This Friday, October 14, the first urban farm to open under the passage of the City of Chicago’s new urban agriculture ordinance will hold its groundbreaking event in Englewood. The new ordinance, adopted in September, eases demands and burdens on those developing urban farms and has accelerated the development and opening of the site.
The farm, on Honore Street between 58th and 59th Street in Englewood, will be managed by Growing Home and be planted for the growing season in Spring 2012. The site expands the growing capabilities of Growing Home, which currently operates Chicago’s only year-round, certified organic farm just around the corner at Wood Street and 58th Street.
EVENT DETAILS:
When: October 14, 2011 – 2:30 pm
Where: Honore Street Farm Site
(On S. Honore Street, just North of W. 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60636)
The site will be preserved on behalf of Growing Home and the Englewood community by NeighborSpace, a non-profit land trust supported in part by an ongoing partnership of the City of Chicago, Chicago Park District, and Forest Preserve District of Cook County, which owns the site where the farm will be located. It acquires lots as public-private land trusts, to be used by community groups as gardens and parks. While this will be NeighborSpace’s 79th community openspace in the City, this is the first time NeighborSpace has acquired land to be used for an urban farm.
Alicia Berg, President of the Board of NeighborSpace, says, “With an array of benefits from job training and food security to neighborhood beautification and exercise, urban farming is taking its place as a permanent part of the Chicago landscape. The Honore Street farm is an example of how with sensible public-private partnerships, a great program like Growing Home can blossom.”
The City of Chicago is also involved in the partnership, providing support to transform the vacant lot into a useable growing space. The groundbreaking ceremony will include a graduation ceremony for the latest set of job training interns who have gone through Growing Home’s program, which includes horticulture training, as well as training in related skills such as food preparation and landscaping, and general employment search skills and support.
Confirmed speakers include U.S. Senator Dick Durbin; Andy Mooney, Commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Housing and Economic Development; Alicia Berg, President of the Board of NeighborSpace; and Growing Home’s Executive Director, Harry Rhodes.
On September 8, the Chicago City Council approved a new zoning code category that allowed more latitude for urban agriculture. Growing Home’s first urban organic farm, on South Wood Street in Englewood, opened in 2007 and has helped create a model for urban agriculture in Chicago. Growing Home also operates an organic farm in Marseilles, IL and a market garden in Back of the Yards.