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Home > Blogs > Farm Life and Local Harvest > Archives > 2009 > October > 29
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Local Urban Agriculture conversation
Monday night, I met with a group of people at Wegerzyn MetroPark to talk about urban agriculture and current and future projects. Lots of different ideas and projects were represented. A few of the ideas which came out of the conversation: finding someone who can be the region’s Urban Agriculture guru/coordinator; this Urban Ag group working in concert with (or as a part of) Miami Valley Grown.
Take a look at this Our Ohio video which features two Five Rivers MetroParks community gardens (The Circus Creative Collective’s Garden Station, and the Burundian Unity Garden) and the City of Dayton’s pilot urban farming project with Sudanese and Somalian refugees, then read for more about Monday’s conversation.
Howard Solganik’s TransPlant project teaches agriculture skills to ex-offenders. Peter Benkendorf, Treva Jenkins, and Liz Landis’ Seeds of Change began a garden at Ruskin School this year, and plans to expand school gardens and eventually develop a series of linked (school/neighborhood) markets across the Miami Valley. Ken Carman’s Feed Dayton Urban Farming Program focuses on bringing food (free) to the people who need it most.
Several people attended with ideas for expanded or new programs. Jim Wellman, Deputy Mayor of Riverside, who wants to see urban agriculture programs and more community gardens develop in his city. Kevin Jones, currently Coordinator of Our Secret Garden, part of the MetroParks community garden program, with a summer youth employment focus on increasing kids’ gardening and education skills. Rob Broderick and Mike Schulz, part of a Twin Towers (Dayton neighborhood), who are both developing a community garden in the MetroParks program, and interested in exploring urban agriculture. Dave Secor of Huber Heights, who is interested in both exploring the idea of something like the Heifer Learning Center at Heifer Ranch in Arkansas and also (dear to my heart) seeing a massive increase in community gardens.
Kate Ervin and Jonathan Cain, from the City of Dayton’s Housing & Neighborhood Development department, attended because the City has an active role in looking at zoning codes and encouraging urban ag projects which can address some of Dayton’s vacant spaces. Kate is also a member of the Circus Creative Collective, and very interested in exploring and developing cooperatives - a food co-op, first and foremost. Check out Kate’s (A Future) Downtown Dayton Food Co-op Facebook page.
Five Rivers MetroParks’ Grow With Your Neighbors community gardening program provides a variety of support to new and existing community garden groups. I assembled this urban agriculture conversation to encourage conversation among these people and projects.
