Germaine Jenkins
Years of Participation
2019
Ms. Germaine Jenkins is co-founder and CFO (Chief Farm Officer) at Fresh Future Farm Inc. in North Charleston, SC. After graduating from culinary school, she spent years working in the nonprofit arena and then committed herself to trainings centered around revitalization of marginalized communities. Germaine went on to earn certification in Commercial Urban Agriculture from Growing Power Inc. in 2014. That same year she won the inaugural Feeding Innovation Competition sponsored by SC Community Loan Fund and seed capital to start an urban farm and grocery store in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
Since 2014, Fresh Future Farm has transformed a vacant city lot into a working urban farm and with an onsite grocery store opening in 2016. The FFF team had sold or distributed over 12 tons of basic and specialty groceries, including at least 3 tons of chemical-free produce grown onsite. In addition to those efforts, Germaine has hosted over 200 North Charleston students for STEAM (STEM + Art) farm camps, trained over 100 adults in organic gardening practices. Most importantly, FFF has kept $300,000 in the community as compensation to under-employed North Charleston residents who were hired and then trained to manage the operation. Chicora-Cherokee is one of 11 food deserts in North Charleston and one of 34 in Charleston County.