Botanic Gardens' Free Urban Ag Guide
Free download provides range of info for current and aspiring urban farmers
Note to Readers
This is the three-month anniversary of Local Food Forum. We have published an issue on all 92 days since, which some people tell me is crazy and I can’t say they are completely wrong.
I attended the game in 1995 when Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles broke the record for consecutive games played. While it is sorely tempting to follow in his Ironman footsteps, it’s time for a very short break… so we won’t be publishing an issue Friday or Saturday.
It’s a three-day holiday weekend, it has finally stopped raining, and most of you will be out doing fun summer things, so I think it’s a good time to take a little brain break. We’ll be back Sunday to wish you a happy Independence Day and share the week’s comprehensive Chicago region farmers market schedule from our new Farmers Market Info Bank sub-newsletter.
You’re not off the hook though. Please visit your local farmers market this weekend to buy all those super-fresh, delicious goodies for your July 4th celebration. The week of monsoon weather has affected many of our region’s farmers, so please spend your food dollars with them.
— Bob
Download a Free Urban Agriculture Toolkit
The nonprofit Chicago Botanic Garden and United States Botanic Garden have produced Building Capacity for Urban Agriculture Programs, which is available for free download (click the button below).
This toolkit uses the Chicago Botanic Garden’s ground-breaking Windy City Harvest program as a model for current and aspiring urban growers. It should be of interest to others in the local food community who support urban agriculture or want to learn more about the ways that urban farms address key issues such as economic growth and healthy food access in under-resourced communities, as well as environmental sustainability in urban environs.
The introduction to the toolkit explains:
The U.S. Botanic Garden and the Chicago Botanic Garden recognize that urban agriculture can play a unique role in helping public gardens meet their missions to connect people to plants. Urban agriculture programs offer opportunities for public gardens to expand their existing programmatic range and geographic reach. They can provide avenues for public gardens to address aims such as food justice, health education, and job skills training. This work is often made possible through partnerships with community-based organizations, enabling the garden to accomplish much more than it could on its own, and demonstrating the relevance of the garden in the wider community.
Another important dimension of urban agriculture programming at public gardens is its potential to contribute to environmental justice and a more equitable food system. Investing in individuals and communities who have historically been excluded from leadership roles in public gardens and environmental and food systems work can cultivate a more diverse generation of leaders in these fields. By offering a continuum of training opportunities from entry-level roles to advanced certificates and leadership development, public gardens can create pathways for participants who have been marginalized by structural inequities.
We are grateful that Windy City Harvest has also agreed to a publishing partnership with Local Food Forum that will generate multiple articles about urban agriculture and the program’s education, training and development efforts that promote opportunity and diversity in Chicago’s urban farming. We expect to publish their first article next week.