15 minute read
Influencer
- Jenny Boone, Southside Community Land Trust
In its 40th year, Southside Community Land Trust – the nation’s first land trust centered around urban agriculture – set the stage when they formed the Urban Agriculture Policy Task Force that helped shape the Comprehensive Plan in 2012 to designate city-owned land for urban farming. “The goal was to ensure that the future of food production incorporated converting public spaces into community gardens, addressing food insecurity, and growing food in environmentally friendly ways,” explains Jenny Boone, grants and communications manager of SCLT.
Today swaths of vegetation replace once-vacant parcels across the city, brown bag Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs distribute fresh harvests weekly during the growing season, and through Farm Fresh RI, SNAP recipients have improved access to nutritional, a ordable sustenance via the Bonus Bucks program, which matches farmers market spending dollar-for-EBT dollar.
Practically speaking, the cost of remediating a piece of land is around $50,000 to reduce soil toxicity levels, build garden beds, fence the perimeter, and connect to the city’s water line, according to SCLT Director of Operations Craig Demi. Though the initial investment would ordinarily prohibit low-income, minority growers from getting started, SCLT obtains grant funding to set it all in motion, connecting farmers with land ready to build up and providing an outlet to sell their harvests in a group to wholesale buyers through their Produce Aggregation Program.
The yields of that labor? Along with the community programming and revitalization fostered by these small farms, the economic value is keeping Providence-made food in Providence – along with jobs in the growing urban agriculture industry. With new central distribution facilities and training programs emerging, Providence is in the unique position to accommodate and benefit from a thriving urban agriculture industry.
Long-time urban farmer Blia sells at Sankofa World Market
Photo courtesy of SCLT Bami Farm
Photo courtesy of AARI
Annual Plant Sale at City Farm
Photo courtesy of SCLT Visitors and family alike help tend Osorio's farms
Photo courtesy of Quaintly Farm
CULTIVATING co unity“There is no set template for urban agricul- background as a maternal child health advo- “Gardens are one of the few welcoming ture, and there shouldn’t be,” says Quatia cate: “While growing babies within wombs, spaces where refugees can gather and exOsorio, a certified community health worker and growing families through farming change important information about how to and doula who owns Quaintly Farm. She built healthy foods, we increase the likelihood for get along in the US.” up her second, Journey Farm, in 2019 on land better mental health, decrease inflammation Made up of several plots in Section 8 resremediated by SCLT after applying for their within the body system, and increase locally idential housing tended mostly by African open bid for farmers. This growing season, grown food consumption. The marriage of and Latina women and immigrants, the AARI Osorio looks forward to introducing fruit trees these two justice movements, maternal en- gardens were founded around congregato establish biodiversity and optimizing the vironmental justice, is vital to the health and tion. “These women, almost all of them are less than an acre of land with vertical space. wellness of our communities.” refugees,” says AARI director and co-found“Each community neighborhood is individual- Community gardens, like those managed er Julius Kolawole, “and when we began in ized so they are all diverse. We should create by African Alliance of Rhode Island (AARI), 2009, it had to do with getting them out of within the community and not try to create The Sankofa Initiative, and Mt. Hope Sharing their apartments so they could actually join ‘cookie-cutter’ solutions to things we have no Garden, share a similarly holistic approach to hands and meet in the garden. Staying in the genuine understanding of without building urban farming. SCLT partners with these or- apartment is lonely.” The Sankofa Initiative, intimate relationships with the land, people, ganizations (and almost 60 other gardens in spearheaded by the West Elmwood Housing and community which exist.” Providence) to provide resources and train- Corporation, transforms blighted properties
In the North End of Providence where ing, but the gardens are tended by mem- into gardens rich with food culturally familOsorio tends the two USDA-certified mi- bers of the community. “Community gardens iar to their African and Southeast Asian rescro-urban farms, this means directly ad- enable refugees and immigrants to provide idents, like bitter melon and Asian corn. Mt. dressing food access and economic dispar- culturally familiar food for their families and Hope Sharing Garden, established through a ities faced by low-income communities of neighbors so they can maintain their healthy Plan4Health American Planning Association color through direct-to-consumer distribu- food traditions. They allow gardeners and grant, provides low-income residents with tion and building a lasting network of BI- farmers to earn money, meet people, and hands-on education and tools to grow their POC farmers. Her approach is informed by a integrate into the community,” says Boone. own nutritious, a ordable food.
farm to table Charles Street Community Garden
Photo courtesy of SCLT
- Viraj Puri, CEO of Gotham Greens
Photo courtesy of Gotham Greens Gotham Greens grows hydroponic crops completely indoors
Photo courtesy of Gotham Greens
Despite food being such a tremendous part of Rhode Island’s economy, SCLT Community Outreach Coordinator Jazandra Barros explains, “So much of our food consumed in RI is produced and brought in from elsewhere, but there is a huge shift in focus to sustainable food systems.” Johnson & Wales now offers a bachelor’s degree program in Sustainable Food Systems, and Brown started a multi-disciplinary program in Food Studies in 2016 with coursework in urban agriculture. “We are seeing an increased interest in urban agriculture. Especially with the pandemic, people know we have to shift the ways our food system operates and that will mean folks doing this work in many different ways.”
