Grow Youngstown focuses on fresh crops

By Katie Seminara

Two upcoming events will highlight the mission of Grow Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — Gardening is creation, said Elsa Higby, founder of Grow Youngstown.

Making people understand that if something is planted, it will grow, is the simple point Higby hopes to validate with upcoming events and with the organization’s Community Supported Agriculture program.

“To garden, you don’t have to have the latest technology or spend a lot of money,” she said.

“If we could go back to our roots, we’ll find uses for our land and create a small food economy and stronger communities,” Higby said.

After moving back to Youngstown from Brooklyn, N.Y., about 18 months ago, Higby was looking to acquire “organic or sustainably grown” produce by forming relationships with local farmers.

The desire for fresh food coming directly from farms and food grown in an ecologically friendly manner sparked the creation of the organization, which encourages the sustainable growth of food in Mahoning County and the immediate surroundings, she said.

An event at 6 p.m. Friday called “Meet Grow Youngstown” at Fellows Riverside Gardens, 123 McKinley Ave., will be an introduction to the organization’s goals.

A film titled “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” will be shown, detailing how Cuba was able to feed its population after losing access to Soviet oil in the early 1990s, Higby said.

The country steered away from the need of fossil-fuel intensive farming to smaller, more energy efficient organic farms and urban gardens, she said.

“I hope that people compare [the film] to Youngstown and know that there is a lot of property available for urban agriculture,” Higby said.

In Youngstown, because of all the vacant land where homes have been razed, there is much opportunity for urban agriculture, she said.

The other event is a two-day workshop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Fellows Riverside Gardens that will teach participants about practical garden design and the creation of urban community gardens.

Urban gardening isn’t the only way for community members to get home grown produce.

By using Grow Youngstown’s Community Supported Agriculture program, individuals sign an 18-week agreement with a farmer and receive a wide variety of nine to 12 pounds of fresh produce each week for about $20, Higby said.

“The advantage is that you get to try new things not available in the supermarket or things you might not be enticed to buy,” she said.

“You are also assured that not a whole lot of energy is being used,” said Higby, noting that the farms providing the produce replace industrial practices by using more labor and physical energy. Also, less fuel is used on the farms and when transporting the produce to Youngstown.

People who buy organic products from Giant Eagle or other chain grocers, would spend about one-third less by using Grow Youngstown’s program, she said.

“The cost [of the produce] is about $1.40 to $1.50 a pound, which is economical in my opinion,” said Robert Mickley, one of the participating farmers.

Mickley has been farming for about seven years and runs his 110-acre family farm, Mickley Organics, in New Springfield.

“It’s a good idea,” Mickley said of connecting community residents to the products of local farmers.

The amount of food provided each week easily feeds two people, and at times people have said it’s too much, Mickley said.

Transporting the produce shorter distances also helps retain the nutritional value.

“Produce at the grocers is generally picked early and ripens on the shelves,” he said. In Mickley’s opinion, produce grown locally “is always better and more nutritious.”

For more information and to join the Community Supported Agriculture program, visit www.growyoungstown.org.