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I was walking through Harlem the other day and came upon a sign for Harlemgrown.org in an empty lot across the street from Red Rooster, Sylvias, Etc.

I decided to learn more  about it abd wanted to share it with you.

From their site:

• Harlem Grown is an independent, non-profit organization that partners with the NYC Parks Department and Department of Education and a variety of food advocacy and community agriculture organizations. The main function of Harlem Grown is to connect local public schools to the greater community through the use of common garden spaces and mutually engaging activities.

• They raise support for physical renovation of abandoned lots, providing the tools, supplies and manpower to physically transform wasted space into a vibrant garden classroom through a number of grant sponsored initiatives. We also work to engage pro-bono partners in developing a structured learning curriculum that lets kids participate from the planning through the planting, crop management and harvest and finally to food preparation, nutrition and even sales.

• Their mission is to increase the capacity of communities and students to access nature and green spaces, to engage these communities with nutritional and outdoor educational opportunities and improve access to a wider range of healthy foods while focusing on food justice issues. They address these goals by creating a living classroom opportunity for urban and at risk students and offering programming which allows in-need populations to learn about agriculture, nutrition, food sourcing and business.

• They transform abandoned community gardens and park lots into vibrant urban farms in partnership with local public schools and the community, integrate our small farms with school curriculums thereby providing inside-city students who are traditionally cut off from access to direct experience of nature and farming a chance to learn by doing.

On a side note I am very interested in partnering with others on building large urban rooftop gardens to help educate, feed and connect our community.   An urban farm to table experience if you will.  Please let me know with whom I can connect on this topic.

Related articles

• SEEJ at Columbia Community Outreach Day
• 2nd Annual Harlem Earth Day Events – April 3rd through April 21st
• Designing Food Systems and Architecture. Sun Valley Gardens, Denver.
• The Promise of For-Profit Urban Agriculture
• 11 Harlem Parks To Be Spruced Up On New York Cares Day Spring

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