About

The Fresh Food Factory is a social enterprise that offers and engages low-to-moderate income residents of the Greater District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) in varying facets of the food and farm industry from growing, preparation and packaging, training to retail exposure that will increase the quality of their professional, financial, and nutritional welfare...

Our Mission

The mission is to empower underrepresented and undercapitalized entrepreneurs by providing them with a one-stop farming, food processing and distributing hub that equips these foodies with the essential resources to operate a successful healthy food venture.

Our Vision

The vision is to uplift the Greater DMV communities through a thriving food hub that will support a major increase in the number of local foods and local food businesses...

Our Objective

The overreaching objective is to increase the availability of local, ethnic, healthy and affordable food products and food-related retailers throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

Our Philosophies

"The best way to employment is to own your own business and the best way to know what you're eating is to be apart of the process"

Retail Market

The Fresh Food Factory (FFF) Market is a retail incubator market that better serves and services Ward 8 as a catalyst for food equity and economic development. It is the FFF Market’s mission to improve the health of underserved residents through enhanced food access and education, and the wealth of under capitalized business owners through enhanced industry specific education and business sales.

In an effort to make sure that every household has access to healthy and ethnic foods no matter their socioeconomic status, The Market sells affordably priced local products that are made with ingredients that are nutrient rich, organic, non GMO, vegan, gluten free, and/or are made with other options that are ethnically infused. To ensure that everyone can make more informed decisions as it relates to their diet and overall health, The FFF Market provides nutrition, culinary, and food safety training. This training is complimented by workforce exposure, industry specific education, and sales platforms for aspiring and existing food related business owners and operators.

Farm & Kitchen restructuring

Currently we are working to secure a certified kitchen, and to reinvigorate our urban agriculture consist of raised bed urban farming. The FFF is working to activate our shipping container farm that will use next-generation indoor agriculture techniques to grow the equivalent yield of five acres of conventional outdoor farming each year. The process uses 80 percent less water with no harmful run-off and prevents exposure to pests and diseases.

This process, called "Controlled Environment Agriculture," allows us to grow 365 days per year by taking the same plants that grow outside and putting them in perfect growing conditions.

Her Story

Amanda Stephenson life’s work of “leading others on the path of good health through food” was inspired by her dad’s health transformation journey and her growing up on a farm in Southern Virginia. Her father was unfortunately diagnosed with advanced cancer when she as at the age of 10 and he given only a few months to one year to live. Determined not to accept this initial prognosis, he set out to make significant diet and lifestyle changes. He removed ice cream, processed meats and heavily salted foods from his diet and replaced them with vegetables and regular exercise. In just a few short period of time, he was able to increase his life expectancy from one year to approximately 18 years. This transformation made a profound impact on Amanda’s view of faith, focus and foods overall but it also made her consider how limited access to better foods can drastically affect one’s wellbeing and longevity.

In 2002, Amanda moved to Washington DC, then laid her roots in Anacostia – which happened to be a food desert. The USDA defines food deserts as parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthful whole foods and she saw firsthand the areas very limited healthy food options. Inspired by her father’s transformation through fresh foods and other significant life battles with food, she knew it was on her to do something about it, and so she did. In 2016, she started with a health food prep space and the FFF's urban farm programming with the Virginia State University and several local farmers. In 2019, she opened the very first healthy, local and ethnic retail food store in southeast, Washington DC.