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Addressing Food Inequity in Center City Philadelphia

Developed with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), Farm for the City transforms a central urban space into a beautiful production farm, bringing attention to local food insecurity issues and the role community gardens can play in strengthening neighborhoods by making healthy food more accessible. Over a single season, the temporary garden delivered 1,200 pounds of produce to feed 8,600 people.

A Sustainable Urban Garden

The Farm for the City was conceived as a model for making neighborhoods more self-sufficient and cities more resilient, showing how vacant lots and under-used urban spaces can be repurposed to provide a renewable food source and reduce water runoff. To show that anyone can grow their own food, we created the farm using materials common to backyard and community gardens, including metal troughs, recycled plastic barrels, and recycled wooden produce boxes. At the conclusion of the growing season, all of the garden's pieces and parts were repurposed and redistributed to community gardens across the city. Nothing was wasted. 

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Plants included chard, onion, mustard greens, carrots, fennel, African eggplant, huauzontle, pigeon peas, and herbs like tulsi, epazote, cilantro, mint, and lavender

Growing Food for a Stronger Community 

The project uses a variety of growing methods–from garden beds to container gardens—that visitors could replicate in their own lot, no matter their available resources. We chose crops to showcase the Philadelphia area's botanical diversity and cultural history, including selections from local gardeners interested in sharing their culture, heritage crops such as Lenape repatriated corn, and seeds from Philadelphia immigrants' seed banks. All of the plants were vetted by local chefs who, in collaboration with area non-profits, used the produce to prepare meals for 8,600 people who were unhoused, at risk of being unhoused, or otherwise in need.

Raising Awareness and Reactivating Public Space

Farm for the City was a temporary "pop-up" community garden installed on Thomas Paine Plaza across from Philadelphia'a's iconic City Hall. It transformed this elevated granite plaza, normally severely under-utilized, into an engaging, inspiring, and beneficial public amenity that attracted people of all ages, abilities, and circumstances. The garden's spiraling shape defined specific planting zones while complementing the existing large sculptures and providing places to sit, eat, and listen. A shaded gathering space at the spiral's core introduced a new public space for presentations, forums, and workshops that attracted new audiences to the plaza who came to learn from area experts about gardening, nutrition, and food insecurity.

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Let's work together to end food inequity and strengthen our communities

3868 Terrace St.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19128

215-482-7973

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