Edible Dallas & Fort Worth Spring 2022

EDIBLE COMMUNITY

Left to right: Frank Care- res, Morris Moye, Tyrone Day, Charles Spencer, Charles Bryant, Christan Camacho at The Hatcher Station Training & Com- munity Farm

moved to the Hatcher Station Training & Community Farm, a parcel gifted by another partner, DART, adjacent to the Hatch- er Station light rail. At Hatcher, Day helps train an ever-growing contingent of aspiring Apprentice Farmers. With the help of partners at Texas A&M Agrilife, the team planned every detail of how to maximize every inch of the space and calculate what would grow best in each season as well as the cost of soil, seeds, tools, and more. Handmade GroBoxes—easy- to-use raised bed planters for home, schools, or businesses—are another component that helps raise funds through direct sales. Next came GroZilla, a high-tech hydroponic container farm at Fair Park. It’s a one-of-a-kind unit for research, food production,

healthy, affordable, locally grown produce for the community; 2) create income for community growers with profits from produc- tion and sales; and 3) provide viable training and entrepreneurial and leadership opportunities. There’s a huge financial incentive beyond just selling food to the South Dallas community. It’s estimated that there’s roughly a bil- lion-dollar gap across the whole DFW area between what con- sumers want in healthy fresh food options and what’s currently available. So the agrisystem model can hopefully involve more people starting their own farms or food-related ventures to be- come viable “spokes” in the hub. But the other side of the master plan is to make this model open- source and replicable in any other urban environment. Meaning, yes, they’re giving away the blueprints. “Making this system truly viable, making sure the community itself is involved, and disseminating the proper knowledge and empowerment is the only way we’re going to create long-lasting change to our entire food system. And ultimately our collective future,” adds Dr. Lynch. As for notable partners, this includes Tito’s Vodka, whose Love

and teaching. Between all these components, Restorative Farms now employs six people and im- pacts many more. Restorative Farms is ultimately striving to achieve what might be called the holy trinity of profes- sional urban farming: 1) Provide

How You Can Help Please visit Restorative- Farms.org to sign up to volunteer, to buy a Gro- Box or seedlings, to do- nate, and to fi nd more information.

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