Urban Growers Collective

Last updated
Urban Growers Collective
Formation2017 (2017)
Type Non-profit
Headquarters1200 W. 35th Street Pl.
Chicago, Illinois 60608
United States [1]
Founders
 Erika Allen, Laurell Sims
Website urbangrowerscollective.org

Urban Growers Collective is a non-profit organization that builds urban farms, gardens, and provides fresh foods primarily in underprivileged areas in the West and South Side of Chicago. [2] The organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 2017 by Erika Allen and Laurell Sims. [3] [4] As of 2019, there are eight urban farms that have been created and are run by Urban Growers Collective. [5]

Contents

BIG BUCKS

Urban Growers Collective was formerly known as Growing Power, which was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Erika Allen's father, Will Allen in 2003. Will Allen was a retired professional basketball player that transitioned into urban farming when he formed the organization. Allen won a genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2008 for his work and achievements in Growing Power. Will Allen retired due to Growing Power struggling financially from its lack of capital. [4] [3] Growing Power closed in November 2017 along with its primary and biggest farm Iron Street. Urban Growers Collective was founded shortly afterward by Allen's daughter, Erika. Erika Allen was provided resources from the now-closed Iron Street farm, and also received a donation from an unnamed funder. She used these resources to create a seven-acre farm in South Chicago located on 90th St. and Lake Shore Drive. This South Chicago farm remains the largest farm that is run by Urban Growers Collective. [3] Erika Allen and co-founder Laurell Sims have created multiple urban farms and gardens with Urban Growers Collective since its start in late 2017. [6] As of August 2018, the non-profit has 25 full-time staff members who work from Urban Growers Collective's main office in Bridgeport. [2]

Initiatives

With Urban Growers Collective's eight urban farms and gardens, multiple programs are now taking place. Urban Growers Collective provides food access, job-readiness, beautification programs, and food literacy education towards people living in the South and West sides of Chicago. One of the main goals of the organization is to ensure weekly visits to health and senior centers, schools, CTA stops and other locations on the city's South and West Sides, with the main focus being to ensure healthier foods in poor areas. [2] The group uses Urban farming as a tool to heal communities of youth and their families who have suffered from excessive trauma and violence. Another big goal for the group is to provide recovery from the historical impact of structural racism that accrued through the agricultural system in the past. [3]

Grounds for Peace

Grounds for Peace was a program initiated by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in the Summer of 2019. This 18-month long program combines non-profit organizations Urban Growers Collective and Heartland Alliance to connect urban farming and gardening initiatives with younger at risk males in the areas of Woodlawn, Englewood, and North Lawndale. [7] The City of Chicago donated $7.4 million towards greening workforce development programs in 2019, and $250,000 of this total was used to fund the program. [8] The program will convert 50 vacant lots into gardens to fight gun violence with beautification. The objective of this program is to provide men who are more likely to be participants or victims of violent crimes, with training in landscaping and property maintenance. [7] The organizations hopes are that by providing beautification to the landscapes individuals will not want to commit crimes in those specific areas. The main goal is to prevent future crime in Chicago areas with high crime rates, while also providing people with skills that can assist them in obtaining more job opportunities in the future. [8]

Youth Camp and Touring Program

Urban Grower Collective's youth camp and touring program provides teenagers who are attending Chicago Public Schools with new knowledge in farming, gardening, and the initiatives of the program itself. Urban Growers Collective partnered with After School Matters to make this initiative possible. [5] The camp serves as a tool for teenagers to learn about and partake in the agricultural process itself, while the touring program allows students to teach tourists about the agricultural process and the program. The program also takes advantage of the work being done on the gardens to teach students about advocacy, environmentalism, and public speaking, which is useful for students to teach others who visit the touring program. The program pays students who work on the garden for their participation, in order to further help students who need income during their summer breaks. [9] While the eight urban farms that Urban Growers Collective manages are primarily on the West and South sides of Chicago, the camp and touring program takes place in downtown Chicago. [5] The organization also sponsors 300 teens with internships every year to provide further education on the farming process. [10]

