Chicago’s first youth-led container farm helps combat food deserts on the South Side

CHICAGO - Food insecurity is a historical challenge for Altgeld Gardens, where the median income is less than $9,000 dollars. 

Then there’s the issue of getting to a grocery store. There are no direct routes via public transportation and accessing fresh food can take up to two hours for families that don’t have a car. 

Bowen Harvest is helping to meet that need by installing a 500-square-foot hydroponic farm in the neighborhood. 

"When you first come inside our farm you start right here," Vernell Daniel said. "This is a workstation. The workstation is where you grab one of these trays. These are grow plugs. This basically is the soil for the seeds."

Daniel is one of 13 students that have become Bowen Harvest entrepreneurs. They flew to Boston to attend farm camp. Now, they’re back home running Chicago’s only youth-led container farm.

The program was launched in March in partnership with the By the Hand Club and Kenilworth Union Church. The hydroponic container farm operates in any climate and without the use of harsh chemicals. So far, it’s produced eight harvests.

"When we have a full container, we’re looking at about 4,000 heads of lettuce that we’re currently growing," said Joe Jones, senior director of  entrepreneurship at Bowen Harvest. "The cycle is about 4,000 and that equates to about four acres a year."

Students take that food home to their families. The rest goes to the Altgeld Gardens community, local food banks and partner organizations. In addition to nutrition education, Jones helps students develop their entrepreneurship skills to support their community.

"They’re learning different skills such as networking," Jones said. "They’re learning entrepreneurship. How to start a business or start up. They’re learning startup capital and finance. They’re learning a lot of soft skills that will help them."