Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Chicago Botanic Garden staff developed a nine-month curriculum in sustainable urban horticulture and agriculture that has been approved by the Illinois Community College Board. Staff integrated elements of various curricula, including material from the University of Santa Cruz, Michigan State University, and techniques developed by Eliot Coleman, master of year-round organic growing using organic methods and hoophouses. Course materials take students through basic botany, plant taxonomy and physiology, environmental factors, soil composition and fertility, propagation, integrated pest management, and organic gardening, as well as essential business skills including planning, pricing, sales and marketing. While the certificate program remains Windy City Harvest's core activity, new opportunities and possibilities continue to emerge. Currently, the Garden is working with Daley College to develop an Associate's Degree in sustainable urban horticulture that can build on the 31-credit hour certificate and provide a continuing educational pathway for program graduates. In January 2010, Windy City Harvest will begin offering fee-based "mini-courses" in sustainable home vegetable gardening to residents of surrounding communities. Windy City Harvest staff have been speaking about the program and representing the Garden at various gatherings focused on green workforce development and urban agriculture. Angela Mason, Director of Community Gardening, gave one of five featured presentations at the 2009 Longwood Graduate Program Annual Symposium, "Branching Out: Cultivating Community Engagement." Windy City Harvest coordinator Kelly Larsen and grower Joan Hopkins attended the Chicago Food Policy Summit of the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council. Finally, the entire Windy City Harvest staff attended the Chicagoland Green Jobs Summit, where Patsy Benveniste, Vice President of Community Education, gave morning and afternoon presentations on Windy City Harvest. To address food security issues in the community, Windy City Harvest is building partnerships with a variety of organizations with expertise in job placement, urban agriculture, health and nutrition, food distribution, community development, and workforce development funding. To this end, the Garden convened the symposium "Urban Agriculture: Feeding the Movement" on World Environment Day, June 5, 2009. The daylong symposium gathered 160 urban agriculture practitioners, representatives from community-based cultural organizations, educators, city and state policy makers, elected officials, congressional staff members, students, foundation representatives, and interested community members. The proceedings of the symposium are available at www.chicagobotanic.org/wed. In November 2010, the Garden will co-host a national symposium in Washington D.C., with the United States Botanic Garden, that will bring together diverse audiences working to enhance the availability, dependability, use, affordability, and quality of fresh food in our nation's urban centers. Participants will take up, on a national scale, the same issues raised on the state and local level at the Garden's 2009 symposium. PARTICIPANTS: Arturo Velasquez Institute, part of the City Colleges of Chicago, provides a variety of affordable education and training opportunities to the diverse population of Chicago's south and west sides. By using AVI's physical resources--a 1,500 square-foot greenhouse as well as classrooms, offices, and outdoor growing space--the Garden complements classroom learning with hands-on production training. Patsy Benveniste, Vice President of Community Education Programs, is responsible for youth, school, and community outreach programs at the Chicago Botanic Garden. She has been involved with Windy City Harvest since its inception and devoted significant effort this year in establishing community relationships, conceptualizing the program's future, and fundraising. Ms. Benveniste holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, and has more than 20 years of senior-level experience in the not-for-profit sector. Angela Mason, Director of Community Gardening is responsible for program development and management. She recruited and supervised Windy City Harvest staff, developed the curriculum, established and maintained business relationships, evaluated the program, and oversees its evolution. Ms. Mason graduated from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale with a BS in Plant and Soil Science in 2001 and an MS in Plant, Soil, and General Agriculture in 2006. Ms. Mason is a certified NFTE instructor (National Foundation for Teaching Young Entrepreneurs). Eliza Fournier, Manager, Community Gardening and Green Youth Farm oversaw Windy City Harvest activities that intersected with the Chicago Botanic Garden's Green Youth Farm program. Ms. Fournier received the BA in Environmental Studies from Lake Forest College in 1998 and the MPA in Urban Management and Community Development from Indiana University in 2000. In 2005 she completed the National Science Teachers Association's Food Safety First Training and is certified in Advancing Youth Development by the Chicago Area Project. Kelly Larsen, Supervisor of Windy City Harvest, developed and implemented crop plans, managed day-to-day relationships with buyers, vendors, and community partners, and supervised the daily activities of Windy City Harvest growers, interns, and apprentices. She received the BS in Geography and Environmental Studies from Northeastern Illinois University in 2008. Blayne Greiner, Windy City Harvest Instructor, is responsible for teaching the curricula and practicum to students and for assisting the manager in directing interns and apprentices assigned to Windy City Harvest. He received his BA from Columbia College in 2004 and, before joining Windy City Harvest, he was an organic farmer at Salute Farm & Vineyard in Woodstock, IL. Joan Hopkins, Windy City Harvest Grower, assisted the Manager in matters relating to site maintenance and food distribution, and assisted apprentices, interns, and trainees with work assignments. Ms. Hopkins is a graduate of Windy City Harvest's 2008 pilot program. TARGET AUDIENCES: The challenging statistics that Windy City Harvest was established to address are exemplified in Chicago's North Lawndale community: in this six-mile square community on Chicago's West side, 40 percent of households and 51 percent of children live below poverty level. The unemployment rate is 26 percent--more than triple the average in the City of Chicago--and 57 percent of the adult population is either sentenced, serving time, or on parole or probation. Additionally, in a now-famous study on access to healthy foods by neighborhood in Chicago, North Lawndale, along with more than a dozen other neighborhoods, was cited as a "food desert" that held near certain health risks for residents due to the statistically significant link between food options and health