Source: THE PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY submitted to
COMMUNITY GROWERS ALLIANCE
 
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Reilly, J.
 
PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
Philadelphia Green
THE PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
PHILADELPHIA,PA 19103
 
NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY: As food insecurity and diet related health problems continue to plague Philadelphia, more and more people are beginning to seriously explore the potential of urban food gardening to provide much-needed fresh produce to local residents, as well as opportunities for entrepreneurship and community development. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) seeks to harness this potential by establishing the Community Growers Alliance (CGA), a project that will: 1.) develop a vibrant and self-sustaining network of urban entrepreneurial growers; 2.) create Neighborhood Green Centers that will include low-cost, professional greenhouses, and 3.) develop market opportunities including new neighborhood farmers markets and local wholesale buyers. Through this project, organic fruits and vegetables will be grown in residential plots and community gardens all over the city by individuals or garden teams receiving education, support, and access to supplies and plant material through nearby Neighborhood Green Centers. These Green Centers will also serve as local hubs of gardening, where community residents can take a free class on backyard gardening, learn new ways to prepare fresh produce, or purchase low-cost seedlings. New neighborhood farmers markets, organized and staffed by youth participants, will also be established in targeted areas, and will offer CGA produce to local residents at affordable prices.
 
OBJECTIVES: Goal 1. Establish and develop a network of urban entrepreneurial growers in Philadelphia that will significantly increase the supply of locally grown fruits and vegetables to Philadelphia communities 1.1 Over the course of three years, approximately 66 entrepreneurial growers will be supplied with locally grown seedlings as well as soil, tools and all necessary materials for sustainable urban food gardening for market. 1.2 Over the course of three years, approximately 66 growers will develop skills and experience in areas such as organic pest management, season extension, growing for market, crop planning, marketing, and networking through five mandatory workshops and on-going technical assistance delivered by PHS staff. 1.3 Marketing and distribution opportunities for 66 growers will be developed by PHS staff (with grower input) and will include community farmers markets, mobile purchase by a local co-op market, purchase by a local food assistance provider, and relationships with 20 wholesale outlets. Goal 2. Establish and operate three Neighborhood Green Centers to serve the network of growers as well as the surrounding community 2.1. Over the course of three years, 140,000 high quality seedlings, as well as all other necessary materials, will be supplied to 66 growers through the operation of three neighborhood green centers, each established and operated in partnership with a neighborhood-serving organization. 2.2 At least 200 community residents will participate in a total of 18 workshops at three neighborhood green centers where they will learn about backyard/container food gardening, purchasing and preparing fresh produce, and healthy eating. Community residents will also have access over 5,000 low-cost seedlings and transplants at these neighborhood green centers. Goal 3. Improve food security and access to affordable, locally grown produce in targeted neighborhoods 3.1 Three community farmers markets will be established and operated with partner organizations to provide 50 market days over the course of three years in targeted areas in which CGA produce will be sold at affordable prices. 3.2 At least 40 at-risk youth will increase their business and retail skills and gain food-based nutrition awareness through participation in organizing and staffing community farmers markets.
 
APPROACH: A wide variety of methods and efforts will be carried out as part of this project. Urban gardeners interested in entrepreneurial growing will be recruited, supplied with necessary materials, and trained in methods of sustainable food production and growing for market. Training will consist of technical assistance and workshops on topics such as organic soil fertility, organic pest and disease management, growing for market, harvesting and post-harvest handling. Marketing strategies will be developed for new growers to ensure profitability, convenience and farmers market supply. A produce and pick-up and distribution system will be established and relationships with wholesale outlets will be developed. Three Neighborhood Green Centers with professional greenhouses will be developed and/or made operational. Project partners will strive to create a place accessible to growers and neighborhood residents that can eventually serve as a neighborhood hub of urban gardening. Free public gardening workshops will be held each year and food tastings and healthy cooking workshops will occur. Low cost seedlings and transplants, grown in each green center greenhouse, will also be provided to community members to facilitate increased neighborhood food gardening. Three community farmers markets will be created in different low income neighborhoods that will sell produce grown by entrepreneurial growers. These markets will sell produce at affordable prices and will be geared to providing access to locally-grown produce to the community. The evaluation of this project will assess the Growers Alliance's impacts on building capacity and sustainability in Philadelphia's urban agriculture sector, focusing on two key goals: 1) Assessing the Growers Alliance's impacts on increasing the self-reliance of communities in meeting the food needs of communities; and 2) Assessing the Growers Alliance's impacts on progress towards the long-term planning and policy goals of the City of Philadelphia, as stated in its Food Charter (October 2008) and Greenworks Philadelphia sustainability plan (April 2009), which sets aggressive targets for urban agriculture and food access by 2015. The evaluation will consist of three main components, with data collected on an annual basis and a "harvest report" produced at the end of each growing season: A) The volume of materials supplied as well as food produced and sold (by crop) over time will be tracked. B) Growers Alliance producers and distributors will be surveyed and interviewed before, during, and after each growing season, assessing their development of individual skills, organizational capacity, and self-reliance in production and distribution. This will result in an assessment of overall community capacity - a combination of individual human capital, organizational capital and capacity, and formal and informal social and economic networks that sustain community food systems. C) A basic survey of customers at Growers Alliance markets and other outlets will be administered, collecting data on consumer preferences and the impacts of Growers Alliance markets and distribution on their access to fresh healthy food.
 
