edible conservation Let there be farms!
When Glynn Lloyd cofounded City Fresh Food in the mid-nineties, it was with the belief that everyone, regardless of income, deserves access to healthy food.
By 2010, his company was dis- tributing meals to schools, childcare centers, and the homebound elderly across Boston. While purchasing sup- plies, Lloyd often found himself won- dering why he was buying produce that had been shipped long distances from out of state—when everywhere he looked, there were empty lots in the city that might easily be put to ag- ricultural use. “I thought, we can grow greens and vegetables and herbs here,” Lloyd says. “So why aren’t we?”
Lloyd’s vision of Boston as a farm waiting to happen wasn’t purely the product of his entrepreneurial eye: the city owns an estimated 1,200 acres of unused, arable land. But under existing laws, farming an urban plot was illegal. To change that, Lloyd and other advocates teamed up with the Boston Redevelopment Agency to pass Article 89—the “Right to Farm” law. The amendment cleared the way
for Garrison-Trotter Farm, Boston’s first new foray into growing its own food. Mayor Marty Walsh was at the groundbreaking last summer. “Farm- ers make good neighbors,” he said. “Urban agriculture is an innovative
garrison-trotter farm boston, massachusetts
way to improve city life.” The Trust for Public Land worked
with community groups to purchase and prepare the half-acre site, adding new soil and an irrigation system. Now, locals trained by the Urban Farming Institute will grow pro- duce to sell to farmers markets and restaurants. State Director Kevin Essington says it’s only the first such collaboration planned for Roxbury and Dorchester—and neighbors are excited to see the vacant lots put to good use. “We’re creating opportunities for people to work green jobs in their neighborhood. It’s converting nega- tive space into a positive space.”
18 · LAND&PEOPLE · SPRING/SUMMER 2015
maureen white
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68