Sustainable Agriculture Delivers in South Bronx

We at Justmeans Editorial for Sustainable Food have touched on the subject of moving fresh, healthy and sustainable food systems into areas where it's most needed. A new program has sprouted in the South Bronx, NYC, that offers a new type of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to those otherwise excluded from the position of paying a significant cash up-front deposit on a potentially risky return. For most CSAs the initial payment is collected up front for the entire season, which pays off over the year, but for people who don't have $4-$500 in May, it can be a daunting proposition to undertake.

Along comes Harlem-based Dennis Derryck: professor, mathematician and community advocate. He saw the potential health benefits to a community wanting, but wary of  either the commitment or risk associated with a CSA or the possibility of getting a box fresh vegetables nobody has heard about.  So what he did was come up with a 2 week membership for low-income families which would afford them to renew their memberships more often and also allow a bigger flow of members to enter the program.

"Most people I talked with say, 'Can I get enough food to feed my family,' " Mr. Derryck said. "They don't want parsnips and thyme. They want 10 pounds of potatoes."

To take the program to one extra level of sustainability, Derryck raised funds to buy a small farmstead in upstate New York. The project is called  Corbin Hill Road Farm, a 92-acre vegetable farm in Carlisle that Derryck has pressed into the service of community-supported agriculture in Hunts Point.

But the program doesn't stop at simply the CSA shares. JustFood.org educates members how to properly store, process and prepare whole foods, an art that has been not completely lost, but rather buried since the industrial food revolution of the 1970s, providing these outreach programs:

• The City Farms
  While our CSA program focuses on rural farming, the City Farms program works with people growing food here in New York City.


• Community Food Education
  Even with affordable CSAs and farmers markets nearby, people don't truly have access to food unless they know how to use it.


• Fresh Food For All
  Since 2001, we've been assisting soup kitchens and other institutions to acquire locally-grown food.


• Food Justice
  An important part of our work includes working on policy and advocacy.


• VISTA Leadership Training
  Just Food and AmeriCorps VISTA share the common goal of combating poverty by building community self-reliance.

It's so refreshing to see the sustainable food movement fuse with the needs of the communities it serves. As we continue down the path of true sustainable agriculture, it's wonderful to see such progressive problem-solvers. Sustainability doesn't need to be only for the elite. I'm ecstatic to hear of such an amazing program promoting sustainable food within reach of those who need it most.

Photo Credit: City Chickens in the Bronx under the watchful eye of senior gardener Abu Talib from JustFood.org