CRIS NUMBER: 0219986 SUBFILE: CRIS
PROJECT NUMBER: PENW-2009-03691 SPONSOR AGENCY: NIFA
PROJECT TYPE: OTHER GRANTS PROJECT STATUS: NEW MULTI-STATE PROJECT NUMBER: (N/A)
START DATE: Sep 1, 2009 TERMINATION DATE: Aug 31, 2012

GRANT PROGRAM: Community Food Project
GRANT PROGRAM AREA: General Budget Funds Extension

CLASSIFICATION
Knowledge Area (KA)Subject (S)Science (F)Objective (G)Percent
704609910105.2100%

CLASSIFICATION HEADINGS
KA704 - Nutrition and Hunger in the Population
S6099 - People and communities, general/other
F1010 - Nutrition and metabolism
G5.2 - Promote Healthier Eating Habits and Lifestyles


RESEARCH EFFORT CATEGORIES
BASIC (N/A)%
APPLIED (N/A)%
DEVELOPMENTAL 100%

KEYWORDS: entrepeneurial gardening~neighborhood greenhouses~farmers markets~urban agriculture~community gardening~backyard gardening~urban growers~growers alliance~urban food~supplemental income~philadelphia~neighborhood~intensive gardening~community development~entrepeneurship

PROGRESS: Sep 1, 2010 TO Aug 31, 2011
OUTPUTS: ---17 new grower teams were enrolled during the reporting period. These teams were added to year 1 growers for a total of 31 grower teams now participating. Grower teams chosen over this reporting period were a varied group. Several were institutions (schools, social service organizations, a homeless shelter) that are involving large groups of individual gardeners in their operations. As a result, we conservatively estimate that 300 new individuals began growing with support from this project over the reporting period. ---Over 37,000 pounds of produce was grown. ---Over 100,000 seedlings were raised and distributed to growers ---7 workshops were planned and delivered by PHS staff to educate growers, build their farming skills, and connect them to one another. Individualized technical assistance was provided to each grower team, including crop planning, raised bed construction tips and delivery of growing supplies. ---A 2nd greenhouse was built in North Philadelphia at the headquarters of food assistance provider, SHARE. This greenhouse will function as our 2nd green resource center and will be operated in partnership with SHARE. It is complemented by a small farming operation, community garden plots, and a hoop house operated by SHARE in order to help supply their recipients with fresh food and teach them about food gardening. ---1100 volunteer hours were donated at Grower's Alliance sites by volunteers assisting PHS staff, growers, and program partners. ---25 farmers markets or CSAs were supplied with CHGA produce. We are also supplying one senior center kitchen (serves 60 daily) and one school kitchen (serves 600 daily). ---4 new restaurants were added to the Weaver's Way truck mobile pick-up and delivery system. Volume of produce handled by the truck system continued to increase over the reporting period. ---New branding and labeling was created and deployed that is helping to identify and stimulate demand for the produce. ---Partnership discussions were held and plans were developed for a third Green Resource Center in 2012. It will be an ambitious partnership between Bartram's Garden, the Urban Nutrition Initiative, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, and PHS that will include an urban farm, community garden for local residents, an orchard, and extensive youth programming - all of which will connect with a large population of low income residents living in the surrounding neighborhood. ---19 nutrition demonstrations/tastings for neighborhood residents were conducted by the Health Promotion Council at sites associated with this project. PARTICIPANTS: INDIVIDUALS-----Claire Baker: as the Primary Investigator, Claire coordinated and organized the Growers Alliance Advisory Board and took a lead role in cultivating partnerships for the development of future green resource centers. She was the primary liaison with the evaluation team. Claire took on the role of P.I. in September, 2010 and brings to the position her considerable experience as manager for PHS's City Harvest, Community Gardens, and Parks teams. -----Eileen Gallagher: provided day-to-day project management and logistical support to the staff members engaged in completing the activities necessary to fulfill the requirements of the grant. She also managed the overall selection process for growers to participate in the project and provided on-going technical assistance to the growers. -----Sharat Somashekara and Lisa Mosca: managed the greenhouses used for growing seedlings for the project and coordinated the distribution of supplies and plants. They led crop-planning meetings with growers, scheduled and organized educational workshops and provided on-going support and technical assistance to growers. -----Suzanna Urminska: coordinated volunteer workdays, assisted in the distribution of plants and supplies, and provided on-going technical assistance to the growers. Suzanna took over this role in spring 2011. PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS:-----University of Pennsylvania: Researcher Dominick Vitiello, Professor of Planning and Urban Studies and his students conducted on-going evaluation of the project during the reporting period. -----Weaver's Way Food Co-op and Farm: operated the truck pick-up system for growers that elected to sell to Weaver's Way. The co-op pledged to purchase as much produce as was available from Growers Alliance participants. Weaver's Way Farm is the location and partner for our first Green Resource Center. Weaver's Way farm staff also led workshops on harvesting and post-harvesting techniques. -----SHARE: became a partner in the second Green Resource Center, located at its headquarters in North Philadelphia. This second Center includes a greenhouse, farm, community garden space, and public education space for growers and neighborhood residents. It leverages SHARE's new food production capabilities and will significantly increasing CHGA seedling supply. -----Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (AUNI): PHS and UNI staff worked together to plan and begin construction of a third green resource center, located at Bartram's Garden. -----Bartram's Garden: an historic garden on land owned by the city and under the jurisdiction of Department of Parks & Recreation, it is the location of the third green resource center being created in partnership with UNI. -----Nationalities Services Center (NSC): enrolled as one of the largest institutional growers over the reporting period. Over 80 raised beds were built and supplied through this project. Workshops and targeted assistance were coordinated by NSC for a large group of Southeast Asian refugees that are now growing and supplying vegetables for their community on these plots. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences included the growers, both new and returning that participated in the project over the reporting period. Growers continued to report that along with the materials and supplies, it was especially the workshops and support that made all the difference in their ability to grow and market large amounts of high quality produce. The following workshops were held: ***Harvest & Post Harvest Handling Part 1- tips and lessons for early spring harvesting and handling crops for sale @ markets ***Organic Pest Control and Prevention Part 1- visual identification of pests and diseases in spring and how to use controls ***Harvest & Post Harvest Handling Part 2 - tips and lessons for summer harvesting and handling crops for sale @ markets ***Organic Pest Control and Prevention Part 2 - tips and lessons for pests and diseases in summer and how to controls ***Cover Crops -how to use and benefits and Part 3 harvest & posts harvest handling and season extension ***A special winter capacity-building workshop was held that included a speaker from Common Market and year 1 growers speaking about their experiences. ***A special winter meeting was held in which neighborhood and regional connections between growers were fostered. ***Individualized technical assistance was also provided to each grower team including crop planning, raised bed construction tips and delivery of growing supplies. ---Another target audience was consumers in neighborhoods near growing sites and Green Resource Centers. Over the reporting period, we dramatically expanded our market reach, so that now we are helping to supply 25 different markets or CSA's with affordable produce. Informal nutrition education is a regular part of each grower's interaction with consumers, especially in limited-resource neighborhoods. Part of our efforts to reach more low-income consumers involved making it possible for growers were to accept food stamps this year with new EBT machines. ---The general public was another target audience. Efforts to reach the general public were designed to publicize and promote the project, recruit volunteers, and recruit new growers for the second year. PHS staff produced press releases, wrote blog entries, and published web content and other promotions. Articles were also published in PHS's newsletter that reaches over 18,000 members. A PHS Grower's Alliance project profile was also disseminated that reached many PHS partners, members, and funders. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

