Urban farming growing in unlikely places across the country
In the past three decades, the number of urban farms in the U.S. has grown more than 30 percent.
By Maya Rodriguez
Denver Channel
Apr 7, 2021
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Every morning, rain or shine, Taboris Robinson tends to the myriad of crops on his farm.
“We do collards, kale, arugula, cabbage,” he said. “As you can see, we got sage and rosemary over there. I’m doing broccoli this year, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, squash, onions, garlic, herbs.”
However, Robinson isn’t any ordinary farmer.
“I’m actually a carpenter and a cook,” he said. “I’m not, I was not, a farmer. Let’s get that clear. I had no clue I’d be farming.”
This isn’t any ordinary farm, either. Its odd, one-acre shape is carved out of small growing patches next to a baseball diamond in the middle of America’s capital city.
“The food goes back to the community,” Robinson said.
The farm is part of the nonprofit DMV Urban Greens, located in the southeast section of Washington, D.C. It’s a place known as a food desert because residents there struggle to access fresh produce and even more so during a pandemic.
“One Safeway in like a 5-mile radius, serving over 100,000 something people,” Robinson said.