CHICAGO, IL - Growing Home
Growing Home is a self-identified social enterprise organization that provides fresh produce, as well as economic development and support opportunities for members of the Englewood community. These opportunities include a job training program that addresses barriers to employment and encourages those facing said barriers to apply. The organization’s mission and vision include that “Everyone deserves to have a good job, and everyone deserves to eat well.”
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THE ORG:*
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Data released in 2011 by the Mari Gallagher Research & Consulting Group, identified parts of Englewood and West Englewood as food deserts, both of which were also classified as such in the group’s original study done in 2006.
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Both Englewood and West Englewood are low income neighborhoods with high unemployment rates. U.S. Census Bureau data from 2010 indicates that 17.1% of the population of Englewood ages 25-64 are unemployed with 20.1% unemployed in West Englewood ("Overview of Englewood"; "Overview of West Englewood"). Demographically, the neighborhoods are majority black (94-97%), and African-Americans and neighborhoods in which they predominate are disproportionately negatively implicated in food access distances ("Overview of Englewood"; Overview of West Englewood"; Wehunt; Walker et al.).
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Crime is a relevant issue for these areas, as well. Between the end of March and end of April there were 83 reports of violent crimes (robbery, battery, assault, homicide, sexual assault), 111 reports of property crimes (theft, burglary, car theft, arson), and 110 reports of quality of life crimes (criminal damage, narcotics, prostitution) ("Crime in Chicago" West Englewood). The relative numbers for Englewood were 62, 71, and 99 ("Crime in Chicago" Englewood)
THE CONTEXT:
​General info:
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USDA-certified high organic
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Two farms located in West Englewood
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Program specs:
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Program provides “25 hours per week of paid on-the-job experience and job-readiness training at [their] farms, plus the support to conquer issues like criminal records, medical needs, child-care, and housing”
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14 weeks long
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Training topics include professionalism, responsibility, communication and more
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Produce production:
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Harvested 10 months of the year (March-December)
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Produce grown in both outdoor growing space and unheated hoop houses
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Farms grow 200+ vegetable varieties
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THE PRODUCTS:*
Training program enrollees: 52
Program completion %: 82
Post-grad employment %: 95
# of criminal records sealed or expunged: 15 (through collaboration with Cabrini Green Legal Aid)
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Pounds of harvested organic produce: 35,103
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% of produce that successfully made it from farm to fork: 91
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Advocacy workshop, cooking demos, and other community event attendance: 1,721 people
2016 STATS*
The Good Stuff
The organization addresses multiple components of the food desert problem, taking tangible actions directed at socioeconomic challenges in addition to providing healthy food options.
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The benefits of being local:
- Addresses access needs
- Cuts down on transportation emissions of imported products, which may be more prevalent in bigger grocery stores (Plawecki et al. 314-15)
- Cuts down on processing food waste (Opitz et al. 351)
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Growing Home has impacted public policy, having played a role in the passage of zoning ordinance changes by the City of Chicago in 2011 that helped the opportunity for urban farming in the city (Growing Home). This is an area identified for further research on its relationship to food access issues (Walker et al. 882-82).
Keep in Mind
"...increasing access to healthy and nutritious foods does not necessarily increase consumption, especially for low-income households" (Walker et al. 881)
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It is important to note the statement above when considering the efficacy of an urban agriculture project.
Urban agriculture, including this project, is not a panacea for the food desert problem.
The Growing Home lacks data on the impact of healthy food access and consumption on consumer's and community members' livelihood. Therefore, no connections can be made between greater access to healthy and affordable food and the progress of a community.
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What materials are being used for the hoop house and from where are they sourced? (Plawecki et al.)
For more information, visit the website:
*Information and statistics came from the Growing Home website.