Urban Farming Fights Poverty with Produce
By: Hannah Kirk
NEWBURGH, NY — Having functioning farms in a city might sound like an obscene idea, but the City of Newburgh tackled that idea head-on with the Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative (NUFFI). “Food insecurity is a real issue. We want to help people have access to fresh produce, and it needs to be for as low of a price as we can go,” said Virginia Kasinki, the Director of NUFFI.
The Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative was created in 2015 with the mission to build a just and resilient food system for the City of Newburgh. The organization has collaborated with various community leaders to increase the development of gardens in the city and to create a location for the donation of excess produce that can then be distributed to other programs to fight hunger.
There are 20 feeding programs in the City of Newburgh, and 27-percent of residents rely on those programs for their everyday meals. NUFFI understands the importance of keeping the quantity of produce high while keeping the cost low. Therefore, they offer free produce to all farmers and gardeners who come to work for a day. “Those who come for a day and garden go home with vegetables,” said Kasinksi. In the summertime, they also have many middle school and high school-aged kids come and work to take food home for their families.
To help low-income households or those who are homeless in Newburgh, NUFFI sites offer special coupons to allow impoverished residents to buy produce. These coupons are for $4 worth of produce, however, when someone comes in and uses one of those coupons, they receive a coupon in return. “We had one woman come in and used 11 $4 coupons. So she was able to get $44 worth of fresh produce. Then when she left that day, she had another $44 worth of coupons in her pocket to be used the next time she comes,” Kasinki explained.
As mentioned, one of the goals of NUFFI is to eliminate food waste in the community. To do so, the initiative has invested in a Coolbot, a refrigerated tool shed, much less expensive than large refrigeration coolers. This helps keep produce fresh for longer periods. NUFFI also works with many of the Saturday farmer’s markets. Because feeding programs, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, are closed on the weekend, the markets bring their leftover produce to NUFFI sites. The produce is then stored in their cool bots, and are then brought to the program locations on Monday when they are opened.
While the initiative began in 2015, the farms have been running for the past year. It took the previous three years to set up the land and prepare to begin the initiative. There were multiple greenhouses in the area already, however, they had been abandoned a few years prior. When Kasinski saw those greenhouses, she and those at NUFFI hired an outreach manager.
Loose conversations between NUFFI and gleaning programs began. They started with what was essentially a one month trial to see the response to the initiative from the community. Within that month, NUFFI was able to donate about 600-pounds to the various feeding programs in the city. Following that success, the program was formalized. Since that first month, over 6,000 pounds has been donated.
“Newburgh residents have been very receptive to the program. We grow what they want. We can grow so much more than just tomatoes. People must grow to produce what they want. The people of Newburgh are incredibly diverse, and that is being shown in these gardens with what is being grown,” said Kasinki.
Kasinki also believes this initiative can have a long term positive impact on the mental health of the community: “Gardening is very therapeutic. You may not expect that, but working with soil and being so close to the earth, it can be very nice. These gardens and farms bring people together and create a stronger sense of community.”
NUFFI is considered to be a “hub” for gardening activities and creates various opportunities for residents. Residents are encouraged to learn more about gardening and then go to their local neighborhoods to successfully maintain gardens. NUFFI provides education, tools, and material for gardening, assistance in installation and maintenance, workshops relating to urban gardening, and education on how to be a community leader in this area.
