The Five Year Master Plan for Urban Agriculture. That is a lot of words! What does that mean? Five years? That's a long time!
Didn't I read that that FRESH got $50,000 from Lawrence and Memorial hospital? That sounds like a lot of money!
What is going on, FRESH New London? Tell us more about this plan! Okay, you got it! Here is the plan: We are a small community-- 6 six square miles and 28,000 people. We have a small tax base and not a lot of local jobs. We are very urban in the sense that there is not a lot of open land (although we all know of at least open parcel in this fine City where we could grow lots of food!). FRESH wants to make sure that food equity and urban agriculture are part of the City's plan for redevelopment and that there is a sustainable local economy that supports the needs of residents. We've ear marked the L&M funds for a series of community visioning sessions and the creation of a leadership team that will identify viable sites for urban farms, community gardens and a community greenhouse(!), secure access to land, initiate neighborhood planning teams for those spaces, and develop a coordination plan between all the places where we grow food with community. We are hoping to have a draft plan ready by next Spring. How can you participate? First you can email us and let us know you want to share your ideas, your experiences and your time to beautify New London and create more edible landscaping throughout the city! Should the plan include more fruit trees? More backyard growing? More urban farms? Cooperative businesses? Chickens? Goats? Bees? We want to hear what you think. We also want to know what you think about local jobs. Over the years, FRESH New London has worked with hundreds of young people. We've initiated them into the joys of gardening, healthy eating and community service. With more than 100 of them, we've gone deeper, sharing knowledge about plant and soil science, schooling them on environmental racism, garden bed building and the political history of agriculture. What is missing from the equation when a gallon of milk costs less than a cup of coffee? A living wage for the farmer, a healthy life for the cow, and a viable local economy, right? While we have been able to offer young people stipends, work experience, wages (sometimes), we haven't been able to construct a ladder of advancement and wage earning beyond high school and after school jobs. If New London was home to a greenhouse cooperative that supported individual micro-enterprises, could that offer a living wage to New London young adults who came up through FRESH? Could we heat a network of greenhouses with compost collected from community members-- lessening the cost of disposing of New London's garbage and keep our community cleaner and greener? One facet of this Five Year Plan is a feasibility study and implementation plan for an urban agriculture expansion project (specifically a greenhouse) - to include potential sources of funding, available properties, readiness of partners, access to expertise and workforce, and sustainability. Sounds pretty cool, right? Watch this space for how you can contribute to the Urban Agriculture Plan and help shape the future of the Whaling City! | 
