Urban Farms Coming to Houston’s Food Deserts

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Houston, Texas is a thriving urban city, yet many families struggle with a frustrating problem: access to fresh, healthy foods. The City has been working towards finding solutions for this lack of access, and one local organization hopes urban farms can be part of the mix.

PLANTED: HOUSTON, a project of Edible Earth Resources, exists to bring food closer to its consumer through restaurants, retail subscription sales, and donations. They hope to put fresh food back into neighborhoods by growing, selling and donating in areas that are classified as food deserts.

The organization is in the process of developing a network of urban farms on city-owned underdeveloped lots in food deserts throughout Houston. They intend to initially develop 3 acres of urban farmland, with 10% of the produce remaining in the communities in which they are grown, and a share of produce donated for every share sold to customers.

Initiatives to increase the number of farmer-to-customer sales in Latino communities have reported increased local sales of healthy produce, benefiting farmers and residents.

This project is being jointly funded by local chefs and a crowd-funding campaign, which will be kicked off at a benefit dinner at Haven, a Seasonal Kitchen on July 27th.

Do you live in Houston and want to support food access, fresh food, and farm knowledge? Click here to learn more about the benefit and purchase tickets.