Cleveland's Urban Farm Takes Root

by Clare Leschin-Hoar, Posted Oct 29th 2010 @ 4:00PM

Photo: Getty Images

Cleveland is planting seeds to counter the serious problems of obesity, food deserts and urban blight, thanks in part to a $1.1 million pilot program to fund the Cleveland Urban Agriculture Incubator Project, which was announced Wednesday.

According to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the pilot program will start with six acres of inner-city lots, grown by 20 residents from the Kinsman neighborhood. The urban farming project is being supported by the USDA, the City of Cleveland, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio State University Extension Service. With approximately 3,300 acres of vacant land in the city, the Cleveland Leader says the project will be the largest urban agriculture district in the country.

Deputy U.S. Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan was on hand for the announcement, and said the administration is also working to address the problem of urban food deserts by testing mobile groceries and food carts, and by working with more grocery stores.

The fledgling urban farmers will receive training and a quarter acre of land. They're expected to begin planting in April. Produce will then be sold to local schools and restaurants, and at area farmers markets. Officials say the soil will be tested both for safety and to determine what crops will grow best. The program is expected to expand to an additional 20 acres in the future.

Douglas Katz, chef and owner of Fire Food & Drink, well-known for his commitment to sourcing local ingredients, says the announcement is good news. The farm will be within two miles of his Shaker Square restaurant.

"The Kinsman neighborhood is a very rough area. To put $1.1 million into this community will just be huge," says Katz. "I absolutely would love to use what they grow, and will promote that it's grown here in the City of Cleveland, right in our backyard."

Megumi Robinson, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Agriculture says the pilot project is in line with Governor Ted Strickland's Neighborhood Harvest Initiative. "That was created to improve access to Ohio-grown products and to help boost rural and urban economies, and that's exactly what this project is doing. It connects farmers to consumer, creates jobs, and puts the money back into the local economy."

Filed Under: Food Politics, News
Tags: Cleveland, farming, food deserts, Kathleen Merrigan, obesity, urban farming, USDA