YWCA Farmers Market

by Suzanne Hanney

On an old playground at the school Emmett Till attended, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago is growing – and selling-- healthy vegetables for the Woodlawn community at less-than-grocery-store prices.

The YWCA has a nearby office and a partnership with the elementary school at 6543 S. Champlain Ave., which was renamed for Till after he was horrifically killed in Mississippi at age 14 in 1955. When the YWCA received U.S. Department of Agriculture funds to create farms, the school agreed that the mini-farm collaboration would be a good one, given the proximity to the YWCA office and what they wanted to see for the community they serve, said Latecia Patton, YWCA director of economic sustainability and strategic partnerships, which falls under the YWCA’s Economic Empowerment Institute.

When the farm started three years ago, Woodlawn was a food desert, so its crops were welcome. At the beginning and end of the growing season, when the weather is cooler, there are collard greens, chard, herbs, kale and spinach. At its warmest in July, there are tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, okra, squash and cucumbers, said Natasha Coleman, farm manager.

“The community has come out, teachers, parents,” Patton said. “When we’re open, [11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Wednesdays] we've seen tremendous response, just to experience the farm. We’ve had people come out to volunteer. They love seeing it there and the beautification it adds to the community. Sometimes you go to a grocery store and you don’t know how long it’s been sitting there. Coming to the farm site, you know you’re getting fresh, healthy produce.”

Using organic compost over a concrete slab on the former playground, the YWCA can control the cultivation environment, Patton said. Growing food in the neighborhood – literally farm to table – cuts transport costs, Coleman said.

“We sell our food and if people cannot afford it, we give it to them,” Patton said.

Urban agriculture has both emotional and practical importance.

Coleman’s family came from Louisiana when they were teenagers. “For me it brings a little bit of home back to where your new home is.” Coleman started growing houseplants inside with her mother and then began farming in high school through the Chicago Botanic Youth Program. Coleman graduated from the Botanic Garden’s apprenticeship program in horticulture and agriculture and since 2020 has been building up a church farm in Roseland on two city lots.

Patton’s family came from Jamaica, but always had a backyard garden, which exposed her to vegetables as a youngster. She went to the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences and then to the University of Minnesota on an agriculture scholarship. She changed her major to business management and later received a master’s degree in non-profit management. “It’s funny how life takes you back full circle,” she said.

Practically speaking, urban agriculture brings fresh produce to underserved neighborhoods that have not had these foods. “There are so many health issues that are connected to a lack of nutrition. Some of the easy, accessible food that you find in these communities contributes to a lot of the disease such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes.”

By educating children early about healthier foods, encouraging people to volunteer in the garden or to grow foods at home, “I believe we will see a reduction in some of these health disparities in the community,” Patton said.

There is also an economic benefit. “It’s not that expensive to get some soil, get some seeds, start growing, to have some produce you can sell.”

Mini-startups will be facilitated this summer by a new greenhouse, since the YWCA was awarded a Neighborhood Enhancement Grant by the South East Chicago Commission. The greenhouse will enable the farm to produce seedling plants the YWCA can give away.

Also new this summer will be a partnership with Greater Bronzeville Neighborhood Network and One Summer Chicago, a City of Chicago program that will employ five teens. The youth will learn food safety skills and assist on the farm. They will go out and talk to the community and will sell produce at the market. Urban agriculture will tie a variety of real world skills together for them.