Southside Community Farm grows produce on two neighborhood plots in Asheville, North Carolina. One is a community garden. The other is a small apple orchard. Its produce is free for the community.
Farm manager Chloe Moore sought to expand and diversify the orchard. The plan included planting fruit trees, berry trees and bushes, medicinal and edible herbs, and native pollinator plants. And creating a community space with benches and picnic tables.
WHY IT MATTERS
The Farm is in Asheville’s Southside neighborhood, an historically Black community, and home to much of the city’s public housing - but not a grocery store. Moore says the only place to buy food is a gas station mini mart, which doesn’t sell fresh produce.
Southside Community Farm co-founder Roy Harris calls the area a “food desert” – an urban area with a dense population but limited access to fresh and healthy food. For the people of Southside, getting to a grocery store can take time, transportation and money.
The Farm’s founding started with an effort to get a grocery store in the neighborhood. And when that didn’t work, the Southside Community Farm sprouted in 2014. Its mission is Black food sovereignty - the principle that a community can cultivate its own fresh and healthy food, from planting seeds to final product.
And now, Moore says, people come regularly to get fresh food and fresh air. The Farm works with youth in the neighborhood, “getting kids outside, getting kids interested in healthy food and being in nature.”.
The desire to grow that community connection, along with more produce, prompted Moore to apply for a grant from Lowe’s Hometowns Program – a five-year, $100 million commitment to improvement projects across the country.
It [the Lowe's grant] was kind of a dream come true, it was so exciting. This was really big for us.
Nearly 40 Lowe’s associates turned out to plant, weed, mulch and lay pavers for a walkway and community space in the orchard. Paving the way for an area Moore wants to be “a place people want to use and a place people want to be.”.
Joe Strong, a local Lowe’s store manager, led the volunteer team. He knows it can be hard for people in Southside to get fresh produce. The closest grocery store is 15 to 20 minutes away by bus. “And they also don’t have access to bringing a whole shopping cart full of groceries back to their house. They can only really bring what they can hold.”.
THE IMPACT
The revamped orchard plot is next to a playground and public housing apartments. The project increases access to healthy food for the people living there, while also creating a relaxing community space. One Moore believes will be “well used and well loved”.
The benefits of Southside Community Farm reach beyond the people of the neighborhood. Co-founder Harris sees deer, ground hogs, squirrels, bees and at least ten species of birds, all making themselves at home there. “They can do the same thing all of us want to do: feed our families, raise our children and be in a safe environment.”.
And, he sees opportunities for the future of farming.
“A generation ran away from farming and now there’s a generation that may be returning back that says I want to grow my own food. I would like to have my own land. I would like to have my own farm.”
Lowe’s already had roots in Southside Community Farm, long before the Hometowns Program grant – through its big blue buckets. The Farm used them to grow vegetables and flowers, and to carry water.
Harris would love to see that connection continue.
“This grant, this neighborhood, it’s all about hope. Hope is still alive and we hope that you [Lowe’s] can continue on to be partners.”
