Community
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Bowed G Family Farms – Community Reinvestment Project Spotlight
Bowed G Family Farms is one 30 By/For Black, Latine, and Indigenous Kin organizations in Pierce County recommended by the Pierce County Local Advisory Team to receive funding through the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Community Reinvestment Project.
GTCF contracted with Commerce to convene the Pierce County Local Advisory Team and deliver funding based on their recommendations. You can read more about this partnership here.
GTCF reached out to Ed “Farmer Ed” Gregory, Owner Bowed G Family Farms, to learn more about their organization and how this Community Reinvestment Project funding is helping accelerate their work in Pierce County.
What inspired the creation of your organization/movement?
Bowed G Family Farms was born from both lived experience and long-term vision. As a Black-led, multigenerational livestock farm—one of the few, if not the only, of its kind in our region—we’re deeply committed to raising animals in ways that honor the land, center the community, and continue a legacy of agricultural resilience.
This farm wasn’t created for trend or novelty—it was created out of necessity. We saw a need for food that’s clean, ethical, and accessible—and for a farm that reflects the diversity and strength of the community it serves. We’re here to build something lasting, for our family and for others, and to ensure that farming remains a viable and empowering path forward.
What is a challenge – or opportunity – your organization/movement is addressing or trying to create solutions for?
We’re addressing overlapping challenges: access to local food, lack of farming infrastructure for small-scale producers, and the need for real-world job opportunities for youth and young adults—especially those entering the workforce for the first time or who haven’t yet had access to meaningful, hands-on work experience. We’re also working to help stabilize and rebuild capacity in our region’s pasture poultry sector. This year, due to avian flu disruptions and broader supply chain breakdowns, several of the area’s larger pasture-raised poultry farms have closed or significantly scaled back.
That loss left a noticeable gap in fresh, local protein availability—but thanks to the support of CRP funding, we’ve been able to step up and scale our own operations to help fill that void. We feel incredibly fortunate to be in a position to help shoulder some of that burden for the community, and we’re committed to doing so responsibly and sustainably
What is an example of the actions, programs, or projects of your organization/movement?
In our layer program, we initially sourced 300 second-cycle hens from a local farm co-op to avoid delays caused by hatchery shortages. These birds allowed us to launch production early, start securing restaurant agreements, and donate nearly 100 dozen eggs so far to Amara’s food pantry. In September, we’ll receive 600 new first-cycle hens, at which point the original flock will be rehomed to another community farm to be processed affordably as stew birds—making nutrient-dense protein more accessible to underrepresented families.
We’ve also been mindful of the sharp rise in egg prices across the region. Our goal is to produce clean, healthy, non-GMO, pasture-raised eggs that are not only high quality, but truly accessible—especially for those who normally can’t afford premium products. We are actively exploring options to accept EBT/SNAP so more families in our community can benefit from the food we’re raising just a few blocks from where they live.
On the broiler side, we’ve added 250 birds into a new mobile chicken tractor and another 100 into a second, smaller-scale unit. We currently have 450 chicks in the brooder and another 250 scheduled to arrive next month. That’s a total of 1,000 birds between layers and broilers—and it’s only June. This growth wouldn’t have been possible without the stability and flexibility this funding provided.
We’ve designed all of our infrastructure with sustainability and efficiency in mind. Our mobile chicken house includes solar-powered, automated feeders and drinkers, along with roll-out nest boxes that reduce egg breakage and keep labor demands manageable. While it may seem fancy or high-tech at first glance, this equipment is actually incredibly practical—it’s built to improve efficiency, reduce labor, and ensure consistent care for the birds, all of which are essential for a small team managing a growing operation. Our restored hoop house now supports year-round production, and we’ve outfitted it with the same roll-out nest boxes for winter laying.
These operational gains have also led to direct job creation. We’ve hired two youth/young adults from Tacoma for seasonal farm roles, and they’re already actively involved in poultry care, site upkeep, and learning the day-to-day operations of a working farm. These are hands-on, meaningful jobs designed to build skills, confidence, and career pathways in agriculture.
How can funding – like what was delivered through the Community Reinvestment Project – help accelerate the work of Bowed G Family Farms?
CRP funding was catalytic. It allowed us to order equipment, acquire livestock, hire help, and pivot when challenges arose—all without compromising our values or momentum. It’s enabled us to scale with integrity and serve our community in a time of disruption and need.
This funding didn’t just help us survive a tough year—it gave us the capacity to respond, to show up with food, training, and consistency when others couldn’t. It helped us reclaim underutilized space, create jobs, and begin restoring local poultry infrastructure that’s critical to food access in our region. It’s the kind of support that doesn’t just fund a farm—it fuels a movement.