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Milwaukee Projects
HISTORY
The Growing Power Community Food Center is the first of its kind in the
nation. It is a two-acre farm located on the northwest side of Milwaukee. This
historic site is the last remaining farm and greenhouse operation from the
1920’s in the City of Milwaukee. The Growing Power Community Food Center is
open to the public. The Center offers schools, universities, government
agencies, farmers, activists, and community members the opportunity to
participate in understanding sustainable Community Food Systems.
Growing Power’s multitude of projects fall essentially into
three areas: training, through on-site workshops and hands on tutorials;
networking, which involves everything from assisting farmers to helping
communities that want to transform city lots into gardens and urban farms; and
producing food.
Boys and Girls Club of
Greater Milwaukee: (est.
2005)
Sponsored via an American Cancer Society grant to develop a
nutrition-based program, youth come to the center and garden as well as eat food
they have grown. Growing Power helped them install their own pumpkin garden.
There are 25 students in this program. They are trained for 2 hours a week for
a duration of 4 months.
Growing
Power and Maple Tree Community Garden (Maple Tree School Garden, Summer Youth
Corp Program, Community Garden Plots): (est. 2007)
The Growing Power and Maple Tree
Community Gardens provide opportunities for young people to learn the basics of
organic agriculture, develop their leadership and entrepreneurial skills, work
with a diverse group of people and gain valuable life skills that will apply to
future social and work experiences. Located
in the Millwood Parks Neighborhood, Growing Power is leasing the five acre land
for 20 years from the City of Milwaukee to develop one of Milwaukee’s first
school/community gardens of this kind. 2007
marked the first year of growing in the newly installed raised garden beds.
Community members, youth, local volunteers (i.e. students from University
School of Milwaukee, Work Institute of Milwaukee, UWM and Marquette University
and more) installed over a thousand feet of raised garden beds averaging three
feet in width. At the end of the
summer 13 community youth received stipends and weekly produce from the garden
beds. Community members and Maple
Tree School families also worked the gardens and harvested a variety of greens
(collards, curly and slick leaf mustards, salad, turnips) on a weekly basis.
Growing Power provides training for the community members who rent plots
for private growing and works closely with the Maple Tree School to support
curricular development that incorporates the school subjects while working in
the school gardens.
Farm-City
Market Basket:
(est. 1998)
Market Basket is an alternative distribution system
similar to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs. This weekly,
year-round, food security program supplies safe, healthy, affordable vegetables
and fruit to communities at a low cost. The FCMB includes 12-14 different types
of produce in amounts that will feed a family of four for a week, i.e.,
white/red potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, celery, carrots, lettuce, spinach,
greens, tomatoes, peppers, winter and summer squash, cabbage, sweet corn,
peppers, beets, cucumbers, eggplant, melons, apples, peaches, bananas, and
grapes. The program effectively increases city residents’ access to affordable
food, while providing a viable market for small farmers and urban gardeners in
which to sell the food they grow.
Silver Spring Neighborhood Center (est. 2007)
Growing Power is working closely with
one of its’ neighbors, the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, to teach youth
about growing organic produce, eating healthy, and being more physically active.
We are entering our second year (2008) working with the 10-18 year olds
who attend the weekly after school sessions held either at Growing Power or the
Silver Spring Neighborhood Center greenhouse.
As part of the program, Growing Power is training the youth in building
and maintaining Sustainable Urban Food Systems (i.e. Aquaponics System,
Vermiculture, Sprouts System, etc.), collaborating with Browning Elementary
School to install a native prairie and community garden, hosting cooking classes
focusing on nutrition, and teaching youth about food sovereignty and the
importance of eating fresh local food.
Walnut Way Conservation
Corps: (est.
2002)
A neighborhood non-profit organization dedicated to the
people of Walnut Way, an inner city neighborhood in Milwaukee that is in the
midst of turning vacant brown-lots into cut flower gardens.
“Los
Cultivadores de Paz” (Growers of Peace) Community Garden (Summer Youth program
with a focus on soil remediation, nutrition education, land stewardship,
building community)
Los Cultivadores de Paz Community
Garden is located on the Prince of Peace Church property on Milwaukee’s
predominantly Latino Southside. The
Volunteer run community group, Southside Parents Against Lead, initiated the
garden project in January of 2006 after a few members attended a Growing Power
weekend workshop. The main
initiatives of the community garden include soil remediation (removing lead from
the soil), nutrition education (with respect to eating the appropriate foods to
remove lead from the body), land stewardship, and building a healthier
community. Families who have children with high levels of lead in their
bodies are especially involved in maintaining the garden and accessing the
vegetable harvest. Growing Power
has provided training and materials to help the families install and maintain
the gardens. Early in 2007 two
classrooms from the Prince of Peace School (located next door to the church and
adjacent from the garden) came to Growing Power for a tour. Their exposure to the Growing Power Urban Farm inspired the
two classrooms to come together and build a “Pizza Garden” within the
Growers of Peace Community Garden site. The
Growers of Peace Garden continues to expand with plans of installing more garden
beds, a tool shed, a picnic area, rain barrels, and a Summer Youth Program for
the 2008 year.
