Cultivate Charlottesville works to increase food equity through Spring Seeding Project Cultivate Charlottesville worker preparing for the free seed giveaway. (Source: WVIR) By Dominga Murray | May 6, 2021 at 6:04 PM EDT - Updated May 6 at 6:04 PM CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Cultivate Charlottesville will be giving out free plants this Saturday, May 8. The organization is working to increase food equity through their Spring Seeding Project. “We are not a food equity city. We have a 17% food insecurity rate which is higher than the state rate of 11%.” Aleen Carey, the Cultivate Charlottesville resource and program director, said. The goal of Cultivate Charlottesville is to help the region become a place where food is accessible to all through events like the Spring Seedling Project and services they provide that teach students how to garden.