For ventures like Gotham Greens, an indoor facility using hydroponic growing methods allows for year-round, sustainable production of lettuce and herbs that uses 95 percent less water than traditional farming. “We work with a variety of retail and foodservice customers throughout New England and place a special focus on partnering with local businesses in and around Rhode Island,” CEO Viraj Puri explains. These customers span independent supermarkets like Dave’s Fresh Marketplace and national retailers like Whole Foods, along with distribution through Farm Fresh RI, Urban Greens Co-op, and local food businesses.
“Our business model has enabled Gotham Greens to remain nimble during these unprecedented times and continue to deliver fresh, locally grown produce to customers and our communities,” says Puri. “In the past year we’ve provided over 300,000 pounds of our fresh produce to community partners to increase local food access throughout our five regions.” Amos House, Rhode Island Food Bank, and We Share Hope are a few
– AND BEYOND
The Winter Market continues through the pandemic
Photo courtesy of Farm Fresh RI
New food hub streamlines distribution
Photo courtesy of Farm Fresh RI Photo courtesy of Farm Fresh RI
of these recipients, and a partnership with Sodexo provides healthy meals to families in the Providence Public School System.
For smaller farms, Farm Fresh RI is instrumental in wholesale distribution with Market Mobile, their game-changer platform launched in 2010. “It has been transformational (and studied nationally) for its complete transparency for local farmers and food makers,” explains Director of Communications Rebecca Seggel. “Traditionally, producers have no control once a distributor gets their hands on products to sell out to businesses or consumers. With Market Mobile, producers list their own items once or twice per week, set their own prices, and can track sales in real time,” along with a slew of consumer data.
This past year saw both the opening of the Farm Fresh RI food hub on Sims Avenue and the quick pivot to connect Market Mobile directly with consumers in response to the pandemic demand for home delivery. “Consumers are able to purchase from over 100 farms and food producers at once, with one order form, one invoice, and one delivery or pickup,” says Seggel. “It enables the farmers to focus on farming, and make just a single delivery to our packhouse to fulfill orders. This greatly streamlines things from the producer side as well.”
Meanwhile, the new Valley neighborhood facility provides the infrastructure needed to accommodate a growing urban agriculture industry with the capacity to store more inventory, state-of-the-art loading docks, a vast vendor space with MERV 13 air filtration that kept winter farmers markets open through the pandemic, and the opportunity for more partnerships with local food businesses. Wholesale services continue to grow, bringing together producers from across New England, primarily the metro Boston area but some as far as Maine.
a new generation Of Farmers
“A few anemones are already popping open blooms in our high tunnel – rebelliously early,” says Anne Holland, board president and co-founder of What Cheer Flower Farm. “It’s exciting to see them, but we are waiting on a critical mass of bloom to begin harvesting and deliveries this season. Depending on weather, that looks like April or May. Hopefully by this time next winter the pandemic will have subsided so it will be safe for volunteers to gather together inside our barn for winter flower arranging as well.”
Known for distributing flowers grown right in Olneyville to hospitals, recovery centers, food banks, and other nonprofits serving those who can use the human connection tied to a bouquet delivery, What Cheer Flower Farm has so far remediated a one-third acre into an organic growing field, with plans of nearly doubling this space. The flower garden is just one part of the symbiotic system they’ve fostered since opening in 2017: During the growing season, partnerships with arts organizations invite painters and socially distanced classes in the field, and volunteers learn the basics of gardening and bouquet making.
Though in a state of disrepair now, the Colonial Knife building on site will find new use as a jobs training center. Unsalvageable parts will be demolished to create space for more fields, while a capital campaign is in the works to restore the historic 7,000-square-foot wing visible from Route 6, now decorated with floral art created by Riverzedge Arts students in the windows. “The jobs training center will help locals gain skills at no or low cost to get jobs in floristry, farming, and even advanced landscape maintenance,” Holland explains. “These are jobs that won’t leave RI, and there are employers seeking people for them already.”
What Cheer Flower Farm isn’t the only urban agriculture organization o ering job training in this growing industry. Hosting workshops, internships, and apprenticeships, SCLT’s flagship City Farm serves as both a production and demonstration site where beginner farmers cut their teeth in the field before owning their own businesses. For some, small urban plots are incubators for larger-scale careers in Rhode Island agriculture, which SCLT also helps facilitate through mentorship and connections.
