Wealth Beyond Riches: Building Prosperity With Purpose, Values, and Impact

Food Equity in Action: Inside Gaining Ground’s Zero-Profit, 100% Impact Model with Jennifer Johnson (Ep. 34)

• Abbey Henderson, CFP®

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What happens when a farm’s entire harvest is donated to fight hunger?

In this moving and mission-driven episode of Wealth Beyond Riches, Abbey Henderson, CFP®, CEO, Wealth Advisor & Coach, sits down with Jennifer Johnson, Executive Director of Gaining Ground, a nonprofit farm that donates 100% of its organically grown produce to hunger relief organizations in Massachusetts.

Together, they explore what it really takes to address food insecurity, not just through charity, but through dignity, community, and regenerative land stewardship.

Jennifer shares the surprising ways Gaining Ground engages volunteers, empowers teens, and stays rooted in values even as demand skyrockets. If you've ever wondered how to give more meaningfully, or how small, consistent acts of generosity can transform entire communities, this conversation will stay with you.

What to expect in this episode:

  • A behind-the-scenes look at Gaining Ground’s unique “give it all away” model
  • How food justice and environmental care go hand in hand
  • The emotional impact of volunteering with purpose
  • Why giving doesn’t require a trust fund, just intention
  • And more!

Resources

Connect with Abbey Henderson: 

Connect with Jennifer Johnson:

About Our Guest:

Jennifer is passionate about equitable access to healthy food and the healing power of nature. She’s found her dream job at Gaining Ground and loves working with Gaining Ground’s staff, board, volunteers, and partners to grow food and grow community. 

She earned a degree in communications from Boston University and completed the in-residence Business for Impact program at Georgetown University. Jennifer began her career in marketing communications before pivoting to non-profit development and management. 

Outside of work, you’ll most likely find her making soup, sharing her love of Dolly Parton, or sitting around a campfire with friends and family. She lives with her family in Concord and enjoys reading, running, hiking, gardening, and kayaking.

Voiceover: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wealth Beyond Riches with Abbey Henderson, CEO Wealth advisor and coach at Abaris Financial Group. In this podcast, we help generous, fun, and passionate professionals overcome their biggest financial concerns while leveling up their lifestyles based on their values. We do this by exploring the five levers, which represent the diverse resources each person possesses throughout their lifetime.

These levers encompass finances, health, mindset, relationships, and time offering a holistic approach to personal development and growth. Join us on this transformative journey as Abbey and her guests draw from years of experience to guide you in achieving your life goals while staying true to your values.

But that's not all. This podcast will equip you not just to build personal wealth, but also to understand how your prosperity can contribute to the betterment of the world around you. By exploring strategies for giving back and making a positive impact, [00:01:00] we'll empower you to create a life of significance and leave a lasting legacy of positive change.

Wendy McConnell: Hello and welcome to the Wealth Beyond Riches Podcast with your host, Abbey Henderson, where we talk about enriching your life in every way. I'm Wendy McConnell. Well, hello Abbey. How are you today?

Abbey Henderson: I am well. How are you?

Wendy McConnell: I'm good. We're looking, uh, refreshed and relaxed. We both had a little time off.

Right.

Abbey Henderson: We did.

Wendy McConnell: Okay. So I'm, I was relaxed and refreshed, and then I came into the office and I, I think that you might be feeling that as well.

Abbey Henderson: Nothing like a Monday morning after you've been out for a good chunk of last week. Yes.

Wendy McConnell: Uh, but with all of that aside, we're here, we're ready and we're, we're getting it done.

Exactly. And we are blessed to have a guest this week. Would you like to introduce our guest, Abbey? Oh. Of

Abbey Henderson: course I would. Well, just to tee it up, I think as all of our listeners know, uh, philanthropy and service are core values at Aris and it is so [00:02:00] important to us to, to work with our local nonprofits. And it's always my pleasure to have amazing organizations on this podcast just.

