janetThe availability of healthy food choices in low-income neighborhoods in Boston and many other cities across the country is restricted. It is one of the variables that contribute to significant health disparities in the United States of America.
Our community partners and we pioneered the conversion of local vacant lots into climate-smart urban farms, which are now being expanded to increase access to fresh food in these communities while also enhancing neighborhood climate resilience through the installation of new green infrastructure.
The Trust for Public Land and our community partners were the first to convert local vacant lots into climate-smart urban farms, which are now being expanded. With your help, we’ve built the city’s first modern, zoning-compliant farm and four other farms, one of which is home to a flourishing new community agricultural center and farmer-training program, as well as several other projects.
A flourishing urban agriculture movement has emerged as a result of the success of these projects; our community partners have gone on to establish independent farming operations. With some assistance from local capital money received by the Boston Community Preservation Act, which even the Trust for Public Land was integral in passing last year and which the Trust for Public Land was instrumental in enacting.
Given the undeniable shortage of availability to fresh, healthy meals, our local farmers are now growing fresh vegetables that are urgently required in Boston neighborhoods that have been designated as “food deserts” by the US Department of Agriculture due to a scarcity of fresh, nutritious foods.
The farms that have garnered attention include the Fowler Clark Epstein Farm in Mattapan, the Tommy’s Rock Farm in Roxbury and, most recently, Garrison-Trotter Farm in Dorchester. Many farms are continuing the growth and improvement over time, so we can look forward to a better solution for any scarcities.
