our community such as Snap, Double Up Food Bucks, and a few more we are currently working towards adding to our local farmers market.
Agri-business Incubator program
We serve as a hub for connecting Local food vendors to business education opportunities, food conferences, online workshops, etc. A monthly newsletter shares such opportunities with Sunday Market Vendors. We are also currently exploring ways to partner with a local commercial kitchen to support extending food vendors’ reach within our local food systems, further connecting them to local shops and restaurants interested in their foods.
Back-to-school supplies sponsorship program
we partner with local businesses to equip students grades K-12 in Smithville ISD with the tools they need for a successful school year. Through this program, families can nominate children in need of school supplies for community members and businesses to sponsor and donate a backpack full of supplies. We also collect Loose school supplies to drop off at the local schools. Our Spare Change Campaign will benefit this project Mar-August.
