Urban Farm Helps Make Neighborhood Green

As cities continue to grow and become more urbanized, the land left over for farming becomes harder to come by. But a certain group in the Upstate is trying to change the landscape, one row of vegetables at a time.

Properties like this one in this historic downtown Greenville neighborhood are being turned into urban farms. Eventually giving residents a way to go green with produce.

“Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers...those sorts of things.”

It may look like a deserted piece of land now...

“We have organic growers in the area we will purchase plants from. We also have seeds we will start ourselves in organic soil.”

But Peggy Jackson's yard in the Sterling neighborhood will soon be a lush urban farm.

“The only thing we will have to add is an organic source of nitrogen.”

Rebecca McKinney of South Carolina's Organization For Organic Living is one of many helping to turn this neighborhood green.

“This piece of land we are on here, the Greenville County recreation division did a great job of stripping up the sod and tilling it for us,” explains McKinney.

“People need access to healthy foods and they also need access to meaningful employment.”

Maxim Williams is the Director of Community Relationship Building for Bon Secours St. Francis.

“The primary model will be to sell and build business relationships with the Greenville at-large community,” says Williams.

Along with Slow Food Upstate, Bon Secours is helping its neighbors near the hospital raise this land into a fruitful and profitable farm.

“Using the environment in ways we are actually used to, in terms of sources of food and sources of income,” says Williams.

Neighbor Andrea Crockett is happy to be involved.

“It’s giving the community a chance to grow in a financial kind of way, as well as being healthier,” says Crockett.

Once the crops are planted by the people who live there, they will have a chance to sell their produce while providing a green alternative in the middle of the city.

“In terms of our urban farming and our green initiatives, we see it as a tool to build trust and relationships with not just each other and our neighbors, but also the environment,” says Williams.

The first crops will be planted this spring. This is one of the first urban farms in the Upstate with more planned in the future.