Sustainable Community Farm in South Dallas Grows Fresh Food, Jobs – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
The filth of a once-empty lot on Scyene Road in South Dallas gives hope to a community that is often referred to as the food wasteland.
“It touches my heart to know that we can help bring Restorative Farms access to food,” said Kelly Freeman, Board Member and Restorative Farms Volunteer. “We actually provide them with food that they cannot find for miles around.”
Restorative Farms is a non-profit advocating for community-based urban farming in South Dallas. It works in partnership with Love Tito’s block-to-block program, the philanthropic division of Tito’s Handmade Vodka. Together they bring a sustainable farm to the Hatcher Station Training Farm.
“It’s not just about building something,” said Owen Lynch, executive director of Restorative Farms. “It’s about working with the church for the church and providing the church with food.”
This new farm will have fresh local vegetables for sale.
CJ Johnson, NBC 5 News
Restoring farms, September 2021.
“I think there are many people who are more aware of the importance of healthy food to themselves and their families,” said Freeman. “If you can grow it on site, that’s perfect.”
It also offers more than just healthy food for the region.
On site, people in blue shirts train for the agricultural profession.
“Not just a farm to produce vegetables, but a farm to produce farmers and their livelihoods,” Lynch said. “What they will do is work next to us on the training company. They will develop their own business plan to grow into a market. We will buy this product from them. “
CJ Johnson, NBC 5 News
Gardeners work at Restorative Farms in South Dallas, September 15, 2021.
It’s a sustainable farming concept that they say can solve a lot of problems.
“A food wasteland is also a work wasteland, and I have seen that we need growth, jobs and education,” Lynch said. “We needed fresh access to food. We needed more production in South Dallas to be more resilient. We had to develop a systems approach that can do all of these three things. “
The groups hope this project will expand to other empty lots to build stronger communities.
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