On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA June - July 2017 | Page 6

FOOD
DENISE SCHREIBER
From Factory to Farm: Food in
a Challenged Community
The mills that gave
Steel City its name
closed in the late 1970s
and early 1980s, fueling
a great exodus of work-
ers from the Pittsburgh
area. With the loss of
those families, commu-
nities suffered as local
businesses began shut-
tering their doors until some of them became
virtual ghost towns.
The town of Braddock, 20 miles upstream
from Pittsburgh, was one of those ghost towns.
Those who worked at Jones & Laughlin Steel
Corp., Carrie Furnace, Homestead Steel Works
and Edgar Thomson Steel Works—all steel
mills—had supported Braddock. At its peak
there were about 20,000 residents; now there
are fewer than 3,000.
When the mills laid off or shut down com-
pletely, all but one of the stores went away.
Abandoned buildings were everywhere and
all of the grocery stores were gone. In order
to buy food, residents had to take a bus or
other transportation to nearby communities
that were also suffering—but not as severely.
Braddock no longer had a viable economy, but
more importantly, it became what is known as a
food desert.
G ROW P IT TS BU RG H
Braddock Mayor John Fetterman had ap-
proached Grow Pittsburgh, a non-profit organi-
zation, in 2007 with the idea of establishing an
urban farm in Braddock. With their help, along
with the cooperation of the Allegheny County
Redevelopment Authority and Braddock
Borough Council, the plans for Braddock Farms
came to be a reality. The site of the farm is
actually in the shadow of Edgar Thomson Steel
Works, which still operates today on a much
smaller scale.
Grow Pittsburgh uses intensive planting
methods and grows organically. They built
raised beds and filled them with 30,000 pounds
of compost and soil. Today, the farm covers
6
Braddock Farms operates a farm stand, which sells produce and flowers in Braddock, a town of about 3,000
residents. The farm employs teenagers and young adults.
more than an acre of land, including small
hoop houses that also act as high tunnels in
this northern climate. Crops include tomatoes,
peppers, squashes, beans, cucumbers, beets ,
carrots, onions, kale, cabbage, broccoli and
cauliflower. Flowers are not forgotten; cosmos,
zinnias, marigolds and others are grown to
attract beneficial insects. They are also cut and
sold as bouquets at the farm stand.
YO U T H EMPLOYMENT,
S K I LL D E V ELO PMEN T
Grow Pittsburgh employs teenagers from
the Braddock Youth Project to work at both
the farm and the farm stand for six weeks
each summer. Students learn the workings of
the farm from sowing seeds to harvesting the
crops. In addition to learning about agriculture,
students acquire leadership and teamwork
skills. The Urban Apprentice program hires local
young men and women to work at the farm,
providing them with the knowledge to become
urban farmers.
Braddock’s farm stand is next to Bell’s Market
on Braddock Ave. The stand is open on Satur-
days from June through October. Braddock resi-
dents and customers with SNAP benefits receive
a discount. Braddock Farms sells additional pro-
duce to various alliances. Local chefs especially
like having the fresh and local produce.
Pittsburgh cheerleader Denise Schreiber is an
author, freelance writer, certified arborist, All-America
Selections judge and a National Director of GWA.