The Board of Directors of the Forsyth Farmers’ Market (FFM) has announced the appointment of Dr. Deidre Grim, PhD, MPA, MPP, MURP, as its new Executive Director.

“FFM’s Board and staff are excited to welcome Dr. Grim. Her leadership skills, experience with the organization’s partners and commitment to food justice and health equity make her an exceptional individual for the role of Executive Director. We are confident that under her leadership, the organization’s ability to achieve its mission and vision will continue to flourish,” stated Louise Tremblay, Chair of the FFM Board of Directors. 

Dr. Deidre Grim is the Principal and Owner of Grim Consulting Group, which provides consultative services for clients planning, non-profit and food justice services, as well as Chief Executive Officer of Ivory Bay Community Development Corporation. In her work with Healthy Savannah, under the REACH project from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she has developed and implemented strategies to foster healthier communities. REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) is a CDC initiative started in 1999 to help reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic populations with the highest burden of chronic disease through culturally tailored interventions.

Most recently, she served in the role of Health Equity and Racial Justice Program Director for the Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Department of Health. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia Southern University, a Ph.D. in Urban Planning, Public Policy and Design from the University of California, and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning/Public Policy from the University of California. 

“I am very excited about the opportunity to strengthen local food systems by working with farmers, the community, food outlets and local officials to address areas suffering food and health disparities.  I am grateful for the groundwork my predecessors laid to address food justice issues.” stated Dr. Grim. “As a little Black girl growing up in the Gullah Geechee corridor, I worked the fields with my mom. And later, as an adult, I still experienced poverty. As Executive Director, I step into this role bringing my life experiences and professional insight to marry growers and food providers with the community. One cannot survive or thrive without the other.” 

The mission of the Forsyth Farmers' Market is to promote understanding and participation in a local food system that supports sustainable production and increases access to local products.  It does this through programs designed to meet community needs, including a Saturday Farmer’s Market in Forsyth Park; a mobile farmers’ market known as Farm Truck 912 which serves stops throughout Savannah; and the 912 Food Farmacy program that partners with area health clinics and agencies and community nutritional educational programs. To learn more about FFM’s work, visit https://forsythfarmersmarket.com