What was once a vacant half-acre of land on Lansing’s Eastside is now
Urbandale Farm, the
Lansing Urban Farm Project’s first initiative that’s combining urban farming and community-building efforts to impact the Capital region.
Now, a two-year grant administered by
Allen Neighborhood Center will help Urbandale Farm increase access to affordable fresh produce in the neighborhood, add growers and catalyze additional urban farms in Lansing by working with partner organizations focused on food security, land use, job creation and community development.
"From the beginning, we have wanted Urbandale Farm to be a good fit with the neighborhood, to become a place that neighbors view as their neighborhood farm,” says Linda Anderson, co-founder of the Lansing Urban Farm Project.
“The funds will also support a six-month Farmer Apprenticeship program, drawing young adults from Urbandale and elsewhere in Lansing," she says. The program's apprenticeship program "will prepare six young people to join the Lansing urban agriculture scene, ready to start their own small urban farms or other food-related enterprise."
Source: Linda Anderson, Lansing Urban Farm Project
Writer: Suban Nur Cooley
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