The Seed Project Foundation funds educational, agricultural, and community initiatives that support sustainability. We define sustainability as a social challenge that improves the current quality of life without compromising future generations. The Foundation was established on the premise that funding sustainable ideas today will support ecological and social balance in the future. Providing seed money for local causes that enhance the principles of sustainability is our mission. With our platform at Harvest (and our owner’s other nearby restaurant, Rick’s Chophouse), we expose thousands of people to our mission every single week. In partnership with the nonprofit Round it Up America, we can take donations to the Seed Project right on the credit card slips at the restaurants.

As restaurant people, our strength is in throwing great events, and that is how we do most of our fundraising. In addition to an annual gala, Harvest hosts four seasonal Suppers with a Cause each year, where we highlight one sustainable local nonprofit as the beneficiary of all proceeds. We also host a couple of day-long farm tours every year, bringing the public out to engage and build relationships with our farmers and learn where food comes from.

The Seed Project hosts three Farm-to-Table Symposiums every year, each of which brings together over a hundred local farmers, ranchers, artisans, chefs, restaurateurs, and local food advocates. These Symposiums aim not just to encourage networking but to educate one another and spark ideas. The Seed Project also sponsors the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance’s (FARFA) Annual Farm and Food Leadership Conference, held in McKinney in 2017 and 2018. FARFA is a national organization that supports independent family farmers and protects a healthy and productive food supply for American consumers by promoting common-sense policies for local, diversified food systems.

Through the Seed Project we have funded grants to local conservation groups including the Collin County Master Gardeners and Texas Master Naturalists, including a 2019 grant to support their restoration efforts of the Blackland Prairie at the nearby Connemara Conservancy. In fact, our Executive Chef Andrea Shackelford is an honorary Master Gardener, and our General Manager Toby Thomason is a Master Naturalist. Both volunteer extensively for the organizations.

Educating our youth about where food comes from is one of our most important duties. To that end, we have funded the construction or expansion of several school gardens in our county, from elementary schools to high school Future Farmers of America (FFA) programs. The Seed Project has also funded gardening programs for adults with special needs and community gardens that work to improve food access for those in need.

Taking care of our less fortunate and marginalized population makes for a more sustainable future. The Seed Project has granted funds to over a dozen local nonprofits working to improve the lives of our underserved communities. In 2020, the Seed Project became a founding member of the One Heart McKinney coalition, a group of City officials, nonprofits, and business owners that came together at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis to ensure our community stays healthy, fed, and sheltered.

We believe we can change the way people eat, think, and live by using our platform at Harvest to bring guests into our mission, strengthening the bonds between agriculture, education, and community to create a more sustainable future.