A Harvest of Change: Urban Farms in Buffalo Are Reinventing the Wheel of Food and Produce

Massachusetts Avenue Project has transformed its part of the cityscape into a thriving oasis of fresh produce.

By Betsy Mahoney
Buffalo News
Aug 13, 2024

Excerpt:

In the heart of Buffalo’s West Side, a city known for its Rust Belt past, a green revolution has steadily taken root during the last three decades.

Situated on several city lots, the Massachusetts Avenue Project has transformed its part of the cityscape into a thriving oasis of fresh produce.

Behind MAP’s farmhouse, the sun shines on a tapestry of greenery, both outdoors and in brimming greenhouses, as hens cluck and honeybees buzz all around.

Three months ago, when Emily Gonzalez got a job as the communications manager at MAP, she saw an opportunity to promote equitable food systems while also encouraging public engagement through urban farming – the cornerstones of MAP.

“I felt like it was the perfect way for me to have direct involvement in my community, especially in the areas of food security, which is really important to me,” she said.

MAP helped inspire what has become a thriving urban garden movement in Buffalo, one that will be showcased Saturday with the fourth annual Urban Farm Day, a self-guided tour of 17 sites across the city and in the Northtowns.

“Our mission is stewardship,” said Caesandra Seawell, manager and instructor with the Pelion Outdoor Classroom, which teaches students about the connection between food and environmental sustainability.

“We help people in our neighborhoods and in the community to figure out ways to live more sustainably,” Seawell said. “I would like to see some sort of growing space in every neighborhood in the city, in every neighborhood that wants it.”

Neighborhood residents on the city’s West Side created in MAP in 1992. Incorporated several years later, the nonprofit started its Growing Green Program to address food insecurity, land vacancy and youth unemployment.

Growing Green is a year-round employment and training program for those ages 14 to 20, who experience hands-on learning in urban farming with kitchen enterprise markets, including food distribution and advocacy.

“They gain these foundational skills through an equity lens,” Gonzalez said. “A lot of that produce is grown here at MAP, but we also have amazing partners that are all local, so they help supply our markets.”

For more than 15 years, the program has created more than 650 jobs for West Side teens, with 95% of its participants graduating from high school and enrolling in higher education, according to MAP.

Now, with 14 active sites across the city, MAP’s program has expanded to reach more communities, Gonzalez said.

“Our programs have really expanded – really holistic programs that span our youth program – which is really important because the youth get to play a role in everything that happens here on the farm.”

MAP’s other initiatives include a Mobile Market that aims to combat fresh food inequity citywide, and its Farmhouse Market, which takes place Thursdays at its farm, 387 Massachusetts Ave., and offers affordable, locally grown fruits and vegetables. The public can also work on the farm on scheduled volunteer days throughout the spring and summer. Learn more at mass-ave.org.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Gonzalez said, “just helping to connect folks with local fresh produce that is also culturally significant that may have otherwise not been accessible throughout the city.”

MAP also aims to help Buffalo Public Schools in collaboration with others bent on a healthier, more accessible food supply.

New York State purchases and serves hundreds of millions of meals annually, with Buffalo Schools serving approximately 10 million of them, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, or CSPI.

A bill passed in June by the State Legislature would allow institutions, including school districts, to source food from suppliers that are within 10% of the lowest bid, rather than being required to accept the lowest bid.

MAP staff and its food justice organizers are working with coalitions to advocate that Gov. Kathy Hochul sign the Good Food New York bill, which would allow for values-based procurement for Buffalo Schools and others who serve the public. The goal is to boost nutritional food access, encourage fair labor conditions, improve nutrition, environmental and animal welfare, and support small and midsize farmers.

Gonzalez told The Buffalo News that MAP is “rooted in advocacy to change policy around urban agriculture” to support equitable food systems in Buffalo.

MAP partners with other nonprofits to advocate for equitable food practices rooted in sustainability to help educate the public, according to Gonzalez.

“We have great relationships with other partner nonprofits,” she said. “We’ll partner to offer free educational classes in the fall, we do free gardening workshops with Grassroots Gardens, and so it’s really great to see those community relationships have grown in strength.”

The fourth annual Urban Farm Day spotlights efforts of local growers who support Buffalo’s food community.

Link.

Source: https://cityfarmer.info/a-harvest-of-change-urban-farms-in-buffalo-are-reinventing-the-wheel-of-food-and-produce/