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Collective ownership. Collective responsibility. Collective accountability. Collective SUCCESSION.
ABOUT G.A.T.
The G.A.T. Food Program (Grow and Trade Food Program) is the nutrition institution architect of 5 Saves Lives. It is a grassroots initiative based in West Baltimore's 21217 community, designed to equip residents with the skills to grow, trade, and control our own food supply. We operate seasonal cohorts, where local residents are taught sustainable urban agriculture — from seed saving, composting, and greenhouse building to livestock management like chickens and goats. Participants not only learn to grow food for personal and community use, but also help fuel a new local economy through farmers' markets and a future community-owned grocery store.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to reduce government and corporate dependency by building independent, collective ownership of our community’s basic needs — including nutrition.
OUR STRATEGY
Classes are offered twice a month, markets run monthly in the summer, and the movement works year-round toward real, permanent community self-sufficiency. This work culminates in a community owned, stocked, an operated grocery store in every hood, starting with Baltimore 21217's Sandtown. We believe growing food is not just survival — it’s sovereignty.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Collective ownership gives us the power to reclaim our resources and build what we need, but with that power comes collective responsibility—the duty to nurture, protect, and sustain what we’ve created. Not ownership in a capitalistic exploitative sense, but a shared stewardship rooted in care, accountability, and the well-being of our community—where every member has a role in shaping, maintaining, and benefiting from the institutions we build together. Through this, we establish collective accountability, ensuring that every hand plays a role in uplifting our community, replacing cycles of crime and poverty with opportunity and stability. This foundation leads to collective succession, where what we build today becomes a lasting legacy, empowering future generations to inherit a self-sufficient, thriving 21217.
Collective ownership, on a neighborhood level, as opposed to government and corporate control, gives us the power to reclaim OUR RESOURCES and build what WE NEED. But with that power comes collective responsibility—the duty to nurture, protect, and sustain what we’ve created. Through this, we establish collective accountability, ensuring that every hand plays a role in uplifting our community, replacing cycles of crime and poverty with opportunity and stability. This foundation leads to collective succession, where what we build today becomes a lasting legacy, empowering future generations to inherit a self-sufficient, thriving 21217.
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