Home Industries Food & Agriculture Southside Community Land Trust creates farmland to feed urban neighborhoods

Southside Community Land Trust creates farmland to feed urban neighborhoods

By

Cassius Shuman

-

01/31/2020

WORKING TOGETHER: Margaret DeVos, right, executive director of the Southside Community Land Trust, speaks with local farmers at Urban Edge Farm in Cranston, the site of a recent infrastructure investment project by the land trust. From left: Christina Dedora, of Blue Sky Farm; Sharron D’Amore, of The Garlic Mistress; Craig Demi, SCLT director of operations; and Nayeema Eusuf, of Geek Gardens. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

THOUSANDS OF LOW-INCOME Rhode Islanders in urban areas are getting sustenance from the unlikeliest of places: community gardens, plots of land converted into long-term sustainable farmland. This philanthropic endeavor is due to the efforts of the Southside Community Land Trust, which has been in existence for 38 years. In December, the land trust expanded and

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THOUSANDS OF LOW-INCOME Rhode Islanders in urban areas are getting sustenance from the unlikeliest of places: community gardens, plots of land converted into long-term sustainable farmland. This philanthropic endeavor is due to the efforts of the Southside Community Land Trust, which has been in existence for 38 years. In December, the land trust expanded and renovated its flagship rural property in Cranston, creating 24 acres of farmland for 15 farmers. The organization was the beneficiary of a $600,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant in December and a $200,000 grant from Bank of America Corp.’s Neighborhood Builders program in November. It owns or directly manages 21 community gardens in Central Falls, Pawtucket and Providence, and 37 others in partnership with schools and housing and community organizations. The land trust owns and/or manages land that is used by 25 farmers who supply fresh fruit and vegetables to the state’s farmers markets, restaurants and food suppliers. Margaret DeVos, who has served as the organization’s executive director for eight years, said the land trust’s success is partly attributable to an estimated 3,000 people who eat from its network of community gardens and 12,000 people who buy groceries from 30 farmers operating on its owned or managed land. “We just finished a $250,000 infrastructure investment project at ... Urban Edge Farm in Cranston,” said DeVos. “We built new roads; we put in greenhouses, we cleared new fields, installed infrastructure and we moved seven new farmers onto that space.” DeVos said her organization will be moving into a new office space at 404 Broad St. in Providence in the spring of 2021. The land trust will be renovating a former livery building that was built in 1855 that will serve as a neighborhood food hub, featuring a farm-to-market center, a youth center, a café, three small food businesses and a food processor.