Extracurricular at Hope Farms
Although summer camp among the verdant vegetable beds at Hope Farms may be over for now, during the school year there are plenty of other activities for kids and adults alike to enjoy.
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farms & markets
Hope Farms is an Oasis in a Food Desert
Hope Farms brings fresh food, learning, community to an area in need
Nestled on a seven acres in the historic Sunnyside neighborhood is Hope Farms, an urban agriculture project owned by Recipe for Success, a nonprofit founded in 2005 by Gracie and Bob Cavnar to combat childhood obesity through healthy food educational programs. Though today it is immediately recognizable as a farm, the journey began with an abandoned lot left vacant after the demolition of Carnegie Vanguard High School. Inaugural Farm Manager Justin Meyer took the compacted clay soil and painstakingly worked it into fertile loam in which a diverse assortment of vegetables, fruits and herbs now thrive.
Hope Farms is a classic example of biodiversity at work. Current Farm Manager Nick DeBrock, who took over from Meyer this summer, sees the entire farm as one living organism: If you grow only one crop, it’s unhealthy and easily disrupted. But if you can grow a wide variety of edible and non-edible plants, you produce a healthier organism better equipped to handle disruptions. Aside from the edible crops, there are pollinator-friendly plants like zinnias, marigolds and Turk’s Cap planted around the farm. These provide food for pollinators, attracting them to the farm so that crops like squash and cucumbers that require pollination can produce. The plants also provide food and shelter for other beneficial insects like ladybugs and parasitic wasps.
Choosing Sunnyside as the location for Hope Farms did not happen at random. Sunnyside is one of the Houston area’s largest food deserts, defined as an area with few options available for residents to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. Couple that with the fact that the neighborhood is predominantly lower-income and you can begin to see the difficulty in sourcing affordable, healthy foods. The aspect of Hope Farms being located in a food desert is actually what appealed to current Farm Manager Nick DeBrock. Though DeBrock studied the “big ag” side of farming in college, upon graduation he opted for an internship at a family-run organic farm in rural Connecticut so he could broaden his experience. He loved his job there, but ultimately wanted to find a position where he felt he could make more of an impact. It was then that he landed upon the position at Hope Farms. He was enchanted by the opportunity to work on a small-scale urban farm where the food grown could make an immediate impact in the surrounding community.
Photo 1: Hope Farms is the perfect place for kids to learn more about where their food comes from (photo courtesy of Recipe for Success).
Photo 2: Table set for Chefs in the Fields
Photo 3: Saturday farm class (photos courtesy of Recipe for Success).
Similarly, newly minted Assistant Farm Manager Adryn Maldonado found herself at Hope Farms eager for a change. With a background as an artist and a dancer, her path here wasn’t exactly linear but her whimsy, optimistic attitude and passion for food landed her an internship at Hope Farms under former Farm Manager Justin Meyer. She immediately fell in love with the farm and the Sunnyside community because it reminded her of her own upbringing. Maldonado was raised by a single mother and grew up with four siblings. She says they were very much a fast food and processed food family because it was the accessible and affordable option in the food desert in which they lived. Though she now eats a plant-based diet comprised predominantly of vegetables grown on Hope Farms, she can certainly relate to the struggle and overwhelm the Sunnyside community members have faced when it comes to sourcing fresh produce. It is evident that Maldonado finds unlimited inspiration in her interactions with community members because her beaming smile was present throughout our entire interview. She’s honored to be a part of Hope Farms because it is giving fresh access and diversity of produce to a space that wouldn’t otherwise get it.
It’s no exaggeration to say the farm has evolved into a powerful element in the Sunnyside community. Residents frequently stop in to chat, to ask gardening advice and to reminisce about the school that once stood there. Aside from the onsite farmers market that runs every Saturday from 9am to noon, there are other ways the farm fosters a relationship with the community. On the first Saturday market of every month, local vendors are given the opportunity to sell their goods and services. The farm also offers the Double Bucks Program, which allows anyone with food stamps to have whatever produce they purchase at the market matched dollar-for- dollar. In other words, a family can get $40 worth of veggies for only $20. Garden-curious community members can join the Community Garden Box Program. This program allows them to rent a four- by four-foot garden box for an agreed upon increment of time in which they learn how to curate a garden and develop a crop plan. The hope is that they are able to then take this knowledge home and apply it to their own backyard garden.
As for the broader Houston community, Hope Farms is eager to ramp up production this fall by adding new growing areas and implementing tighter crop rotations to eliminate any lulls. This will allow them to supply produce to more restaurants in the Houston area, add more shares to their community-supported agriculture (CSA) harvest subscription program, and eventually sell at farmers markets other than their own. The ultimate goal is to get to offer a permanent daily market in their barn in addition to offering consistent mindful living practices like yoga and cooking classes.
Aside from the community programming already in place at Hope Farms, Recipe for Success partners with schools in the area to provide opportunities for farm education. In the fall, they will resume elementary school field trips so that students can tangibly experience a production farm in an urban setting. These field trips also include farm-to-table cooking demos by Culinary Director and Chef Paris Anton. Chef Paris also offers cooking demos during the Saturday markets to show community members simple and accessible recipes for the veggies that are in season. This provides not only the opportunity for them to taste the recipe, but to spark the curiosity in playing with these veggies at home. Aside from the field trips, a future goal is to work with the school district in Sunnyside to develop after-school programs on the farm such as a Junior Master Gardener certification.
Extracurricular at Hope Farms
Although summer camp among the verdant vegetable beds at Hope Farms may be over for now, during the school year there...
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