Today’s guest post comes from Cheryl Kollin, a consultant who specializes in social enterprises–that is, helping non profits achieve their social mission through earned income. Cheryl worked for 17 years at American Forests’ Urban Ecosystem Center, a citizens conservation group that advocates for urban forests by quantifying their ecosystem and economic benefits. Recently, she earned her MBA in sustainable business from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute near Seattle. Cheryl, who lives near me in Bethesda, Md., is now focusing on sustainable agriculture and food systems. She also co-leads the thriving community garden and fresh food donation program at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, the synagogue where we worship together.
Urban farming may sound like an oxymoron, but judging from the 375-person sell-out crowd at the first Urban Farm Summit in Washington, D.C., the idea is catching on like organics at Walmart.
The recent one-day event called, Sowing Seeds Here and Now, was organized by Engaged Community Offshoots (ECO), a fledgling non-profit urban farm based just outside D.C. in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The summit agenda spotlighted the reasons why urban farms are sprouting up all over: They increase food security by growing food locally. They give under-served urban neighborhoods access to fresh foods. They strengthen local economies by keeping dollars circulating within the community. They engage consumers, who learn how food is grown. They reduce ‘food miles’ and fossil fuel use. And they create jobs.
Urban farms are growing more than food. They are growing community.
As a social enterprise consultant, I’m fascinated to watch new business models emerge. Nascent urban farmers are not only literally breaking new ground, but they are finding they enjoy competitive advantages over their rural counterparts. Buyers will pay a premium for custom-grown vegetables that can be picked and delivered the same day.
“I can walk in to a restaurant with a seed catalog and ask the chef what varieties of lettuce, zucchini, or beets he’d like me to grow, just for his menu,” explains Vinnie Bevivino, director of Urban Farming Operations at ECO. “He can also tell me when he wants delivery and I’ll synchronize my planting schedule with his seasonal menus. He won’t get that kind of customized service from a national produce chain.”
Yet to make their business work, urban farmers must contend with two challenges that rural farmers typically don’t face—accessing land and scaling operations large enough to be profitable. Urban land suitable for farming is expensive and, even when land is available it comes in smaller lot-sized parcels rather than in acres. Urban land is at such a premium that farmers have to get creative and grow more densely to make their business viable. [click to continue…]
{ 3 comments }