Urban
Day School-12th & Atkinson site (Summer school Garden
incorporated into school curriculum with a focus on Latino Cuisine)
During another successful School
Garden Installation, Growing Power trained summer school students and Urban Day
School (UDS) teachers on maintaining the newly installed raised garden beds
outside of the 12th St. & Atkinson St. Urban Day School site.
Students planted produce found commonly in the Latino Cuisine, such as
tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro, and squash/pumpkin flowers.
The UDS teachers incorporated lessons from their summer school curriculum
to coincide with work in the garden. Due
to the success of this school garden, UDS is looking forward to installing
another school garden at its 24th St. & Vliet St. School site for
the 2008 year. UDS will collaborate
with Growing Power once again to ensure a successful school garden installation
and program.
Oakton
Manor (Urban Garden):
Oakton Manor is a Community Based
Residential Facility located on the near Southside of Milwaukee and serving all
of Milwaukee County residents. During
the 2006 Summer Season, Growing Power trained residents and Metrobrook Church
volunteers on organic gardening while installing microbial raised garden beds
onsite at the Oakton Manor building on Milwaukee’s near Southside. Residents and community members are very pleased with the
newer raised bed system and continue to work with Growing Power.
In fact some residents boast that their garden is the “biggest on the
block.” Produce from the garden
is used onsite for meals and extras are disbursed among residents.
Residents chose to grow produce that can easily be introduced to the
kitchen meals, such as cherry tomatoes, loose leaf lettuce, green beans,
cucumbers, and peppers. With the
assistance of Growing Power training and materials, the Oakton Manor Garden
continues to improve its service to its residents and volunteering community
members.
Chicago Projects
Chicago Projects
Office:
Growing Power’s Chicago office officially opened in February of 2002 to manage
resource development and the technical assistance needed to assist emerging
Community Food Centers and urban and small farm projects in the metropolitan
Chicago area. By bringing together food related activities that are typically
dispersed, an urban farm as a community food center allows for an integrated
approach to addressing food security, ecological, nutrition and public health
issues.
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Growing Power partnered with the Chicago Park District and
Moore Landscapes to create a 20,000 square foot urban farm on Chicago’s
lakefront adjacent to the Buckingham Fountain and Lincoln Memorial. Over 150
varieties of heirloom vegetables, herbs and edible flowers are grown and
distributed to area food pantries and soup kitchens. Assisting in our effort
were 25 youth from nearby communities, employed to learn how to grow food.
Grant Park accomplishments:
- Produced over 6 thousand
pounds of food with a market value of $15,000
- Hosted Farm Aid press
conference for 20th anniversary concert with Willie Nelson and John
Cougar Mellancamp
- Tours of site for area schools
and Art Encounters with visitors from the Chicago Art Institute
- Hosted our annual Harvest
Festival in September.
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Chicago
Avenue Community Garden Partnership: (est.
2004) 
Growing Power is working in
collaboration with Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church on their community
garden project on Chicago Avenue. The garden is located in the quickly changing
neighborhood adjacent to the Cabrini Green row houses. The Garden is a
traditional community garden with free plots allocated to individual gardeners.
Over the past three years, Growing Power has supplied the materials, assisted in
designing and building the space, served on the garden’s planning committee,
provided daily staff and technical assistance during the growing season, and
developed and implemented a youth curriculum for neighborhood kids and new
gardeners. The gardens 36 biological worm system raised beds were built on top
of concrete and have been abundantly producing fresh veggies for three years
running. This garden is designed to create dialogue, community engagement and
empowerment as well as introduce a source for fresh, safe, healthy, homegrown
produce to the community. Community and church members are receiving training
about how to run the space so they may take over in the coming years.
Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council: (est.
2002)
The Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council represents over
175 diverse stakeholders who are creating food policy advisements for city,
state and federal policy makers.
 Garfield
Park Conservatory Alliance: (est.
2002)
The Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance embraced Growing
Power's vision after staff attended a training in February, 2002. They returned
to Chicago and began planning their community food center project, working with
Growing Power’s Chicago office and staff to fundraise and receive training in
the challenging enterprise of farming in an urban setting. Growing Power is
running a central outreach and pick-up site for The Market Basket Program out of
the Conservatory in an effort to increase access to healthy, safe, fresh, whole
foods for the surrounding community, as well as support farmers and consumers.
