About Us
The Black Church Food Security Network (BCFSN) is the fruit of Maxine’s Garden at Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, MD.
After years of seeing the benefits of integrating a vegetable garden into the ministry of the church and growing frustrated with food access and charity models, Rev. Heber Brown, III began dreaming of what could happen if more Black churches started growing food on their land and worked in coordination with other congregations and farmers to co-create, local Black-owned food systems.
In the midst of the Baltimore Uprising of 2015, while protests and demonstrations engulfed parts of the city after the death of Freddie Gray, Rev. Brown took what was an idea and launched it into reality alongside farmers, public health professionals and partnering pastors. During that time, pastors, farmers, and community members worked together to create a food supply chain that transported, processed, and distributed produce to neighborhoods that were being impacted by social upheaval and generations of political neglect.
Today, the BCFSN spans much of the country with member congregations from as far west as Omaha, Nebraska, throughout the east coast and throughout the southeastern United States as well. Using an asset-based community development approach, the BCFSN supports churches in establishing gardens on their land, hosting miniature farmer’s markets, and buying wholesale from Black farmers all while using their existing assets and the skills of their members.
