New Law Allows for Inner-City Farming
When you think of West Philadelphia the first things that come to mind probably aren’t tomatoes, okra and peas.
That’s about to change, however, with this year’s Pennsylvania Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act. The law allows nonprofits and concerned citizens to claim stewardship over local derelict lots in order to refurbish them. One such nonprofit, Urban Tree Connection, was the first group to put the law to work in claiming the old Polselli construction lot at 53d and Wyalsung in Haddington. For twenty years UTC has revitalized low-income communities with their agricultural and arboreal renovations. Now, it seems, the city has their collective back.
What was once an unsanitary dumping ground for all manner of urban flotsam and jetsam is now covered in freshly grown produce, forty to a hundred pounds of which are harvested by neighbors every week. Because of the efforts of UTC and members of the community, the fifteen families living in the neighborhood are rid of an eyesore and in charge of a fully functioning urban farm that provides healthy foods and part-time employment for local youth.
To learn more read the Inquirer’s article here.
Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
