Rooftop Farmers Are Feeding Hungry New Yorkers During The Pandemic
Urban gardens and community fridges are just a few of the ways activists are distributing food—and they need all the help they can get.
By Natalie Wallington
Vice
Sept 1, 2020
Excerpt:
This is the Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project, a community agriculture initiative founded 10 years ago this summer to bring fresh, affordable food to its surrounding neighborhood. Now, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has expanded its services despite an absence of volunteers due to social distancing measures.
“We’ve been struggling with the lack of physical and financial volunteer support on the farm, but have done our best to stick to our growing schedule,” Mark Prehn, the organization’s Food Justice Coordinator, told Motherboard. “Where we would normally see between 60 and 80 people on a given Saturday, we are now seeing between 120 and 150.”
The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project is only one of countless community-based food assistance programs experiencing financial and logistical hardships. With unemployment soaring and government aid stagnating, food pantries and community gardens across the country are experiencing skyrocketing demand just as the pandemic stymies the volunteer programs and regular donations on which they often rely.
