Joshua Farm: An Organic Urban Farm that Feeds a Community
When most people think of living in the city, the last thing they’d expect to find is an organic farm. But that’s exactly what you’d find at 213 South 18th Street in Allison Hill in Harrisburg. It’s a place where gold finches flock around the cover crops, and local neighbors help farm a plot of land that features organically grown greens, herbs and vegetables.
The farm started as a labor of love of Kirsten Reinford, a local neighbor who had a vision to create an urban farm to provide the local community with fresh picked produce that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Ms. Reinford has since left the farm to pursue other ventures, but the Joshua Group has maintained the farm as best they can.
Kirk Hallett is the acting director of the Joshua Farm and explains why it’s important to keep the farm going, saying “it makes good healthy food accessible. On Allison Hill in Harrisburg, it’s jobs, safety, education those kinds of things. Getting through the day and paying your bills – that’s what people worry about.”
And in recent times, Joshua Farm has worried about the same things. “It’s a small piece of land, you can only do so much. We’re going to grow organically so that’s an issue and developing the appreciation out there in the marketplace and make the numbers crunch. But in the same time, you want to involve young people, adjudicated people, maybe folks that have to do community service b/c they’re in a halfway house, a whole slew of folks that live around here to get involved.”
Joshua Farm has tried to host a farm stand on property, but it didn’t do well. When surrounded by convenience foods, processed choices that are inexpensive, how do you get people to commit to eating healthy, nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables? “That’s the eternal question. It’s a matter of education and education through experience,” says Hallett.
And one way they are providing education about the benefits of fresh vegetables is by feeding them to those in need at the St. Francis of Assisi Soup Kitchen. Hallett says it’s important to provide healthy options to those who need it most. “Folks coming through there have health issues that are spiked here and there with high blood pressure and diabetes and all those things that happen because of their diet history.” So the Joshua Farm picks fresh greens, lettuce, spinach, herbs and tomatoes during their growing season, washes them on site, and delivers them to the Soup Kitchen the same day. It’s as fresh as it gets.
The day we visited the farm, Kirk’s team harvested the lettuce, washed it, put it into bins, and we hand delivered it to Johathan Palmer, known by everyone as “Miss Chucky”, the director of the soup kitchen. She said, “I do appreciate the food he sends us down from the farm though, it’s really nice. I think it’s very important because everybody knows fresh is the best you can have, and to be able to have fresh lettuce or tomatoes or greens, its great. And you know, the people know when it’s fresh, too. That’s the other thing. They ask me ‘where’d you get those greens from?’ And we’re like we got them from the farm.”
Since the St. Francis Soup Kitchen largely relies on donations, having access to the produce from Joshua Farm helps save Miss Chucky on her operating budget as well. And it gives the people who come through for a hot meal access to fresh, organic produce that is right from their neighborhood. Says Miss Chucky, “believe me you can take tell the difference between a fresh green out of the garden and the one bought out the store. And it makes me feel good to know that for one meal a day, people had a decent one.”
During our interview, Miss Chucky and Mr. Hallett playfully joked with each other. It is clear that they are a team dedicated to feeding the area’s most needy. And recently, their numbers have increased to near 200 meals per day. “It’s important for the folks coming through there, letting them know that somebody cares about them. There’s food growing right here,” says Hallett. To which Miss Chucky responded, “and it shows we’re working together. We’re separate, but we’re not. We all try to help each other out.”
For more information on Joshua Farm, contact Kirk Hallett at 717-236-4464.
For more information on St. Francis of Assisi Soup Kitchen, contact Miss Chucky Palmer at (717) 236-4506. The Soup Kitchen is located at 1459 Zarker Street, Harrisburg, PA 17104.