conditions. Obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are prevalent among adult residents, more than 50 percent of children are obese, nearly 18 percent of newborns have low birth weight, and infant mortality is nearly 14%, compared with just over 9% for the city as a whole. North Lawndale and other West side communities also struggle with crime, gang and illegal drug activity, inadequate housing, failing schools, and isolation from the mainstream economy. Clearly, workforce training, job creation, and increased access to fresh, affordable food are urgent needs in these communities. The success of this year's cohort of Windy City Harvest trainees confirmed the staff's decision last year to expand the scope of "hard-to-employ" recruits beyond the formerly incarcerated, which had been the focus of the pilot year. This year's diverse cohort of 15 students lent their enthusiasm, life experiences, and varied career plans to a very dynamic learning environment. In the coming year, staff will work towards recruiting a cohort that includes significant representation from among the formerly incarcerated, the otherwise hard-to-employ, and additional participants from a variety of backgrounds. Windy City Harvest continues to seek new ways to bring fresh, affordable produce to food insecure communities while increasing its sales revenues. A companion program for high school students, Green Youth Farm, piloted a very successful initiative in which students provided nutrition education and sold fresh food to at-risk families at drop-in centers of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Students redeemed WIC coupons in exchange for market baskets distributed at the centers or for produce sold during subsequent U-Pick days. More than 460 paying customers attended the U-Pick days this season--10 times the number in 2008--and generated almost $6,000 in sales from this market segment alone. Garden staff are evaluating the outcomes of this pilot program for possible adaptation in Chicago through Windy City Harvest, Boot Camp or the Chicago Green Youth Farm sites. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: In partnership with Daley College/Arturo Velasquez Institute, Windy City Harvest is now a certified training provider under the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA). This endorsement opens new avenues and resources to recruit and educate trainees with WIA-eligible limitations such as low income, educational deficiencies, homelessness, history of incarceration, or employment dislocation. At the Cook County Sheriff's Boot Camp--a prison alternative for non-violent male offenders--a new gardening program prepared 22 participants for meaningful work in a field where the demand is high and growing. Garden staff had to acclimate themselves to the Boot Camp discipline, discovering for example that participants performing well at the garden could nevertheless be suspended due to unrelated infractions by others in the platoon. As a result, Garden staff are rethinking the Boot Camp curriculum so that each lesson can stand alone. The large fenced campus of the Boot Camp has made possible a strategy that staff have long wanted to implement--a moveable hoophouse on rails that will cover the beds in winter and leave them open during the warmer months. An unused outbuilding at the Boot Camp has afforded a 50' x 30' site for vermicomposting that is being constructed by the Boot Camp graduates and will be active starting this winter. Visitors and staff alike have been inspired by the effect the garden program has on these young men, many of whom are working together as a team for the first time in their lives. Garden staff are hopeful that five of the Boot Camp participants will enroll in Windy City Harvest in 2010.
Impacts
By the end of January, the program had recruited 17 trainees against a goal of 10 to 15. Sixteen participants successfully completed the classroom component in June, when 15 moved on to three-month internships. Following the internship period, the trainees returned for an additional month of classroom and hands-on training, and on October 29, 13 trainees graduated. Students were graded on attendance, participation, a written and oral presentation on an agricultural topic of their choice, and a business plan for a small horticultural or agricultural enterprise. Student business plans included a rooftop garden, a display learning-garden, urban community food gardens, rural farms, urban farms, and a specialty farm to grow produce for an organic restaurant. Student grades at the completion of the program were eight A's, four B's, and one D. Five graduates applied for and were accepted into five-month Windy City Harvest apprenticeships that continue through January 2010 and will earn an additional certification in cool season growing in hoophouses. Eight other graduates have found creative means of employing their urban horticulture and agriculture training: Three graduates are working with city officials, community organizations, and non-profits to create school or community food gardens in Chicago neighborhoods. Another graduate, who moved to NYC, has been engaged by an organic restaurant there to create a one-acre farm that will supply produce to the restaurant. One graduate will spend 2010 "WOOFing" (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms), an organization which, in return for volunteer work at organic enterprises in over 40 countries, matches volunteers with hosts who supply food, accommodation, and opportunities to learn about organic farming. Rooftop farming provided an entrepreneurship opportunity for one graduate who has already constructed her first rooftop garden and is working on a second. A local organic horticulture supplier hired a 2009 Windy City Harvest graduate, and another graduate, who is a member of an intentional community, is working to create a food garden for that community. To date, 10,014 pounds of produce have been harvested, 3,601 pounds donated to charities, and 6,413 pounds sold, generating $23,002 in sales revenue. An additional 3,788 pounds of produce were harvested at the Boot Camp, of which 1,352 pounds were donated to a local food pantry, with the bulk going to the Boot Camp kitchen for use in staff and resident meals. Other non-profits are considering urban agriculture enterprises as well and are seeking out the expertise of Windy City Harvest. Recently, for example, the Garden joined with the Comer Science & Education Foundation, the Gary Comer Youth Center, and the Delta Institute to seek USDA funding for a community garden in the Revere neighborhood. If funded, the garden would create jobs for Windy City Harvest graduates, employ community residents in transitional jobs, and distribute locally grown produce in the community. These initiatives create opportunities for Windy City Harvest graduates and help build a critical mass of individuals and organizations involved in urban agriculture.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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