Farming enterprise in Pittsburgh thinks outside the box
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A farming enterprise in Pittsburgh is really thinking outside the box.
Only three cities in the country have a Freight Farm like the model in Pittsburgh that opened in May. It's located in the yard of the Community of Change Center in the Chartiers neighborhood of Pittsburgh's West End.
Through the doors of the transformed metal freight container is an illuminated vertical landscape of hydroponics that's planted a seed of change in the neighborhood.
The farm grows fresh, healthy produce year-round, no matter what the climate outside. Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding recently toured the site and gave it an official proclamation for its excellence.
It's a unique partnership with The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, West End Power, and FarmerGirl Eb's Ebony Lunsford-Evans.
"You are looking at the first Freight Farm in Pittsburgh," she said. "It is amazing."
Only Detroit and Boston have one like it. Terri Minor Spencer is the executive director.
"I'm a community activist, so I'm about the community," she said. "So this is something that we can feed the community for free. It's a blessing and very overwhelming."
"Food access is super important, and we are trying to make sure we can access to food as well as education in our community," added Lunsford-Evans.
The food is harvested monthly and distributed to anyone who needs it.