City Farm

City Farm is the most recent initiative of the Resource Center. The farm turns fallow, vacant land into amazingly productive farmland. The benefits are tangible: instead of an acre of crumbling cement and overgrown weeds they have created a viable farm that produces 25,000 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, arugula, beets, carrots, herbs; jobs for farmers, and a green space that attracts hordes of volunteers, students and other visitors.

Andy Rozendaal, program director of City Farm, has great faith in the prospects of urban agriculture. “With a great staff, interns and over 850 volunteers per year, we can produce a tasty variety of healthy and sustainable food for those who desire and need these products. The taste and quality can be the reason people buy, but the difference we are making in the community is the reason communities need to embrace urban agriculture.”

SOURCE: http://www.resourcecenterchicago.org/

EDITOR’S NOTE: The really interesting thing about this farm is it is transient. When the vacant land comes up for development it moves to a new vacant plot. This means the land has been used for something productive in the meantime without conflicting with developers interests. The city allows the Resource Center to farm vacant land for free, providing it can raise $30,000 per acre from investors to fence the lot, get rich soil and start planting.


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