Many, many organizations comprise a cooperative network that supports food security in Newark, New Jersey.
They can vary in the assets that they bring to the community, be it space, funding, expertise, equipment, volunteers and much, much more. Internships, job training and education programs are also part of the mix. One shared goal is to provide sustainable sources of nutrition, gardens that the community can continue to maintain, long term, on their own.
Newark Science and Sustainability, Inc. serves as facilitator and coordinator of the Newark Community Food System, a collective of local urban agriculture experts. Rutgers University’s Urban Ag Lab and the Greater Newark Conservancy’s Community Greening Program are other sources of urban farming knowledge and continued innovation. Planting Seeds of Hope, Ironbound Community Corporation’s Urban Agriculture program, Rutgers and the Conservancy also do a lot of the heavy lifting getting land and gardens built up and running.
The Urban Agriculture Cooperative and City Green’s Garden State Good Food Network provide greater access to fresh produce, by supporting distribution of the produce grown in some of the larger gardens and local urban farms.
The Beth Greenhouse
Located at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, the Beth Greenhouse is a sustainable, hydroponic greenhouse that produces more than 5,000 pounds of greens, beans, strawberries, zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes. Through their own weekly Thursday farm market and partnerships with Urban Agriculture Cooperative and Garden State Good Food Network, the produce is made available to residents of the South Ward and surrounding communities.
The Greenhouse also functions as an education facility for the KidsFit nutrition education program for K- 8 grade students, a wellness and food systems education program for high school students. It also provides on-the-job training, and employment opportunities for local youth, persons with disabilities, re-entry participants, NBIMC Behavioral Health clients and recently returned veterans.
Urban Agriculture Cooperative
The primary role of the Urban Agriculture Cooperative is to facilitate year-round community access to fresh produce grown in local community gardens and urban farms. In addition to improved community health, the sale of fresh produce provides revenue for the gardens, enabling them to thrive and expand.
They offer a harvest-to-order program that reduces waste and ensures availability. Just order and pickup at the a farm market that they operate. The Cooperative also provide jobs and training for local students and young adults and participates in the development new gardens.
Ironbound Community Corporation’s (ICC) Urban Agriculture Program
Down Bottom Farms, run by the ICC’s Urban Agriculture Program, is located on a half-acre of land. Its huge 30 ft. x 72 ft. hoop house enables them to extend their vegetable growing season into the colder months. Fruit is also available from their orchard of apple, pear and peach trees, blueberry bushes and strawberry patch. Job training is also an important function of the farm and a Learning Barn is being developed to provide year-round education programs.
From May through October, Down Bottom Farms hosts a weekly Farmer’s Market. In addition to locally grown fresh produce, a wide range of fruits and vegetables that are sourced from beyond the community.
Greater Newark Conservancy
The Conservancy first opened its urban environmental center in Newark, in 2004, introducing their Environmental Education programs. Community Greening & Urban Agriculture programs followed and, in 2012, they took over the management of the 3-acre Hawthorne Avenue Farm (that was created in 2007).
Run with the support of hundreds of residents and volunteers, the farm grows 85 rows of eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, beans, squash, and melons. There is also a large strawberry patch and an orchard with over 130 fruit trees, including apple, peach, pear, fig and cherry.
Additionally, 260 raised beds are available to residents to grow their own fresh vegetables.
The thousands of pounds of produce, grown at Hawthorne Avenue are sold at their Youth Farm Stands, throughout the city, between July and October. The local youth who run the stand enjoy income, job training and work experience.
The Conservancy also maintains the Smith Street Garden, which had 27 raised beds and a shared herb garden.
Rutgers University’s Urban Ag Lab
The Urban Ag Lab of the School of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers connects urban communities with agriculture and open space in order to address the issue of food deserts. Working with faculty, staff, and students from multiple disciplines, as well as with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, the Urban Ag Lab serves farmers seeking to develop urban agriculture enterprises and urban non-profit organizations pursuing local food production.
Planting Seeds of Hope
Since 2010, Planting Seeds of Hope has worked in Newark to transform vacant spaces into gardens. Amongst them are the SWAG Project Urban Farm and the Lincoln Park Community Garden. Urban Agriculture Cooperative is their sister organization.
SWAG Project, created in 2010, is an urban farming, educational and community-building program. Their mission is to provide fresh and healthy foods to the local community of Newark’s South Ward and work to empower residents to take control of their local food system and health. They have two locations, Meeker Avenue and Peshine Avenue.
Functioning both as a farm and a community center, they welcome all residents and members of local schools and universities to get involved. In addition to gardening and harvest days, they organize shared community meals, offer nutrition and cooking classes and serve as a community event hub. Annually, over 800 adults and children volunteer at, learn with and enjoy the SWAG Project Urban Farm.
Although small, the farms provide abundant fresh produce. During one season, they sold and donated over 4,000 lbs. of fresh fruits and vegetables through seasonal farm stands and other partnerships.
Lincoln Park Community Garden 2.0 is the relocated and revamped version of the original garden on Washington Street. Now on West Kinney Street, it sits on property owned by the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District. The farm runs a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, where residents receive a share of the harvest every week from July through late September. The farm uses both raised-bed and hydroponic farming methods, with a hoop house to extend the growing and teaching season.
The SWAG Project is run as a partnership between Planting Seeds of Hope, Amplify Consulting and First Tabernacle Church.
Here are just some of the hundreds of community gardens thriving in the city of Newark, New Jersey, and supporting food security:
- 9th Ave Community Garden
- Al’MAIDAH Garden
- Art of Survival
- Bergen Street Garden Club
- Garden of Worker Bees
- Green Community Garden
- Heart of Vailsburg Gardens (UVSO)
- Myrtle Avenue Garden
- Newark Community Solutions Garden
- The People’s Garden
- Ujimaa Garden & Hope Garden
- 13th Avenue School Garden
- Camden Street School Garden
- Harriet Tubman School Garden
- JFK School Enabling Garden
- Newark Collegiate Academy School Garden
- Seek Academy School Garden
- St Benedict’s Prep
- AIDS Resource Foundation for Children
- Prodigal Sons & Daughters Garden
- Project U.S.E. Pedal Farmers
- Rutgers VETS