So that the whole world gets to know them, and we're so lucky today to have Jennifer Johnson, who's the executive director at Gaining Ground, uh, actually here in Concord. Jennifer earned a degree in communications from Boston University and then completed the in residence. Business for Impact program at Georgetown University.

She started her career in marketing communications before pivoting to nonprofit development and management, and I can't wait to hear what she's doing now. So, Jennifer, welcome. Thank you so much for having me, Abbey. And Wendy. So nice to meet you, Wendy.

Wendy McConnell: You too.

Abbey Henderson: So I actually, this was not exactly in, uh, the notes that I gave you, but I'm really curious about that Georgetown program.

How did you end up there?

Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, um, that was a really wonderful [00:03:00] opportunity that I had. Probably about, um, I would say maybe six or seven years ago, the company that I was working with at the time, um, actually sponsored my attendance at this program. So it's a certificate program that's offered by Georgetown's, um, McDonough School of Business.

And it really, um, the, the purpose is to take, um, emerging nonprofit leaders and to help them take a look at, uh, managing nonprofit organizations and looking at it. Through, um, a social impact lens. Um, so really taking a lot of the, the core learnings, um, that one would learn by earning an MBA or in business school, but, uh, looking at them through a nonprofit lens.

Um, so there were folks really from all over the country who attended and I was, um, incredibly, um, lucky to have participated and learn quite a lot.

Abbey Henderson: Oh, that's amazing. So, um, when did your interest. Sort of shift from, from maybe sort of the more for-profit world to [00:04:00] nonprofit?

Jennifer Johnson: Yeah. Uh, so that's really a, a, a great question.

And, um, I will actually say that my interest was in nonprofits right from the get go. Okay. And so when I was a senior in college that second semester, and looking to embark and go out into the workforce. I actually was interested in going into the nonprofit sector and you know, unfortunately I will say that, uh, the sector definitely is getting better, but certainly at that time, I won't say the year, but it was a while ago.

The, you know, the non sector, the nonprofit sector really is, is not known for, uh, being a, a high wage sector and. So at the, you know, I had, I had school loans that I needed to pay. And the jobs that I was seeing, most of them were not full-time. I was gonna have to cobble together a couple part-time positions.

They didn't have benefits, and it just really wasn't a feasible possibility for me to go into the nonprofit sector at the time. And [00:05:00] so I, I got some really great advice from, from folks that I had interviewed with, and even some of the nonprofit managers where I had done internships, my, uh, as a senior in college.

They really encouraged me to, to try the for-profit sector, uh, which I did, started in marketing communications for a brand new thing that was very hot and emerging at the time, called the internet. And, um, and so definitely got a, a, a lot of fantastic experience there. And then about, uh, 10 years into my career actually did have the opportunity to pivot into the nonprofit sector, um, which is where my heart has been all the time.

Abbey Henderson: That's awesome. And so you landed at gaining ground. Remind me when that was. So, um,

Jennifer Johnson: another interesting story. My first day at gaining ground was March 9th, 2020. If, uh, you look back at the calendar, you'll see that was a Monday. And by that Friday, the world was a completely different place. Although I [00:06:00] will say, um, a little, everyone's got a unique COVID story.

And one of the unique COVID stories for me and my colleagues at gaining ground is that we kept going to work day in and day out. We were in effect, in essential service. Certainly was not. A possibility for the folks to farm at home. And so everybody needed to come in And, uh, that my, my colleagues that are in the office, we worked on different floors of the building, kept our social distancing, and the farmers did their work.

You know, fortunately we, they could spread out a lot of room outside. Uh, and it, and it was a safe place to be. And it also was a time when, as a society, I think that we saw. Just how many people in our, uh, in our area, in our region and across the nation could become food insecure with one missed paycheck.

Right? And so it really put a highlight on just how precarious so many folks in our society are of, of, you know, [00:07:00] not knowing where their next meal may come from when they lose their paychecks.

Abbey Henderson: And that's probably the perfect segue to actually explain what is gaining ground and tell us a little bit about the history and the mission.

