EPA grant first step for Lincoln toward urban agriculture project
Lincoln’s city government leadership is taking the visionary and cautionary step of building a resilient local food system
By Margaret Reist
Lincoln Journal Star
May 21, 2021
Excerpt:
City officials have done more than dream, and it earned them an $800,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, which will be used to assess and clean up brownfield sites in the West and South Haymarket — including up to 10 acres of land city officials hope to use for urban agriculture projects.
That’s exciting news to Tim Rinne, chairman of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Food Policy Council, who said moving Lincoln’s local food production into the commercial realm is an important step.
Now, 90% of the food consumed here is imported from other places.
“The sad thing is that renowned agricultural powerhouse that Nebraska is, hardly any of what we chomp away on comes from here,” he said.
The idea, if the West Haymarket land adjacent to the People’s City Mission can be cleaned up, would be to lease it to local farmers who would produce food that could be used by local businesses.
By leasing public land for commercial market gardening, Lincoln will reduce its reliance on other states, Rinne said.
