By: Micah Houston, Americorps member, senior, Community, Environment, and Development

The concrete jungle of urban Philadelphia is undoubtedly the most removed location in Pennsylvania from the wide open, rolling, green hills of Centre County. Nonetheless, the Student Farm Club chose it as the ideal destination for its students to visit in early April. Housed at Thomas Jefferson University med school on 9th street, we were perfectly located downtown to tour some of the coolest sites which are playing a part in the city’s revitalization. To guide us through the city, we were graciously hosted by members of Penn State Extension at the Penn State Center – Engaging Philadelphia . The center connects educators and researchers from the University with communities in Philly to work with projects such as nutrition education, community gardening, urban agriculture, and more.

First on the agenda was a walking tour off the beaten path of several urban farm locations near Center City. The first was run by an organization called Teens 4 Good, whose vision is to mobilize urban youth to take leadership roles in improving their communities. They achieve this by transforming vacant lots into urban farms, which improves people’s access to healthy food, creates meaningful jobs, and empowers youth. As we huddled under a pavilion to escape the cold wind and rain, the farm’s manager gave us a background on day-to-day operations, funding and non-profits, and a background on the local communities. Soon the rain cleared and we got a chance to walk around and see how the farm’s greenery and artistic designs liven up an otherwise unattractive and neglected lot.

One of the urban farms visited by the Student Farm Club. Photo: Micah Houston

Our second urban farm stop was a fifteen-minute walk to Greener Partners’ Guild House Farm, located adjacent to an apartment building for low-income seniors, which provides a community garden for residents and provides educational programs to teach participants first-hand about local food systems. Here we saw the site’s high tunnel (an unheated greenhouse structure), and learned about its benefits and what goes into constructing one.

One of the most incredible examples of the city’s potential for rejuvenation is found in the Rail Park. This developing project plans to turn the unused tracks of the old Reading Railroad into a park spanning three miles, ten diverse neighborhoods, and fifty city blocks without crossing a single street, much like the High Line in Manhattan. After Friday’s lunch, we got the chance to stretch our legs exploring the first phase of the project, the Reading Viaduct. Although the track was overgrown with weeds and scattered with litter, it was immediately apparent that once developed, this space will become a park filled with Philadelphians wanting to socialize, exercise, and escape the business of the streets below.

We capped off this eye-opening and busy weekend by attending the Philly Farm & Food Fest all day Saturday. This lively festival was held inside the massive Pennsylvania Convention Center, and played host to over 150 exhibitors and thousands of attendees. The focus of the festival was on local and sustainable foods, and exhibitors included farmers, food artisans, distributors, non-profits and local crafts-people. After walking through the door at ten in the morning with empty stomachs, we proceeded to sample our way through apple sauce, marmalades, olive oil, ice cream, gelato, fresh bread, raw milk, and a “curd convention” containing hundreds of cheeses.

One of the many booths visited by the Student Farm Club at the Philly Farm & Food Fest. Photo: Micah Houston

Besides eating our fill of samples, it was rewarding to connect with people involved at all levels of the food system, and to share our own experience piloting a student farm at Penn State.

All in all, this weekend offered an inspiring taste of the results of the local food movement and the incredible potential for sustainable development in the Philadelphia area. Although the city of Philadelphia was unfamiliar to many of us, it was great to be able to relate to the people we met through our common interest in food. One student summed it up best: “Even though Philadelphia is such a foreign environment to me who considers State College a city, the important thing is that whether rural or urban we use the same soil to grow our food the same way.”

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