Sunfox Farm
Lending to Sunfox Farm for their food truck means more to us than just a business loan. It’s creating an asset for an entire community that connects neighbors, friends, and families while producing local food and products.
Centering Community & Family
Inspired by a trip to Italy in 2018 where he saw rolling hills of sunflowers, Greg started Sunfox Farm to fulfill a vision of creating his own sunflower farm. In 2019, he started the farm on just two acres. Working with the Farm Service Agency, Sunfox recently acquired 60 acres in the heart of Concord.
Amber left her career as a clinical dietitian and started farming in 2017 in the suburbs of New York, and she quickly fell in love with the farming life. She moved back home to New Hampshire to be closer to family. She met Greg in 2020 and together they’ve built Sunfox Farm into what it is today.
Greg and Amber’s vision for Sunfox Farm extends into the community they call home. As Greg put it, “We're really excited to be part of the Concord community here. This 60 acre parcel is truly in the heart of the city and we think we have the unique possibility to bring people down here and have them connect with the Earth in which their food is grown.”
That means going beyond the traditional idea of a farm and farming. Greg and Amber started the annual Sunflower Bloom Festival to draw the community together to enjoy food, music, friends, and family, all while strolling through 20 acres of breathtaking sunflowers.
Expanding the Vision
Amber explained their long-term aspirations for the farm. “Our main goal here is eventually to be able to work with a bunch of other local farms; putting on farm-to-table dinners where you can engage directly with your local farmers and the local producers of the area.”
Greg said the Community Loan Fund has been instrumental in their growth, “We got a large part of our funding through the Farm Service Agency, but there were certain aspects that they just weren't able to lend for, because they specifically lend for agricultural commodity production. Our business is relatively young and farming is a traditionally risky business. So it's hard to find a traditional lender to work with. And so we turned to Community Loan Fund in order to acquire a food truck for Amber. She’s also a professionally trained Chef, and now she puts on seven course fine dining meals in the sunflowers, which are just absolutely incredible.”
Where We Came In
Our innovative approach to lending gave us the freedom to look at Greg and Amber’s proposal for their business. We could see the potential in adding a food truck. It brings value not just to Sunfox Farm, but also to the wider community, which makes it a great fit for our lending philosophy.
Lending to Sunfox Farm for their food truck means more to us than just a business loan. It’s creating an asset for an entire community that connects neighbors, friends, and families while producing local food and products. Greg summed up his feelings, “We're really excited to be part of the Concord community here.”
Amber topped it off, “For me, I found my home here, and I like to think that other people can as well.”
Sunfox Farm Snapshot
Sunfox Farm is best known for their gorgeous sunflower fields, but the business also produces value-added products. They sell animal feed, self-care products, and culinary items such as spices, teas, and sunflower oil at the Concord Farmers’ Market every Saturday.
24
different products made with seasonal availability
60
acres farmed today in the heart of Concord
12,000
visitors to the 2024 Sunflower Bloom Festival
27
retail outlets in New England carry Sunfox Farm products
The Sunfox Farm Story
The owners of Sunfox Farm, Greg and Amber Pollock, talk about the challenges they faced as local farmers looking for land and funding. From incorporation in 2019 to their position of growth today, listen in as they share their creative approach to agrotourism and community building in Concord.
Now that we have this mobile kitchen, which would not have happened without the Community Loan Fund, we're able to actually see that goal become reality.
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