The Clover Project Looks to End Food Insecurity by Bringing People Outdoors
Hyde Park has been a place that fosters change. From Samuel Morse to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, there have been plenty of difference makers from the Hudson Valley town. Today, a new generation is poised to make change.
Enter The Clover Project.
The Clover Project is a non-profit charity that began in 2019. Cameron Brady, along with friend Matthew Beck, wanted to make a difference. They found a plot of land in Hyde Park, and got to farming.
“We wanted to do something charitable for the community,” Brady said. “My friend literally came up to me and just asked ‘hey, do you want to start a charity with me?’”
The goal of the project was to grow food to give to disadvantaged families in the Hudson Valley. Brady and Beck found that food insecurity was one of the biggest issues plaguing the area. However, the project soon grew to something much bigger.
Brady and other members of the project worked tirelessly to get the farm up and running. But they quickly realized they needed more man-power. Ever since, they have used multiple networking channels to gain volunteers.
“I’ve gotten a bunch of people to speak up at their high schools to tell people about the project,” said Brady. “I’ve spread the word at the end of church, and I’ve used fraternity and sorority channels as well.”
Many high schoolers need to do community service for a variety of reasons. National Honor Society requires a certain number of hours, and some colleges and universities prefer for their students to have some community service background. While some of these clover volunteers may have come for the service hours, they stayed for the community that The Clover Project had cultivated.
“It’s such a friendly atmosphere there. There are so many people I never knew that I got to meet. It’s meeting new people. It’s doing work I enjoy,” said Jackson Buccheri, who has volunteered multiple times.
One of the other benefits of The Clover Project was the formation of a community, and an outlet for people to reconnect with the outdoors. Brady reported that multiple people have told him that working on the project, and being disconnected from the online world, has helped their overall mood and improved their mental health.
“It makes you want to explore nature. It’s a great outlet for investment of time and just for your mental health and overall well being,” Brady said. “It’s such a great spot. You feel like you’re doing something good, but you’re also bonding people with each other.”
While the main goal of the project was always to feed the Hudson Valley, Brady is hoping that he can bring The Clover Project to a larger audience, getting people to reconnect with the outdoors while feeding even more. He wants to set up more farms throughout New York state. Antonio Delgado, the Lieutenant Governor of New York, has even shown interest in helping to achieve this goal.
Brady’s ambitions do not end there, however. While traveling, he is always looking for places he can bring The Clover Project. He believes that Batswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and parts of Europe need a push in the right direction. The Clover Project, according to Brady, can be that push.
Another goal that Brady has is to encourage and spread garden based learning, which will teach people how they can sustain their own gardens, and, in turn, promote a healthier, more cost efficient lifestyle. He says that getting youth involved could help grow strong community bonds and promote outdoor lifestyles that are becoming less and less common.
Since the formation of The Clover Project, Brady and Beck have been able to donate over 3,000 pounds of produce to local charity organizations. Brady could not be more proud of the work that they have done, and the future that they have cultivated for not just their own futures, but the future of sustainable farming and agroecology in the Hudson Valley.
“Starting as high school students with limited experience with not just farming but also business management, I am very proud of what we have accomplished, coordinating so many people with different schedules towards a common goal,” Brady said.