Growing Power has a pilot winter growing project in one of the conservatory’s
greenhouses where we grow herbs, greens, and other hearty winter crops on our
biological worm system raised beds. During the spring, Growing Power uses the
greenhouse space in collaboration with the Homegrown Chicago Project to start
seedlings for their urban farms/gardens.
Chicago’s Green City Market: (vendor since 2003)
Growing Power, Inc., Rainbow Farmers Cooperative, Will’s
Roadside and Chicago urban agriculture projects with youth vend at this
innovative sustainable farmers’ market. Founded by Abby Mandel, this market
creates a direct connection between the farmer and consumer, and builds
relationships with local chef’s. As a not-for-profit, Growing Power is able to
share our mission and the fine products of our cooperative’s members, as well as
sell products from our own production. All of the products sold at the market
are raised sustain ably, chemical free and represent the diversity of our
membership. Innovative crops include: Callaloo, Hon Tsai Tai, Papalo and Epazote,
Watercress, greens of all sorts, hydroponic and heirloom tomatoes, Borage and
over 150+ other specialty varieties. Come visit us at this national market model
of excellence! The market is located in Lincoln Park, every Wednesday and
Saturday, from mid-June through December.
El Conuco Farmers' Market: (est. 2007)
Formally known as the Homegrown market, this is a partnership with The Puerto Rican Cultural
Center and Coop Humboldt Park. Located in
Chicago’s primarily Puerto Rican Neighborhood, Humboldt Park, the El Conuco market provides local, fresh, sustainable produce in one of Chicago’s most food insecure
neighborhoods. El Conuco is located at 2116 N. Division. It
is every Saturday from noon-3pm, mid-June through the end of October.
Jackson Park: (est. 2007)
The proposed Jackson Park Urban Farm and Education Center
will include space for Growing Power to raise produce (in a hoop green houses
and raised beds), training and education of community residents who use
allotment plots, youth development, community outreach through education
programs and the availability of locally grown fresh, safe and healthy food that
exceeds certified organic standards.
Growing Power’s comprehensive training and marketing
resources provide communities many avenues to access and reshape local their
food system. Urban agriculture provides a community quantity and consistency of
produce, technical expertise that results in economic and food security.
Intensive training and supervision will be a component of all programs to ensure
high quality and consistent products.
Year-round production by extending the growing season will
also be feasible through the use of greenhouse frames. Row crops will be
outfitted with mini-hoops and remay fabric for late fall and early spring
growing and removed during the summer months for both practical agricultural
reasons and also due to the golf course visitors. Currently Growing Power has
met with the park’s neighborhood council and solidified a contract with the
Chicago Park District for this site. CPD is awaiting funding support for fencing
and infrastructure to move this project forward.
Chicago’s Youth
Program:
Our youth learn all
aspects of organic vegetable garden maintenance, from making compost,
vermi-composting, to weeding and watering, plant identification, pest management
without the use of chemicals and community owned and operated food systems.
Using farming as a hands-on teaching tool, young people are challenged both
mentally and physically, gaining a broad range of experiences from observation
and decision-making to physical fitness and tool usage to aesthetic and culinary
appreciation. In addition, youth farm apprentices gain the valuable and unique
skill of learning how to produce something, creating a whole host of
entrepreneurial opportunities. This opportunity is made possible by
generous support from the City of Chicago's
After School Matters Program.
Growing Power offers a unique opportunity for families
and youth to learn about where their food comes from and how to build a
community food system, from the earth up. By connecting youth to food production
and cultivation, they will experience life on the farm via hands-on learning in
farm maintenance, organic production methods, harvesting and marketing. Youth
gain experience in keeping basic farm records, educating and mentoring others,
journal writing, creating garden related art, and harvesting and preparing food.
Urban farm apprentices work together to cultivate, weed, plant and harvest
vegetables; fruit; herbs and flowers that are grown in the allotment gardens and
may have the opportunity to work South Shore Cultural Centers’ weekly farmers
market.
A major focus of our youth programs is to enable
effective job/higher education preparedness for young people. Also integral to
Growing Power’s youth program, life skills acquisition in the form of work ethic
and appropriate work place socialization, follow through on instructions,
application of academic readings and discussions throughout the project and
consumer education.
Using farming as a hands-on teaching tool, young people
are challenged both mentally and physically, gaining a broad range of
experiences from observation and decision-making to physical fitness and tool
usage to aesthetic and culinary appreciation. In addition, youth gain the
valuable and unique skill of learning how to produce something, creating a whole
host of entrepreneurial opportunities for their futures.
Resources such as an
urban agriculture farm stand, extended season production green houses,
aquaponics, vermiculture and organic soil, compost and other safe soil inputs
will provide a one-stop urban agriculture experience for community residents,
project partners and visitors to Chicago. |
