Volunteers pack boxes containing produce from small farms at The Good Acre (Courtesy of The Good Acre)
The nonprofit, located at a former floral company site, provides affordable options for small farmers to supply their produce to the community
When the Pohlad Foundation acquired the old Hermes Floral Company site at 1790 W Larpenteur Ave., they knew they wanted to use the land for something related to agriculture.
Ten years later, the site is home to the largest nonprofit food hub in Minnesota: The Good Acre.
The Good Acre provides a large number of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) options and product add-ons to small farmers across the state. CSA involves farmers contracting directly with consumers to regularly purchase fresh produce and receive a varied selection of seasonably available produce.
Farms that are large enough usually run their own CSA operations. Meanwhile, other farms work with much smaller acreage on owned or rented land and typically sell their produce at local farmers markets.
Preparing the produce for markets, setting up and taking down their stand and starting over the next day is a lot of work for small farms. That’s where The Good Acre comes in, providing those farms with the opportunity to have an annual contract for their products, along with guidance on storage and grading.
Empowering farmers, creating equity
In the current food system, large grocery chains and cooperatives have production, packaging and transportation standards for produce that must be met. Small farmers typically do not have the resources or knowledge to meet these requirements, move from store to store daily and negotiate contracts, all while continuing to run their farms.
The Good Acre’s CSA system receives products from small farms, stores the produce, packages the CSA boxes and distributes the boxes across the metro Wednesday through Friday. At the time of writing, the summer CSA offerings are sold out, but there will be mini-CSA late season packages available soon for colder crops.
The pick-up locations are convenient, including right at their Larpenteur Avenue building.. And, if you sign up for a CSA or mini-CSA box, there are add-on products available like eggs, cheese, mushrooms, fruit, honey and meat. The add-on entitled “maker medley” includes items from jam to hot sauce produced by local entrepreneurs.
In the beginning, with a new space and commercial kitchen facilities, then-executive director Rhys Williams and The Good Acre board began building toward the mission of empowering farmers and food entrepreneurs to achieve economic prosperity and an equitable system. Their process was and continues to be grounded in collaboration coupled with personalized support and market development.
When Williams retired in 2021, the board of directors hired Theresa Scheider, who brought expanded expertise and creativity in increasing food access for food insecure individuals, such as at-home medical patients.
As the CSA portion of The Good Acre mission expanded, its kitchen operations shrank. Today almost the entire space is devoted to shelving, boxes, freezers and refrigerators as the market for fresh local produce increases.
For farmers wanting to bring their products to bigger stores, The Good Acre provides support through their Local Economic Accelerator For Farmers (LEAFF) program. Farmers collaborating with The Good Acre are provided the agricultural support services, resources, expertise and collaboration needed to ensure success. Working from Level One to Level Four, small farmers are able to gain the knowledge and expertise to have contracts with local grocers.
A growing bounty
The Good Acre model works and continues to innovate and expand. In the last decade, The Good Acre’s total food sales have grown from $100,000 to $3.5 million, per their 2025 annual report. The same report states that CSA household numbers have increased from 175 to over 1,000. Today, The Good Acre has 94 wholesale buyers across health care, schools, retail and restaurants.
The Good Acre is a 501(c)(3), so donations supporting their work are tax deductible. Their donation page makes it clear how financial contributions are used. Volunteers are always needed to help with weighing, bagging and packaging CSA boxes. Shifts are available for sign-up online.
Resources available through The Good Acre can be found on their website. A specific highlight is their produce grading guide which is useful even for backyard gardens!
