The Enterprise Center's
community development corporation has long played an important role in the lives of the 8,634 residents who live in the West Philly neighborhood it serves, Walnut Hill. And thanks to a recently awarded grant from the U.S Department of Agriculture's
Farmers Market Promotion Program, it will soon be doing even more important work in the neighborhood--namely, promoting the regular consumption of fruits and veggies in a part of town where fresh produce isn't always easy to come by.
The $89,613 grant will allow the CDC to complete the construction of a quarter-acre community farm that sits between Market and Ludlow streets in Walnut Hill. It will also allow the group to build its own farm stand on the site, where the youth growers involved with the program can sell their produce--everything from kale, broccoli and Swiss chard to spinach, eggplant and collard greens--to the community. (Last season, the group sold its produce primarily at the
Clark Park Farmers' Market.)
The money will also be used to start a CSA (
community supported agriculture) program this spring in Walnut Hill, which will allow local residents to buy seasonal produce directly from the youth farmers by buying into a membership or "subscription" program. And it'll even allow the CDC to provide
EBT access, allowing locals to buy the produce with their food stamp cards.
"We're a lot better off here than a lot of neighborhoods," says Managing Director
Greg Heller, referring to Walnut Hill's proximity to supermarkets and green grocers. "But a lot of people do still rely on corner stores and bodegas, so we see a pretty big need for this project. We think the impact locally is going to be pretty huge."
Source: Greg Heller, The Enterprise Center CDC
Writer: Dan Eldridge
Photographs courtesy of: The Enterprise Center CDC