Urban Farming with NOLA City Farms

Imagine our city with small urban farms tucked into every neighborhood- utilizing abandoned or underused green space. What if you only had to walk a block or two to talk with your local farmer and your kids could see where food comes from and what a “real” farmer looks like. Remember the taste of a fresh tomato just off the vine, or salad greens picked first thing in the morning for dinner at night?

New Orleans Food and Farm Network envisions a city where everyone has access to fresh, healthy foods. One way to get there is by increasing the amount of food grown right here within our neighborhoods. In the last few decades we have lost sight of what’s possible to grow year round in our backyards, front yards, and climbing up our side yard fences. Our grandparents knew and they produced gorgeous tomatoes, bushels of okra, eggplant, mirliton, satsumas, grapefruits, broccoli and lettuce (to name a few).

As our neighborhoods are rebuilt the vision of more fresh food and farmers markets seems to be a common desire among neighbors throughout the city. Weekly or monthly markets are showing up everywhere. What’s missing is the army of farmers needed to support the rapidly growing demand by chefs, retailers and consumers for local fruits and vegetables.

The Food & Farm Network recognizes this gap. For the past 6 months we’ve been talking with the handful of farmers currently growing in the city to see how we can support them in their efforts to turn their sites into models and the farmers themselves into mentors for the next generation. Through our Farmer Collective we’ve identified strategies and educational opportunities to grow our growers. At the same time we’re planning public events to encourage vegetable production as an opportunity for new and aspiring market gardeners as well as home gardeners. Within a few months we will have resources available online and in our in our office to help growers know what to grow, how to sustainably grow it and how to market the harvest. Developing an urban “farm corp” is also in the works to channel volunteers to city farmers in need of planting, harvesting and fence building help.

We are also well aware of the need to identify and secure potential agriculture sites throughout the city. We are working to build relationships with partner non-profit groups and agencies as well city officials to ensure the exciting vision of an emerging agricultural economy is part of the new New Orleans.

Look for our NOLA City Farms launch and community forum coming in February to learn more about your city farmers and how to become a part of this exciting initiative.