Elliot farm grows connections, crops and community

LAKEVILLE — Growing farm fresh produce and connections with the community, Elliot Farm continues to focus on giving back to the area they call home. 

Dee Elliot, co-owner of the farm, said Elliot Farm has grown from its humble days as a roadside farm stand along Main Street in Lakeville. 

Her and her brother, Ken Elliot, took over the farm from their father about 10 years ago. Since then, they have expanded their farms, founded a sister charity and have received state grants to support both their food production and food assistance programs.

Elliot Farm began when Elliot’s father bought some acreage and began selling fall crops at a small farm stand in 1993.

Back then, the farm only grew fall crops such as pumpkins, corn stalks and winter squash. Elliot said the small roadside setup didn’t change much for about 25 years.

The farm now aims to be a community hub and farm store that also supports area families in need of farm-fresh food assistance. 

“It's just been sort of like one project after another. We're growing, and our programs that support the community and food insecure folks are also growing,” Elliot said.

Along with running the business-side of the farm, she has used her previous career in the non-profit space to create community-focused food programs that help those in need.

“I guess I had never thought about melding those two skill sets of agriculture and nonprofit leadership,” Elliot said. “When my brother asked me to join him and in taking over the farm, I just thought, ‘How can I use this skill set to improve business operations and to help people?’” 

The farm is a for-profit operation, but the sister charity Elliot founded  — Farm and Community Collaborative — supports both area food banks and individual families who experience food insecurity.

The charity raises money for a few of the farm’s programs. The Farm to Food Bank program buys food from Elliot Farm and donates them to food banks in nearby cities such as New Bedford, Taunton and Fall River. 

This year, 2,110 pounds of farm-fresh produce was donated to area food banks.

The other program, Farm to Family — also known by its fundraiser of Nourish our Neighbors — gives away farm shares, or store credits, to allow families in-need to come and shop for free at the farm’s store.

In 2024, they raised $52,500 to provide 150 local families in need with free farm shares in 2025. Next year, they aim to raise $61,250 to support 175 families in need.

Elliot said most of the families are below 50% of the Area Median Income.

She said a number of families from Middleboro and Lakeville receive food assistance from their Farm to Family program, along with residents of Freetown, Taunton and New Bedford. Families receive support through a lottery program, where they can apply through an online application and describe their food needs, and household income.

Instead of receiving a box of food items, each family receives a pre-loaded credit card to shop at the store, so they don’t spend a penny. Elliot said this style of food pantry gives families autonomy and a connection to food.

“It's a different vibe than the traditional model where you get sent a box of food that you may or may not enjoy. It's just one step closer for those families to experience where their food comes from,” she said.

She said the farm specializes in fruits and vegetables, and the farm store has grown to include a myriad of area farmer’s products. The farm partners with other area food producers that sell dairy products, meats, seafood, cranberries and locally baked goods.

“We've become like a little food hub, whereas before we were just a small produce farm. That feels really good and valuable,” Elliot said.

During the government shutdown this month, recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program were left in a limbo with their food-benefits. That’s when the Farm Stand Manager, Erin Morley stepped in with an idea.

“We found ourselves, and our customers feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by the chaos in Washington, and I thought, what if we instead focus on who we can help in our immediate community,” Morley said.

The farm raised $1,275 for the “1 Heart = 1 Meal” campaign that Morley created, which delivered 51 holiday meal-kits to families in need.

As the farm winds down during the off-season, they are preparing for another large expansion.

This month, the farm received a $984,000 state grant to expand their farm store over the winter. Elliot said the grant has huge benefits for the farm. It will allow them to have climate control to store and sell produce, double their refrigeration capacity and expand the store about 1,000 square feet.  

“Its really just taking what we're doing and streamlining it, and making it more functional. It will hopefully increase foot traffic and sales,” Elliot said. “Most of the charity work we do is based out of here, so it just allows us to do more.”

She said one of the best parts of her job is helping the familiar faces of Lakeville she’s grown up around.

“Having been here since I was eight-years-old, I recognize a lot of friendly faces, and to be able to help families in and around my own community is just so meaningful,” Elliot said.

To make a donation to the farm’s charities, visit https://www.elliotfarm.org/donate.