“We want to see young people in our neighborhoods go into and know that there are thriving career options for them in this sector,” Barros explains, and SCLT’s currently underway Trinity Square site housing a Farm-to-Market Center and local food retail operations will help. “A part of 404 Broad is continuing the SCLT trend of building and maintaining infrastructure so that small local food businesses like farmers – but also processors and retailers – can thrive, hire local folks, and make their food accessible.” The old Colonial Knife building will be restored into a jobs center
Photo courtesy of What Cheer Flower Farm
A free agriculture workshop o ered pre-COVID
Photo courtesy of SCLT
n
THE FUTURE OF URBAN
“My eldest daughter is proud to be FARMING the daughter of a Black farmer. This is imperative to provide a narrative of “SCLT is one small part of the landscape, but we have been doing this work for 40 years and want to see more people in our particular respect for agricultural cultivation communities benefit from being a part of and and pride.” - Quatia Osorio, Quaintly Farm creating a system that builds equity, not just for farmers but for food workers across the board,” says Barros. Both with new centralized facilities sca olded by rich, holistic programming, SCLT and Farm Fresh RI have the capacity to support the shift toward more sustainable and equitable food systems, especially since the pandemic changed the way so many of us buy our food. Despite the challenges it’s posed, the crisis has also shown how adaptable – and essential – urban agriculture is. Quickly responding to the call to meet pandemic needs, programs like SCLT’s Produce in the Park have improved fresh food availability to seniors in the Fox Point neighborhoods, and their pilot program VeggieRx partners with Integra AE to serve pediatric patient families with regular vegetable shares. In a landscape of civil unrest, economic hardships and food scarcity disproportionately affecting people of color, and food deserts – or areas that lack convenient and healthy grocery options – in Providence neighborhoods, the future of farming also needs to be inclusive. The intersection of food access and racial justice has never been so visible, especially in the agriculture industry where people of color have historically been denied land ownership. Learning that there were only three registered Black farmers in the state of Rhode Island in 2016 was the foundation of Osorio’s mission for her own farm. “The preliminary work of Quaintly Farming is a family activity at Farm is to establish a design model for replicaQuaintly Farm, where generations of women get involved tion to increase Black-owned and -operated urPhotos courtesy of Quaintly Farm ban farms for the RI local food system, increase local consumption of fruits and vegetables, and Windows replaced with art by Riverzedge students provide access to locally grown quality food.” Photo courtesy of What Cheer Flower Farm And while there’s still work to be done at a state- and city-wide level, Osorio can appreciate the small successes while anticipating a brighter future for her community. “My children work on this farm with me. They are the next generation, they are learning through my experience, participating alongside me,” she says. “My eldest daughter is proud to be the daughter of a Black farmer. This is imperative to provide a narrative of respect for agricultural cultivation and pride.”
ART CULTURE
Art | Music | Design | Exhibit | Calendar
The Nitro Bar, Broadway.
Wall of Color
The pretty imprint of illustrator and muralist Liz Kelley
If you’ve come face to face with a tidal wave of dusty pastel pigment, wavy fronds, floating black specks, and fluid lines while crossing the street or placing an order here in Rhode Island, chances are good that you’ve encountered a mural by Liz Kelley. At last count there were ten around the state – some on sides of buildings, some on interior walls – all providing a welcome infusion of color and whimsy to their surroundings.
“The scope of work varies from a simple black and white linear mural to a full wall of color,” explains Kelley, who is also an illustrator and creative consultant, and a former visual manager for West Elm in Wayland Square. While in school for illustration, she became very interested in painting, especially using gouache, a form of watercolor that dries with a matte finish. “I was used to working small-scale, but the pull towards larger and more impactful pieces was always there.”
Love Culture Salon, Broadway
The push to “go big” came from colleague Jayna Aronovitch, owner of LORE, a handmade lifestyle shop on Brook Street, who asked Kelley to design and install a temporary painting. Kelley accepted and found the experience to be liberating. “I fell in love with working on an art piece that was taller than me, that required buckets of paint instead of small tubes.”
Kelley explains that a mural can take anywhere from one to three weeks to complete installation. She does all of the design work herself, and until her son was born last May, did the painting as well. “Since then my husband Bobby assists with executing murals. This works out because he is also a designer and has a meticulous eye as well as a steady hand,” she says. To transfer designs from computer screen to paper to building, she once relied on the commonly used grid method – an involved process that she enjoyed – however, to accommodate the growth in her business, she now uses a time-saving projector.
“I love partnering with my residential and commercial clients to understand their vision and how we can bring it to life through color, texture, and statement pieces,” says Kelley. When asked, she admits that The Nitro Bar mural in Newport is her current favorite for a few reasons, including painting during latespring weather, the texture of the wall, and the pleasure of working with the owners for a second time. “I am so grateful for the work that has come my way and I look forward to sharing current and future projects.”
WHERE TO FIND LIZ KELLEY’S MURALS:
PROVIDENCE: Barre & Soul, Lululemon, Hometown Poke, Love Culture Salon, Nitro Bar, Pretty Things PVD, West Elm
EAST GREENWICH: KNEAD Doughnuts
NEWPORT: Nitro Bar
WICKFORD: Wild Flow Barre & Yoga.
Learn more at HelloLizKelley.com
