“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving; to reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.”
--Oliver Wendell Holmes

Dear TLC Supporters and Patrons,

The Local Collaborative’s mission is to make healthy, local foods accessible to ALL Nashvillians.

Unfortunately, our current business model makes us ineligible to accept the USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Electronic Benefit Transfer payments (a.k.a. SNAP/EBT, formerly known as "Food Stamps"). Here are some statistics to consider:

  • 1 in 5 Nashvillians is currently food insecure (i.e. they don't know where their next meal is coming from).
  • 1 in 4 children in Nashville is currently food insecure.
  • More than 1 in 10 Nashvillians uses SNAP benefits to purchase the majority of the food in their household.

These statistics are unacceptable. Until we can accept SNAP, we are not fulfilling our mission because we are not able to offer our amazing food products to the people who need them the most. Because of this, we have decided to take a step back and re-evaluate how we can best serve all of our neighbors. We will be suspending our online sales until we can find a solution.

Please continue to follow our journey on social media as we work towards increasing food access and food justice in our great city, and please continue to support our amazing suppliers as they fortify our local food system.

With gratitude and love,

Ashley and Steve