F E AT U R E
From Harvest to Healing
“I want a student to walk away from their time at the farm and think, ‘I could grow basil. I could do this.’”
How three of Philly’s urban farms turn plots of okra and kale into community resilience and growth | ANGELA SHEN
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specially amid the trauma and isolation of the COVID–19 pandemic, many of us have gravitated toward simpler, more agrarian lifestyles, as epitomized by the rise of cottagecore. We yearn to be more connected with nature, to feel a sense of inner peace, to plant our own gardens and bake our own bread—but how many of us actually know how to grow, harvest, and prepare food? Nestled on city blocks all across Philadelphia, urban farms provide visitors with the unique opportunity to learn how to grow their own gardens: how to sow seeds, how to weed, how to choose and care for plants. Free to the public, overflowing with flora and fauna, and open to people of all races, ages, and skill levels, these farms are a green oasis in the urban landscape. Despite some challenges with land ownership and financing, these urban farms do so much more than just grow food. Through their volunteer programs and community events, they connect people to the land, to their heritage, and to each other. I visited three such farms to learn more about their visions for the future of farming.
The Farm at Awbury The Farm at Awbury, previously known as the Agricultural Village, is a 16–acre section of Awbury Arboretum in Northwest Philadelphia. Lush with trees and vegetation, the physical site’s different features reflect the arboretum’s diverse array of partnerships. The farm’s weekly “Sunday Fun Days” offer a rotating list of interactive family–friendly activities, like butterfly demonstrations, tea tasting, and live music. The Sunday I visited, I was greeted by members of Philadelphia’s Beekeepers Guild, who enthusiastically demonstrated their process of extracting fresh, sticky honey from the beehives they brought from their backyards. From there, I wandered to the disability–friendly “please– touch–me” garden, picking a few stalks of lavender and lemongrass to inhale their fresh fragrance. Turning left, I discovered
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a small garden dotted with bright orange marigolds, pale blue delphiniums, and deep maroon hollyhock that members of the Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers harvest to naturally dye their textiles. I met Awbury’s non–human residents too—12 chickens and 13 goats, courtesy of the Awbury Cluck Patrol and the Philly Goat Project. At the heart of the Farm at Awbury, I found what I came for: Mort Brooks Memorial Farm. Mort Brooks Memorial is an urban farm operated by the Weavers Way Co–op, a member–owned cooperative grocery with stores across Philadelphia. Weavers Way practices community–supported agriculture, a system in which people can pay upfront for a “share” in the farm in return for its later harvest. Non–members can benefit too: Through a partnership with the nonprofit Food Moxie, the co–op provides experiential learning opportunities around farming, nutrition, and culinary skills. “I think food is a really great connector. Everybody eats. And so, we want to expand your enthusiasm for eating a vegetable to learning to grow that vegetable,” says Nina Berryman, a farm manager for Weavers Way. “I want a student to walk away from their time at the farm and think, ‘I could grow basil. I could do this.’” Indeed, at a time of increasing urbanization and declining numbers of farmers, many people are less knowledgeable and more isolated from the process of how their favorite produce ends up at their dinner tables. “If there's no relationship to [food], there is no desire to care for it … It's viewed as a practice outside of living that someone else does,” says Jessica McAtamney, a lecturer at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice and a representative of the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council. By offering opportunities to learn about farming, gardening, and nutrition, urban farms like Mort Brooks Memorial encourage more people to engage with their food systems. LOCATION: Ardleigh Street and East Washington Lane, Awbury Arboretum, Philadelphia
Sankofa Community Farm A 20–minute bike ride or quick trip on the 36 trolley will get you from Penn’s campus to Sankofa Community Farm—a sanctuary away from the bustle of university life. Walk through Bartram’s Garden, the 50–acre park in Southwest Philadelphia where Sankofa is located, and you can enjoy historic buildings, flower and medicinal gardens, a fish pond, and a boardwalk by the Schuylkill. The farm’s four acres are nestled in the southern part of the park. I signed up for a volunteer day, which the farm hosts on the second and fourth Saturday of each month. On a sweltering July morning, I met up with volunteers from all over South and West Philadelphia: newcomers, hardy farm veterans, shy high schoolers, friendly grandpas, and everyone in between, all ready to work in the dirt. At this point, we met Ty Holmberg, the co–director of the farm alongside Chris Bolden–Newsome. Running out to greet us in a baseball cap and jeans caked with mud from the knees down, Ty pulled all 30–some volunteers into a large circle and explained the story of Sankofa. “We're a spiritually rooted farm, we're an intergenerational farm, we are African diaspora–centric. We are a multiracial space, but we center Black leadership and the experience of Black people.” From growing foods specific to people of African descent, like okra, to holding educational workshops that combine cooking, culture, and history, the farm is a space for people to heal and rebuild their relationships with food, the land, and one another. “Sankofa is this idea: to go back and fetch what you left behind,” Holmberg elaborated. “It's a West African term from King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Africa, which is where Ghana is today. It’s about under-
NINA BERRYMAN
Illustrations by Isabel Liang
F E AT U R E
standing your history, your relationship to the land, and your ancestors, in order to move forward.” Sankofa, in other words, is part of a growing movement within urban agriculture to reckon with the United States’ long history of depriving Black farmers of land and power. The movement uncovers the power of agriculture to reclaim cultural heritage and move toward collective liberation, after decades of dealing with sharecropping and redlining. That day, our healing process began as we pulled on our gloves, walked into the farm, got on our knees, and began to weed. Energized, despite the sweltering touch of the sun, I painstakingly made my way through the twisted vines and tall grasses stubbornly stationed around my assigned row of purple kale. I got to know my fellow volunteers: Brett is a college student finishing up his community service hours; Sarah has no gardening experience, but a passion for sustainability and a desire to learn; Josephine has her own private lots in two separate community gardens in the city and still somehow finds the time to volunteer. As I heard each of their stories, I felt more connected than ever to the community—not just as a student at the University of Pennsylvania, but as an active resident of Philadelphia. Single–day volunteers only scratch the surface of the wide variety of people that Sankofa serves. Through an extensive youth internship program called the Big Incredible Gardeners, 20 to 25 youth work year–round on the farm and learn about the history and culture of the African Diaspora. Visiting school groups, community gardeners, senior staff, and Southwest neighbors all come together to work on the land. “I sometimes use the metaphor of how in the mushroom world, the mycelium is this network that connects plants to plants,” Holmberg says. “It's a connector and a communicator, and I really feel like that’s the role played by the farm.” LOCATION: 5400 Lindbergh Blvd., Bartram’s Garden, Philadelphia SEPTEMBER 7, 2021 34TH STREET MAGAZINE
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