The Conservation Fund and CSX have teamed up to support local efforts in West Virginia’s southern coal region to improve healthy food options for children and families living below the poverty line by enhancing farm production and increasing both access to and the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables available.

In McDowell County, we’ve connected elementary school children and farmers through farmers markets and educational demonstrations, and most recently, with CSX funding, purchased two freeze dryers to help extend the shelf life of local produce, and expose vocational school students to entrepreneurial opportunities around a different way of eating and preserving fresh food.


Video production: JJN Multimedia