in the field: Grow Greater Englewood

Nestled in the South Side of Chicago is an innovative Black-led venture building collective resilience through food and green businesses. ESTABLISHED IN 2014, GROW GREATER ENGLEWOOD IS A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE THAT WORKS WITH RESIDENTS AND DEVELOPERS TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE, FOOD ECONOMIES AND GREEN BUSINESSES TO EMPOWER RESIDENTS TO CREATE WELLNESS AND WEALTH. The National Black Food & Justice Alliance had the pleasure of connecting with the staff to see first hand all of the great work they are doing on the ground.

We met at the Englewood Village Farm site off of 58th and Halsted Streets in the Englewood Neighborhood. Just months ago, this site was a vacant lot, one of over 3000 on the South Side of Chicago. GGE is bringing new life to the space, and with it hope and resource to the surrounding community. In June, the site will open up as a food production site for a handful of urban growers as well as a community learning space. This is one of 4 existing sites GGE has converted with more spaces planned in the coming months.

Neighboring the site on Halsted, is the 59th Street Line, a former 1.7 mile elevated rail line that GGE has led the charge in converting it into a multi-use trail to provide recreation, transportation and a source of jobs to the residents of Englewood and surrounding communities.

The elevated green space brings necessary contrast to the sometimes harsh streets of South Side Chicago, providing a change of scenery and energy for residents to enjoy. The trail is set to link several vital projects in Chicago's Urban Agricultural District and fulfill the community's aspirations for a safe, inviting, and peaceful space for all to enjoy. The 59th Street Line is the first phase of a larger loop that will connect to the 49th Street Line in the Back of the Yards neighborhood to the north.

During our Chicago visit, we also had the opportunity to check out URBAN GROWERS COLLECTIVE’s Fresh Moves Mobile Market, a bus that has been converted into a mobile farmers’ market as well as connect with BLACK OAKS CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE RENEWABLE LIVING, EVOLVE out of St. Louis, and other farmers and organizers who call Chicago home. We gathered, listened, dreamed up and strategized around what can be done when we work together.

This was a key focus while in Pembroke, IL visiting Black Oaks Center’s 40 acre self-sufficient eco-campus along with the staff from GGE. We leaned in, shared ideas and strategized around an intentional relationship between urban and rural organizations. Elder, Baba Fred Carter, shared how this moment, this gathering of national and regional Black farmers and food organizers, was 15 years in the making. As monumental as this moment in time was, so is the urgency to move it forward.

So we continue toiling and cultivating what we can and must do together.

For more information onGROW GREATER ENGLEWOOD, please visit their website and check them out onINSTAGRAM andFACEBOOK.