Fresh Moves Mobile Market

Urban Growers Collective has provided fresh produce to people in South Side neighborhoods of Chicago through CTA buses that were transformed into mobile farmers markets. This allowed neighborhoods that lacked grocery stores to have less expensive produce, and closer locations to provide healthier options for locals. [11] Urban Growers Collective is able to supply the markets with fresh food by providing produce which is obtained from their multiple farms located in Chicago. Customers can pay for the food on the buses with cash, credit/debit cards, and through SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). [2] Children and adults work on the farms and are given the opportunity to train and work under Urban Growers Collective. [11] Urban Growers Collective hit a milestone of locals served through their Fresh Moves Mobile Market program. As of August 22, 2018, Urban Growers Collective had served over 10,000 produce items to people living in the south and west sides of Chicago. [10] This also includes selling and providing fresh produce locally to events around Chicago such as the yearly Bridgeport Farmers Market event. [12] Work that the urban farms require include weeding, planting, and harvesting in the gardens. Urban Growers Collective also provides opportunities to learn about the science and social implications behind the agricultural work while they work on the farms. [5]

Events

2018 Gala

Urban Grower Collective's fundraising Gala event took place on October 4, 2018, at the Theater on the Lake in Chicago located at 2401 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60614. Supporters and partners of the organization attended. [2]

2019 Gala

Urban Grower's Collective held their second fundraising Gala on September 19, 2019, in Chicago. Held at the Theater on the Lake in Chicago, supporters and partners of the organization gathered to show their support the organization. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farmer</span> Person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer might own the farm land or might work as a laborer on land owned by others. In most developed economies, a "farmer" is usually a farm owner (landowner), while employees of the farm are known as farm workers. However, in other older definitions a farmer was a person who promotes or improves the growth of plants, land or crops or raises animals by labor and attention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban agriculture</span> Farming in cities and urban areas

Urban agriculture refers to various practices of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in urban areas. The term also applies to the area activities of animal husbandry, aquaculture, beekeeping, and horticulture in an urban context. Urban agriculture is distinguished from peri-urban agriculture, which takes place in rural areas at the edge of suburbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Market garden</span> Small consumer-oriented agriculture

A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under 0.40 hectares to some hectares, or sometimes in greenhouses, distinguishes it from other types of farming. A market garden is sometimes called a truck farm in the USA.

Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit while satisfying the needs of consumers for products related to natural resources such as biotechnology, farms, food, forestry, fisheries, fuel, and fiber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening</span> Type of horticulture and food production

A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plot and the yielding or the production of which belongs to the individual. In collective gardens the piece of land is not divided. A group of people cultivate it together and the harvest belongs to all participants. Around the world, community gardens exist in various forms, it can be located in the proximity of neighborhoods or on balconies and rooftops. Its size can vary greatly from one to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Growing Power</span>

Growing Power was an urban agriculture organization headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It ran the last functional farm within the Milwaukee city limits and also maintained an active office in Chicago. Growing Power aimed for sustainable food production, as well as the growth of communities through the creation of local gardens and Community Food Systems. They implemented their mission by providing hands-on training, on-the-ground demonstration, outreach and technical assistance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban horticulture</span> Science of growing plants in urban environments

Urban horticulture is the science and study of the growing plants in an urban environment. It focuses on the functional use of horticulture so as to maintain and improve the surrounding urban area. Urban horticulture has seen an increase in attention with the global trend of urbanization and works to study the harvest, aesthetic, architectural, recreational and psychological purposes and effects of plants in urban environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Allen (urban farmer)</span> American basketball player and urban farmer

Will Allen is an American urban farmer based in Milwaukee and a retired professional basketball player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agricultural marketing</span> Process of moving agricultural products from the farm to the consumer

Agricultural marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. These services involve the planning, organizing, directing and handling of agricultural produce in such a way as to satisfy farmers, intermediaries and consumers. Numerous interconnected activities are involved in doing this, such as planning production, growing and harvesting, grading, packing and packaging, transport, storage, agro- and food processing, provision of market information, distribution, advertising and sale. Effectively, the term encompasses the entire range of supply chain operations for agricultural products, whether conducted through ad hoc sales or through a more integrated chain, such as one involving contract farming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening in the United States</span>

Community gardens in the United States benefit both gardeners and society at large. Community gardens provide fresh produce to gardeners and their friends and neighbors. They provide a place of connection to nature and to other people. In a wider sense, community gardens provide green space, a habitat for insects and animals, sites for gardening education, and beautification of the local area. Community gardens provide access to land to those who otherwise could not have a garden, such as apartment-dwellers, the elderly, and the homeless. Many gardens resemble European allotment gardens, with plots or boxes where individuals and families can grow vegetables and flowers, including a number which began as victory gardens during World War II. Other gardens are worked as community farms with no individual plots at all, similar to urban farms.

