About GRuB
GRuB works at the intersection of food, education, and health systems. With roots in the land, we create opportunities for people to learn, lead, and thrive. We envision an equitable world where we are all nourished by healthy relationships, resilient community, and good food. Each year, GRuB directly engages approximately 1,500 Thurston County residents of all ages in relationships-based programming around growing & preparing good food. We primarily work with marginalized young people with low incomes and/or behavioral and disciplinary indicators of high ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) scores, families with low incomes, students, seniors experiencing hunger, tribal communities, and veterans.
GRuB's Mission
GRuB grows healthy food, people, and community. With roots in the land, we create opportunities for people to learn, lead, and thrive.
GRuB's Vision
We envision an equitable world where we are all nourished by healthy relationships, resilient community, and good food.
Our Community Commitments
Please check out our Anti-Oppression Statement to learn more about GRuB's commitments to work against systemic oppression.
We work with people whose individual circumstances, and social or historical context have led to food disparities, especially when linked to isolation from community and the land, particularly people who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), Opportunity Youth (youth experiencing barriers to success), low-income families, Veterans, and people who are LGBTQIA2S+.
To work towards our mission and vision, we engage participants in our five main umbrella programs, with several projects within them: The GRuB Garden Project, which brings gardens to low-income families in our region; Veteran Programming, which helps Veterans transition into civilian life and supports budding Veteran agricultural and beekeeping enterprises; Wild Foods and Medicine, which offers teachers training on local native plants and the rich Indigenous cultural traditions that surround them; Youth Programs, which supports Opportunity Youth as they gain social-emotional and career skills, education and tutoring, and a wage while working on our 3-acre farm; and the Growing Home Collective, which works to uplift the leadership of Black people who are experiencing impacts of the legacy of American oppression and enslavement.
Our Values
- Accountability
- Belonging
- Compassion
- Diversity
- Equity
- Fun
- Humility
- Perseverance
- Reciprocity
- Respect
Operating Principles
- We apply VISIONS guidelines and principles of Brave Space as we work together and address differences.
- We cultivate a community of care where people are deeply welcomed, acknowledged, and invited to belong.
- We meet people where they are and recognize that we are all teachers, learners, and contributors.
- We celebrate what works well, and seek to learn and change what doesn’t.
- We honor the land, plants, animals, shared food, ancestors, and future people, and center them as living partners.
- We relate to one another with transparency, collaborative communication, and
accountability. - We work within our capacity (financial, time, resources, personal and community wellbeing).
- We seek engagement from our community, and center the perspectives and voices of those who are most impacted.
- We collaborate and share resources, both within GRuB and in the broader community, to leverage systemic change.
- We seek to transform oppressive systems into equitable systems so that all may thrive.
Non-Discrimination
GRuB is committed to non-discriminatory employment practices and to non-discriminatory delivery of services. Specifically, GRuB prohibits discrimination against applicants for employment and employees on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, creed or religious conviction, age, gender, pregnancy or childbirth, sexual orientation, marital status, income, veteran status, the presence of a physical, sensory or mental disability or any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law.
Take a virtual tour of the GRuB farm & learn more by watching our episode of Mission Non-Profit:
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the land on which we reside, farm and gather is the ancestral home of the Steh-chass people of the Squaxin Island Tribe. We thank the many Salish coastal peoples, including the Squaxin, Sq̓ʷaliʼabš (Nisqually), Chehalis, and other nations for stewarding and tending this land with great intention since time immemorial. Through our programs founded in social justice, food access, anti-racism, equity and community building, GRuB is on the long journey toward decolonizing our relationship to the land, its peoples and cultures, true history, plants, and wildlife. Thank you to all of those who came before us, and to those who make our work possible.
Get Involved with GRuB!
GRuB volunteers are the heart of our organization! Check out or volunteer opportunities to learn how you can get involved.
Volunteer