Rooted in Community: Growing Health, Access, and Connection in Franklinton
Chef David walked a group of guests through the garden rows at Franklinton Farms recently, identifying plants, talking through what to make with them, getting excited about what was still coming in. Some guests didn't know the u-pick garden was there. Some didn't know they could access it. Some had never thought about what to do with what was growing. By the time they walked back, that had changed.
Meanwhile, our food truck was parked right next to the garden. Chefs Alex, Jesse, and David served tacos with a side salad featuring spinach, microgreens, and flower chives picked that morning.
Sharing a meal has been central to how Make-A-Day works from the beginning. Before a referral, before a form, before anything else, there is food. It is how trust gets built. It is what signals to someone that they belong in the room. For years we have done that work out of parking lots and community centers, showing up with the food truck and setting up tables wherever people already were. Rooted is an extension of that, but with something added. At Franklinton Farms, the meal is not just a tool for engagement. It is connected to the ground, to something growing, to a resource that belongs to the neighborhood and that neighbors can return to on their own. That is a different kind of access than a referral can provide.
Why Food Access is a Health Issue
Food insecurity is not a standalone problem. It shows up in rates of diabetes, heart disease, and chronic illness. It shapes stress, housing stability, and employment. And it is deeply concentrated in neighborhoods like Franklinton, where access to fresh food has never been guaranteed.
Urban gardening is part of the answer, and not just because it produces food. A garden gives people agency over what they eat in a way that a food pantry cannot. You choose what to pick, when to pick it, and what to make with it. For someone navigating housing instability or poverty, that kind of choice is not small. Food sovereignty, the ability to access and control your own food supply, is a health intervention. Franklinton Farms' u-pick garden makes that possible for neighbors who live here, if they know it exists and feel welcome to use it. Rooted is about making sure they do.
Make-A-Day has been in Franklinton long enough that the faces at our events are familiar. Our founder is rooted here. Our food truck operates here. Partnering with Franklinton Farms is a deeper commitment to a place we already belong to.
Building Toward June
April was our first visit to the garden. In May we come back, reconnect with neighbors, and keep listening. On June 15th, Rooted expands into a full Pop-Up Care Village at Franklinton Farms, bringing together fresh food access and shared meals from the MAD food truck, on-site services and resource navigation, nutrition education and food system support, and community partners working across health and food access.
This is the model: meet people where they are, with what they need, in a space that already has their trust.
Get Involved
Volunteer — Show up for your neighbors at the June 15th Pop-Up. Sign up today.
Donate a Meal — Flexible funding lets us show up consistently and build programs that respond to what we're actually hearing. Support this work. $10 supports a meal for the day!