Um, you alluded to it. It's, it's, I think it's just the most fabulous program. So yeah, tell us all about it. Um,

Jennifer Johnson: so gaining ground is, uh, we're in our 35th, um, farming season now, 35th. We just celebrated our 35th anniversary. Beverage and we are a no-till organic farm that is 100% dedicated to food insecurity.

What that means is that during those 35 years that we have been, uh, farming, we have never sold a single fruit or vegetable. We've donated 100% of everything that we've grown to people who are experiencing food insecurity. Of course, that is not a great model. If you're in, in. Business to, to farm for a profit.

And then there's certainly nothing wrong with that, but it is a great model for an organization [00:08:00] like ours who is dedicated to making sure that we can get fruits and vegetables into the hands and onto the plates of people who, um, otherwise don't have access to the healthy food that's necessary to live a, um, a healthy and productive life.

Abbey Henderson: And explain a little bit what it means to be organic and no-till.

Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, absolutely. So, um, being an organic farm means that we don't use any of the harsh chemicals, uh, herbicides or pesticides that are often associated with, uh, what I would call maybe more invasive farming. So we're using a lot of, for example, out in our fields, we have these, uh, something that's called protect net that we use to protect the crops so that that keeps them safe from pests, uh, rather than spraying with chemicals.

We also do a lot of other manual work in terms of like physically picking the bugs off of, off of the plants. Being a no-till farm means that [00:09:00] we are focused on the health of the soil. I. So we don't go into our farm fields with heavy machine machinery like tractors to churn up the, uh, the soil. What science has been showing us is that actually it is the trillions upon billions of, of microbial networks and, um.

And bacteria that are in the soil that actually is required to grow healthy plants and healthy plants mean healthy people. And so, um, we're learning that when you keep the soil intact and do nothing more than maybe disturb the first inch or so of that, that that actually is much better for plants. It's much better for the soil itself.

It leads to less erosion and the soil becomes much healthier. So in times of extreme rain, the soil can act like a. Sponge and absorb that excess water. It can also hold that water. So in times of drought, the roots can go deep into the ground and access the water that's underneath.

Abbey Henderson: I just think that's so [00:10:00] cool.

And tell me again how many acres you're farming.

Jennifer Johnson: Yeah. So, um, in total, uh, so gaining ground right now, we're on our. Primary location, which is on Virginia Road in Concord. That's land that we leased from the town of Concord and from Massport. We also, last year, started farming an expansion parcel over at the Minuteman National Historical Park.

And so, um, in total, if you measure our bed space. We are growing on about five acres right now, but the total, I would say, property that we're managing over at Virginia Road is about 17 acres and over at the Minuteman National Park. When we complete our rollout, there will be about six acres.

Abbey Henderson: And that, that's a lot of acres and a lot of work.

Are you, do you have a mix of volunteers and staff? What does that look like? We do, yeah.

Jennifer Johnson: So we have, um, I wanna give a, a huge shout out to our professional farm team. We have five full-time year-round farmers who are with us because we [00:11:00] also are growing throughout the winter. And then we have a team, um, that comes in, uh, sort of during the, the, he, the bulk of the.

What you think of as a farm season? Um, so kind of anywhere between April and November-ish. Uh, we bulk up our team, but the, the, the farm team is incredibly knowledgeable about, um, soil science and, and irrigation systems and, and things that I, I honestly had no idea about until I started working at gaining ground.

That said, we also do have a, uh, a, a, a big volunteer contingent of people who come to work and learn with us on the farm. We've got about 3,800 volunteers who come every single year who do, um, anything from working out in the fields to helping with produce deliveries, to helping in the office. There really is something for everybody.

We like to have volunteer opportunities available for all ages and abilities. And definitely encourage folks to take a look at our website [00:12:00] if they would like to come out and, and help do this work with us. Yeah,

Abbey Henderson: it's get outside fresh air. Yes. Great. Pause.

