What do you get when you have two whip-smart kids, a New Jersey transplant of a dad with a passion for education and justice, and Brooklyn-born non-profiteer-cum-green thumb chomping at the bit to spend more of her life outdoors? Why, Brick City Urban Farms in Newark, New Jersey, of course.
It all started with a question, said John Taylor, co-founder of the project. The way John tells it, one evening at dinner, he was provoking his children to ask their uncle-Corey Booker, a.k.a. Mayor of Newark-some tough questions. One asked about hunger in the city, John recalls, and then the other asked if there is any fresh, healthy food in the local pantries and soup kitchens. These questions got John thinking. An educator by training, John has long been interested in environmental issues and community activism. After hearing his own children probe into heart of the food crisis in North American cities like Newark, John felt compelled to act. He gathered friends and colleagues around the table, and began bouncing around ideas. It didn't take long before he set his mind on an urban farm in an underserved neighborhood of Newark.
John quickly realized he would need help and partnership, but he didn't realize how serendipitously he would find it. The morning after deciding to begin an urban agriculture project in Newark, John called his friend Lorraine Gibbons for advice. Lorraine, then the executive director of a dance company who had spent some time creating and teaching in schoolyard gardens, was blown away-"Just the night before, I had had the same thought- it was time to get back outside, back to farming. So of course I was like, ‘yes, let's do it!' "
The duo quickly got down to business. Having both worked extensively in the non-profit sector, the two understood the red tape they would have to navigate in order to get their project up and running on grant funding, and how many other organizations in Newark they would be competing with for funding. At the core of their vision was universal access to fresh, local food in inner-city Newark, and a belief that such food was in high demand in low-income communities. And so, Lorraine and John decided to forgo a non-profit model and create Brick City Urban Farms as a social enterprise.
With $70,000 of their own money and some support from individual supporters, John and Lorraine quickly set up shop on a privately owned ½ acre lot near Lincoln Park. The address was ideal-the plot was surrounded by the type of community that the founders wanted to affect-schools, a Hispanic half-way house, live-in drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, and Section 8 housing-and the owner was willing to let them lease it for next to nothing until he could find a developer to build apartments on the land.
Surrounded by potential customers, students, and volunteers, the two got to work. The soil on the land was contaminated with heavy metals, and the duo knew they might have to up-and-move in a year or two if a development contract pulled through, so they turned to EarthBoxes. EarthBoxes are considered a Godsend by many urban gardeners, as they permit you to move your crops from place to place, produce high yields, necessitate less water and weeding than traditional container methods, and allow growers to control the content of their soil.
In 2008, their first season, a cart parked on-site acted as their market stand. They sold their "demo year" produce for $5 a bag ("We were practically giving it away," Lorraine laughed), a discounted price to help bring new customers to the farm. This season, the farmers are setting their prices in accordance with the local supermarkets in order to keep the produce accessible to the surrounding community, who comprise most of their customer base. In addition to their on-site produce stand, Brick City Urban Farms will be vending at a local Family Success Center, growing food at an all-scholarship parochial school and through an experimental mini summer CSA at another local school, and also distributing food to a food bank, a handful of soup kitchens, a new market based at a 60,000-member church, and Grammercy Tavern in Manhattan.
Rooting their farm in a small community has brought tremendous support. During our visit neighbors waved, called out hellos, and inquired about late spring vegetables as they walked past the farm. John and Lorraine said they have adjusted their crop plans to meet the desires of the community, making sure there are sufficient amounts of popular crops such as okra and spinach. According to Lorraine, city residents initially doubted the community's receptivity to a farm in their area. "They asked things like, ‘Will those people know how to use the vegetables'," Lorraine recalled. She and John scoffed - "They come looking for turnip greens, they remember turnip greens from their lives in the past, and we give them those but then also introduce them to other crops, like broccoli rabbe, and how it can be used like turnip greens. Now folks come looking for broccoli rabbe!"
Lorraine and John readily admit that they're learning as they go. Though Lorraine has been gardening for many years, she has never had to deal with the urgency of production that comes with running a business. The two have worked with EarthBox ("We have a great relationship", John noted) and the consultants at Spin Farming to learn more about intensive crop rotations and succession plantings to maximize their production. And although they hope to break even this season, they don't imagine they'll start to turn a profit and be able to pay salaries until the end of this season or even their third. In the meantime, while Lorraine tend the farm full-time, John maintains the a part-time job off the farm.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Brick City Urban Farms is the number and breadth of partnerships they are cultivating. In their first year, they connected with local school children (the farm received free water from the neighboring school's supply in exchange for garden-based lessons for students) and implemented science- and math-centered garden curriculum based the lesson plans developed by EarthBox's education director. In addition, the service centers surrounding the farm became a chance at a mutually-beneficial exchange-volunteer labor for the farm and a therapeutic physical outlet for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts. Because the Farm isn't grant-driven, its owners have tremendous liberty to work with whomever they want. As a result, they have solicited, and been solicited by, a number of institutions and organizations-parochial and public schools, Rutgers University, churches, food banks, and corporate offices. With such a wide cross-section of agencies and institutions showing interest, they see real potential to affect change in the city of Newark.
After gaining some visibility during their first year, the request for Brick City Urban Farms to set up both demonstration and production gardens on-site for schools and churches has skyrocketed-they have become the default agricultural consultants for the city of Newark and surrounding towns. But while the temptation to have their fingers in each and every project that comes their way is strong, they are both focused on ensuring that their primary production site, and any additional plots they can get their hands on for market sales, remain their priority. Second only to production is their commitment to advocating for policy change on the city level in order to changing access over the long term. They work closely with the Brick City Development Corporation to advocate for urban agriculture and easier land access (a "huge road block" hindering development in urban agriculture, according to John) for community gardeners and urban farmers. Eventually, they would like to be helping set up production gardens all over the greater Newark area and vending at several farmers markets. And further down the road, they would like to develop an urban farm center that includes a greenhouse, a commercial kitchen, hydroponic growing systems, solar power, educational space, and produce moved about the city by bicycle. "Creating a presence in many neighborhoods is the key to access," said John of their keeping an eye towards expansion. But until the day when funds, staffing, and support for such project are available, Lorraine and John, together with their funders and partners, are glad to be providing food and awareness about nutrition, hunger, and regional food production to their surrounding community in Newark.