Gus Schumacher, born August Schumacher Jr., was Vice-President of Policy at the Wholesome Wave Foundation in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was also a member of the 21st Century Sustainable Agricultural Task Force of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2007, Schumacher, along with Professor Robert Thompson, Gardner Professor of Agricultural Economics at Illinois, oversaw the preparation of the Task Force Report of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, titled “Modernizing America’s Food and Farm Policy: Vision for a New Direction” (2006).

Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers, also known as Florida Organic Growers or FOG, is a non-profit organization founded in 1987. It is classified as a 501(c) corporation. One of the main facets of FOG is Quality Certification Services, a program that extends through 30 states and 14 countries. FOG is also concerned with community outreach and education in order to promote healthy organic lifestyles and social equity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban agriculture in West Oakland</span>

Urban agriculture in West Oakland involves the implementation of Urban agriculture in West Oakland, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Washington</span> Political activist and community organizer

Karen Washington is a political activist and community organizer fighting for food justice.

Keep Growing Detroit is an organization dedicated to food sovereignty and community engagement in the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. Founded in 2013, the program designs and implements initiatives that promote the practice of urban agriculture as a mode of food justice for underrepresented communities, particularly those who do not have access to healthy food options. The goals of Keep Growing Detroit are to educate and empower community members using urban agricultural practices. Programs such as the Garden Resource Program and Grown in Detroit served as catalysts, laying the foundation for Keep Growing Detroit.

East New York Farms! (ENYF) is a community organization created to address food justice issues in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

Gotham Greens is an American fresh food and urban agricultural company founded and headquartered in the Brooklyn borough of New York City that grows local produce year-round in greenhouses, with its lettuces, herbs, salad dressings and sauces sold under its brand name. The company owns and operates nine hydroponic greenhouse facilities in the United States.

Jamila Norman is a first generation American, born in New York to Caribbean parents. She grew up in Queens, New York, then eventually moved, with her family, to Connecticut, and finally to Georgia. Her mother grew up on a family farm in Jamaica, and her father is from Trinidad. She earned a bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Georgia. She is a mother and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. It is the growing of fresh produce within the city for individual, communal, or commercial purposes in cities in both developed and developing countries.

Erika Allen is the co-founder and CEO of Urban Growers Collective. In 2022, she won the 20022 James Beard Ledership Award.

References

  1. ↑ "Location of the Urban Growers Collective Headquarters". Google Maps.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Urban Farming Program Marks 10,000 Customers Served". WTTW News . Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Chu, Louisa. "Urban farmers forced off land find new ground to grow". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  4. 1 2 Gerasole, Vince. "Urban Farms Helping Chicago Neighborhoods Grow More Than Vegetables; 'We Can Really Impact The Community'". CBS Chicago. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Henderson, Catherine (11 July 2019). "In the middle of Chicago, an emerging curriculum blooms in a hidden city garden". Chalkbeat . Retrieved 26 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ Jackson, Adam Lukach, Darcel Rockett, Phil Vettel, Natalie Wade, Cheryl V. "Activists and farmers tackle food deserts on Chicago's South Side — 'Food is a tool of resistance'". chicagotribune.com . Retrieved 2019-11-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. 1 2 "Grounds for Peace transforms vacant lots into green spaces in crime ridden neighborhoods". ABC7 Chicago . 2019-07-03. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  8. 1 2 Trace, Brian Freskos | The (2019-09-20). "Fighting gun violence in Chicago with trees, rakes and cleanup crews". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  9. ↑ "In The Middle Of Chicago, An Emerging Curriculum Blooms In A Hidden City Garden". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  10. 1 2 Freund, Sara (2018-09-06). "South Side farms sell produce to thousands using CTA buses as mobile markets". Curbed Chicago. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  11. 1 2 "Mobile Markets bring fresh produce to underserved Chicago areas". WGN-TV. 2018-11-09. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  12. ↑ "Bridgeport Farmers Market Returning To Antique Taco, Now On Mondays". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  13. ↑ "Urban Growers Collective to host 2nd annual gala Sept. 19 | The Crusader Newspaper Group" . Retrieved 2019-10-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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