Jennifer Johnson: Definitely. What more could you want? Absolutely. I mean, and that's one of the things that we hear time and again, both from school age volunteers as well as adults.

We have a lot of corporate groups that come in. Mm-hmm. And people really just, um, you know, we live very screen heavy lives these days. Um, which there are pros and cons that come with that, but certainly the opportunity to step away from the screen and to be outside and to interact with peers or other folks on the, uh, you know, other, uh, other volunteers who are on the farm that day and just do something a little bit different is, can really be a balm for, for people who are looking to reconnect with nature.

Abbey Henderson: Yeah. Well, and I also, I think it's so important for people to understand more about where their food comes from.

Jennifer Johnson: Absolutely.

Abbey Henderson: What better way than to actually like, see it firsthand? Absolutely.

Jennifer Johnson: You know, I, I even think of a story like with my [00:13:00] own, my own daughters. So that, that first year that I was at the farm, that COVID year in 2020, her summer job had gotten canceled.

And so she was looking for something to do and she came out to the farm and actually she. She picked all, she and a friend picked all of the green beans that year, and she told me that she has never had a deeper appreciation for how hard it is like she will. She will never take for granted again when she sees a package of green beans in the store.

The work that it took to do that,

Abbey Henderson: I. Right. Well, and different quality of green beans, I imagine. Yes. As well. I think you alluded to it a a little bit earlier, but tell us a little bit about sort of, I guess, what we would consider sort of your, the clients that you're serving. 'cause I think there's a mix of, of

Jennifer Johnson: There is.

Yeah. So our, our food is, uh, so gaining ground. The farm itself is located in Concord. But our food goes to 41 cities and towns across Eastern, uh, Massachusetts, so primarily the Greater Boston, Lowell and Metro West areas. [00:14:00] And we are primarily distributing our food through a network of hunger relief partners.

And so some of them are. What you would think of as traditional food pantries where people go in and sort of do their grocery shopping, if you will. There. In other cases, we are partnering with, um, emergency meal programs. So these are places like Women's Lunch Place, uh, downtown Boston on Newbury Street, or at the Lowell TLC, which is a shelter for folks who are experiencing homelessness.

In those cases, the chefs are taking the produce that we give them and incorporating them into meals that are served to their clients. And then we also have other partners where it's a little bit of a mix. So places like OpenTable in Maynard and Daniel's table and Framingham, they have the food pantry option, but they're also preparing medically tailored meals for their clients, and they're using our produce to do that.

That's

Abbey Henderson: amazing.

Jennifer Johnson: Yeah. One of the things that is really [00:15:00] important for us is, you know, we're out in, in Concord and we are aware that we don't have the close relationships on the ground that the partners have in their own communities. And it's really important for us to rely on them, um, where they have the, the trust of their own community members and we're working with them.

Our crop plans are very much influenced by the feedback that we get from our partners. It doesn't make any sense for us to grow things that people don't wanna cook with or don't want to eat. Mm-hmm. And so we are constantly getting feedback and in fact spending, um, really adapting in the last few years our crop plans to grow very culturally responsive foods.

And so, for example, with our partners in East Boston and Chelsea, there's a huge Latinx population there. So we're growing. All sorts of different hot peppers. Um, a Brazilian eggplant called a Glo. Um, we've got lots of different Asian greens that we're growing. So these are foods that are pretty [00:16:00] much, you know, it, it, it would be extremely rare or impossible to find them, generally speaking at food banks and pantries and, and we really.

We want our food, our our food to nourish people in both body and soul. You know, food is meant to be something that's enjoyed. So it's not just calories to, to fill bellies, it's really, it's also nourishment to bring people joy.

Wendy McConnell: Hmm.

Abbey Henderson: And that, that must make it a lot more interesting and fun for your farmers as well.

'cause they're not. They could probably have to spend some time researching and figuring out what you can do, what you can't do. A lot of trial and error, I would imagine.