IMPACT: 2010-09-01 TO 2011-08-31 ---Workshops, technical assistance and support provided by PHS staff resulted in a significant increase in knowledge for all participating growers this year. These growers now understand how to grow and prepare produce for market, grow intensively and organically, and market their produce to different buyers, among many other things. They have also learned from each other through networking workshops and through informal exchanges and formed a strong alliance of community-based growers. This has resulted in their being able to grow a large quantity of organic vegetables for the local Philadelphia market, something they were not doing before this project. ---This project has resulted in a significant increase in the amount of organic produce grown and sold in Philadelphia. Over 37,000 pounds of naturally grown produce was made available to local residents during the reporting period- an increase of over 32,000 pounds from last year. ---Grower teams greatly expanded their market presence in Philadelphia in 2011. There are now 25 farmers markets with growers selling their produce at affordable cost. 17 of these markets are in limited-resource areas of Philadelphia. Also, four new restaurants became buyers of Growers Alliance produce this year. Many growers continued to sell to Weaver's Way Co-op market. ---We also expanded our participant base and reached many new consumers by enrolling a number of community-based, institutional partners as new growers in 2011. These growers are each serving large communities and constituencies with the food they are growing as part of this project. We estimate that Growers Alliance produce is reaching over 1,000 individuals weekly during the growing season through these new institutional partnerships. ---One new institutional grower was the Nationalities Service Center (NSC) in Southeast Philadelphia, an agency that works with large numbers of recent Burmese and Bhutanese immigrants. These new immigrants are refugees torn from largely agrarian backgrounds that are benefitting greatly from the opportunity to work again with the land. PHS helped them build 80 raised beds at the NSC site that are providing low-cost, nutritious, culturally appropriate food to the refugee community. ---Another new institutional grower team this year was Methodist Homes in West Philadelphia, a shelter for women and children in transition. Through supplies and technical assistance provided by PHS, the facility is now able to supplement residents' food supplies with hundreds of pounds of fresh produce grown on-site, as well as operate a farmers market selling to the larger neighborhood.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION: 2010-09-01 TO 2011-08-31
No publications reported this period

PROJECT CONTACT INFORMATION
NAME: Schneck, D.
PHONE: 215-988-1624
FAX: 215-988-8810