Chicago’s urban farming organizations increase food security in the city
CHICAGO-Nov. 15, 2016
Chicago is addressing food security in the city by reworking farmers’ markets, subsidizing urban farms, and making changes through food policy.
One of the farmers’ markets in the city is the Logan Square Farmers Market, which has been a staple in the neighborhood for over a decade. The market is held every Sunday year-round from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The market moved to 2755 N. Milwaukee on Sunday, Nov. 6 for their first indoor market of the winter season. Locals from the Logan Square and Avondale neighborhoods showed up to shop for farm fresh produce, organic foods and ethically made products.
Some of the 150 plus vendors include Earth First Farms, Iron Creek Organic Farm, City Press Juice and River Valley Ranch. A lot of the produce sold weekly at Logan Square Farmers Market is produced by urban farms and local residents of distressed neighborhoods in Chicago.
One of the most prominent urban farming organizations in the city is the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest. Windy City Harvest is an accredited urban farming apprenticeship program that has twelve urban farms across Chicago.
Every nine months, 15–20 students engage in a hands-on sustainable urban agriculture course to become beginning farmers. Many were previously or are currently incarcerated, but continue to find careers in urban agriculture, organic food or something similar after they receive their certification.
Eliza Fournier has been the Urban Youth Programs Director for Windy City Harvest for the past fifteen years. She said that urban farming in Chicago has grown exponentially, especially through Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s $1 Lot Program. Emanuel said last year in an interview with ABC7, “You buy it for a dollar, you have to prove that you are going to improve the quality of that lot.”
Fournier said that through Windy City Harvest and other dedicated programs one has to live and breathe farming to be a good farmer.
“To be a successful farmer you have to be a good problem solver, time manager, and utilize small space since the lots in the city aren’t that big,” Fournier said, “You have to be able to utilize partnerships and network.”
That type of networking is crucial to be a successful urban farmer. Rodger Cooley, the Coordinator for the Chicago Food Policy Action Council, utilizes his partnerships with different community gardens, urban farms, and food co-ops to get policy changes in Chicago.
“Policy changes take a long time,” Cooley said, “There is no magic bullet to change.”
He goes to community leaders in urban farming and vice versa to get policy changes in place. Some of the policies Chicago Food Policy Action Council are currently working on include increasing the number of livestock a person can own at a time, bringing healthy food to Chicago’s Public Schools, finding various ways to obtain fresh compost and developing food co-ops like the Dill Pickle in Logan Square.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago’s new “Growing for Chicago” initiative is a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual Conservation Innovation Grants. The grant partners with existing nonprofits and businesses to expand urban agriculture in Chicago to farms like Growing Home, Metropolitan Farms, Iroquois Valley Farms and The Plant.
According to the Community Food Security Coalition’s North American Initiative on Urban Agriculture, urban agriculture contributes to community food security. This is because “a local agri-food system provides a relatively secure and more locally controlled source of food. Better interaction between local consumers and farmers increases awareness of local food options.”
Those local food options would not be possible without food policy changes in Chicago. Rodger Cooley had previously stepped away from policy work, but returned this year.
Cooley said of the reason for his return, “I work well looking at the bigger picture. I like to impact folks on the ground and be the bridge between the idea and the politics to make it happen.”
One of the people on the ground is DePaul University senior and President of DePaul’s Urban Farming Organization, Malcolm Engel. He stressed the importance of good food being cooked healthily and correctly for good energy.
“It’s important to be mindful of how far your food has traveled, the energy it took to make it, and the people who grew your food. It is important to know your farmer.”
According to the Urban Agriculture Committee of the Community Food Security Coalition urban agriculture has become an “important safety net” for communities striving to become food secure. In the upcoming winter months farmers’ markets and urban farms will move indoors and continue to help increase food security in Chicago.
Charlene Haparimwi is a freelance writer for HelloGiggles, The Huffington Post, Seventeen Magazine, Hooligan Mag, and Femsplain. You can find more of her work at charlenehaparimwi.contently.com and on her Twitter.