Jennifer Johnson: Absolutely. Um, and it, it does provide a great challenge for them. So, um, like I said, we're, we're constantly seeking feedback and sometimes we do get feedback from partners where they ask us to grow things like, uh, mangoes or bananas.

And that's not simply not possible in, in New England, but there are times that they ask us for things and we say, huh. I bet we could do that. Yeah. And [00:17:00] so we've started growing, uh, cassava, which is also known as yuca. Mm-hmm. That's something that is definitely not commonly grown in, in New England, but it's a huge staple in central and South American cuisine.

And so, um, you know, Eastern Massachusetts has a really wonderfully diverse and diversifying population, and so we love to be able to share the, that food with our, with our

Abbey Henderson: neighbors. That. That's amazing. So you, I, you've already probably covered this in lots of different ways, but is there anything that we haven't touched on yet that you wanna make sure that we talk about that makes gaining ground such a special organization?

Jennifer Johnson: Well, I definitely would say that. You know, and, and Abbey, you, you had mentioned it before, that a lot of people, it's been a while since they've been on a farm, if ever, and gaining ground is a, is a really lovely special place. It's a bit of a, a sanctuary. Um, the farm itself is gorgeous and, um, we definitely.

[00:18:00] We grow food in a way that dignifies the land, that dignifies everybody who works and volunteers on the land and who dignifies, everyone who receives the bounty of our land. I would highly, highly encourage folks to either sign up for a volunteer session to come out and see us. We very often have exhibits on the farm, so we just, um, closed down our poetry on the farm exhibit.

Um, which is a, we offer a self-guided tour through the farm that was interspersed with poetry that was submitted by community members. And in the fall we're going to have a photography on the farm exhibit. Um, same sort of thing where folks can take a self-guided tour and see beautiful images of farm and farm, uh, photographs interspersed with information about regenerative farming and also about food insecurity.

Abbey Henderson: That's so cool. Totally random question, but do you ever use the farm for like special events? Like, 'cause there's obviously a great connection to like cooking farm to table and, and things [00:19:00] like

Jennifer Johnson: that. Yeah, so we haven't to date because our focus has pretty much been on the, the growing food for people experiencing food insecurity.

That said, we, uh, leadership and our staff and our board. Are about ready to embark on our next strategic plan. Oh. And we are gonna be definitely, there's a lot of questions that are on the table, um, and a lot of exciting ideas. Mm-hmm. And similar to the question that you just posed about, like what, what is the next step?

What are things that we should consider, you know, what, what, what makes sense in the broader context of our mission? And so there's a lot of exciting possibilities there.

Abbey Henderson: Yeah, I mean that is always the challenge. How do you sort of stay on, on mission but also grow your audience and your, the awareness in the community.

Um, but there, there's nothing easy about farming and I'm sure that is more than a full-time job. Before you add anything else to, to the mix. So what would you [00:20:00] say your biggest challenges are at the moment?

Jennifer Johnson: Um, so certainly from a farming perspective, I would say that the biggest challenge in wild card is the weather.

Voiceover: Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Johnson: Uh, so that's something that we, obviously, the, the weather itself we have no control over. We can attempt to control our response to it, but cer even in the five years that I've been at gaining ground. We have experienced both two of the wettest summers in Massachusetts history. We also had a level three critical drought.

And I think that what this is showing, you know, not just for us, but, but for anyone really, is that we're having these, uh, wild swings and fluctuation. So this notion of climate change being on the horizon, I would say. Say, um, it's not on the horizon, it's here and we have to learn how to deal with it.

That's one of the reasons why we have sort of doubled down on this notion of no-till farming. 'cause it's an incredibly climate resilient way of farming, you know, and frankly sort [00:21:00] of advocating it not only for ourselves, but for all farmers in the region to move more towards that system for the, for the safety of and security of the entire food system in New England.

I had also mentioned before that uh, we don't sell any of our fruits and vegetables. That means that we rely 100% on donations in order to fund our mission. And so that is a perennial challenge as well, is to, you know, to to, to, you know, when, when our costs go up, like they have over the last several years, you know, for, for, for consumers, you know, we are paying more for broccoli or you know what, whatever it is that we're buying at the grocery store, we.

