Starving a problem doesn’t solve it. Feeding it does.

At 1Acre Project, we’re ripping up the rulebook on food access. Our mission is simple: end food deserts, one neighborhood at a time. Where you live shouldn’t dictate whether you have fresh strawberries on your plate or are stuck with gas station groceries.

Here is the truth: 1 in 6 kids in Tennessee goes hungry, and we won't accept it anymore.

Nearly 1 million  Tennesseans face food insecurity, including 1 in 6 kids. Food deserts and rising grocery prices make fresh food out of reach for too many families.

Each set of gardens produces thousands of pounds of fresh, organic food annually, and we put that food directly into the hands of the people who need it most. We have local pick-up points and home delivery for seniors, the sick, and others with limited mobility.

We grow food where it’s needed most—right in the neighborhoods facing food insecurity.

Small spaces are too often written off — left vacant, overgrown, or assumed unusable. Across our cities, overlooked plots sit unused while soil health declines and local ecosystems break down. These dead spaces become eyesores, attracting dumping, disinvestment, and drag down neighborhood pride.

Small spaces are often dismissed — but even a quarter-acre garden can grow thousands of pounds of food a year. 

These gardens do more than grow food: they repair soil, attract pollinators, and bring neighbors together. They prove that even less than an acre can improve food access, restore ecosystems, and and turn dead space into living solutions.

We transform overlooked spaces—from lawns to rooftops—into high-yield, high-impact community gardens.

When money’s tight, families are forced to rely on cheap, calorie-dense foods not because they want to, but because it’s what they can afford. Even with SNAP and food pantry support, options are mostly processed, shelf-stable, and stripped of nutrients. This isn’t about choice—it’s about a broken system that makes real food a privilege.  The result? Hunger may be invisible—but its impact on health is not.

This isn’t just about feeding people. It’s about reclaiming the right to real food.

Our app makes our food usable, not just available—offering simple recipes built around the ingredients most often picked up at food pantries or bought with SNAP that include ingredients from our gardens. Because everyone deserves meals that nourish, no matter their income.

We’re not just growing food—we’re bringing options back to the table.

Tennessee imports over 90% of its food, leaving communities vulnerable to price spikes and supply chain disruptions. When that system falters, low-income families are hit hardest—left with fewer options, higher costs, and no local safety net.

We’re relying on long-distance food systems that don’t feed us reliably.

Our hyperlocal food model shortens supply chains, reduces emissions, and diverts compostable waste from landfills. With every garden, we build a smarter, closed-loop system that grows food, builds soil, and creates a local ecosystem.

Tennessee sends more than 1 million tons of food waste to landfills every year — much of it compostable. We’re wasting resources, degrading soil, and depending on systems that don’t feed us reliably. While families go without, edible and organic materials are thrown away, degrading soil and wasting precious resources.

It’s a system that feeds the landfill more than it feeds people.

Local businesses can use our app to send out real-time alerts with discounts on menu items that use fresh food they need to move—fast. Instead of tossing it in 3 days, they put it in the hands of neighbors who can eat it today. For food that’s no longer edible, we accept compost donations at our garden sites turning scraps into soil to grow more food locally. It’s smart, community-powered, and built to keep good food out of landfills and on tables—and back into the ground where it can do good. This means less waste, more access and a stronger local food system.

We close the loop—because in strong communities, nothing goes to waste.