York Fresh Food Farms received urban agriculture grants and COVID-19 relief funds to expand their infrastructure.
The areas where many of the edible gardens cluster — South and West Philadelphia, and Kensington — are gentrifying fast, and growers find themselves facing eviction from land no one else wanted until now.
By Catalina Jaramillo/WHYY Philadelphia has lost 141 gardens and farms in the last four years alone, researchers say. Most of the farms and gardens are in areas where the majority of residents are immigrants, Black or Latinxs.
A new city initiative aims to help preserve urban farms across the city. In November, the city will initiate a public planning process designed to help its first-ever director of urban agriculture, Ash Richards, shape a strategy.
Buying fruits and vegetables is not easy in Philadelphia. A new city report says that only one in nine grocery stores sell healthy food and that more than four in five retail food stores sell foods high in calories, fat, sugar or salt rather than fruits, vegetables, grains or legumes.