We're not selling our food. So we can't in effect pass those costs off to people. We just need to raise more money. So we've been very, we've been in a good place where folks have been incredibly generous and supportive, but that's never something that we take for granted, and it's always something that we have to work very hard for.

And when asked what keeps me up at [00:22:00] night, that's definitely one of the things that keeps me up at night.

Abbey Henderson: Yeah, I mean fundraising is one of the hardest jobs in the nonprofit world 'cause it never ends. Exactly. Um, and I imagine, you can tell me if I'm wrong, but I imagine there is probably increasing demand for your services.

Incredible

Jennifer Johnson: increasing demand. Yeah, it's a, as as you know, it's a very unsettling and turbulent time. There's been a dramatic increase in need, sort of cuts in, in funding and social services across the board, and so we are just trying to figure out what we can do to be responsive to the increased need.

Abbey Henderson: Is there anything that I've missed that you wanna highlight about gaining ground?

I feel like we could, we could talk about this for, for hours. Yeah. I just, I think it's just the coolest, um, coolest organization, but yeah. What have we not? I'll

Jennifer Johnson: agree with

Abbey Henderson: you. We

Jennifer Johnson: are the coolest organiz. Just, uh, would, would [00:23:00] love for folks to check out our website gaining ground.org. And, you know, and certainly if anybody is listening to this and, um, experiencing food insecurity themselves, wanting folks to, you know, sort of encourage folks to look at organizations like Project Bread Online, which can help connect them with the resources that they need.

And certainly anybody who is interested. Did in, you know, farming or addressing food insecurity needs. Uh, of course if you're here in the area, we'd love for you to come and get involved in, in gaining ground, but I know that this podcast has a wide reach. So just encourage folks in their own communities to take a look and see where they might be able to help.

Abbey Henderson: Is there any sort of overarching organization of similar programs or similar farms that we could point people to? Or is that not a thing?

Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, so not that I'm aware of. I have heard of gaining ground like organizations in other communities across the nation, um, but there certainly isn't like a, a single big umbrella organization.

[00:24:00] Well,

Abbey Henderson: maybe there will be down the road. Right. As we said, there's no shortage of, uh, there's no shortage of, of need in this area. Yeah. Well, thank you.

Wendy McConnell: Yeah. Yeah, it's been perfect. I, I've been, you know, enlightened and I, and I love the, the cause. Uh, Jennifer, thank you so much.

Jennifer Johnson: Thank you both. It's a pleasure to, to chat with you and I really appreciate your interest.

Wendy McConnell: Abbey, how can people get in touch with you? Tell us all of the places.

Abbey Henderson: All of the places. Um, I love to hear from people. So the first and probably best option is email. So it's Abbey@arisfinancialgroup.com. Uh, also the website, it's the new website is finally up. So listeners go check out the new website. Yay.

Really excited about it. Abaris financial group.com and then, um, all the other places. So Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and they'll all be in the show notes.

Wendy McConnell: All right, sounds good. So thank you to both of you. Uh, please like, follow and [00:25:00] share this podcast with your friends. Until next time, I'm Wendy McConnell.

Voiceover: Thank you for listening to Wealth Beyond Riches. Click the follow button to be notified when new episodes become available. And be sure to visit our website at www.arisfinancialgroup.com. Don't forget to click the follow button to be notified when new episodes become available. The information covered in posted represents views and opinions of the guests.

And does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Aberra Financial Group. The opinions voiced in Wealth Beyond Riches with Abbey Henderson are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual to determine what may be appropriate for you.

Consult with your attorney. Accountant, financial or tax advisor prior to investing. Guests on Wealth Beyond Riches are not affiliated with Abaris Financial Group or New Edge Advisors. LLC. Advisory Services offered through New Edge Advisors, LLC, a registered Investment [00:26:00] Advisor.