.png)
Food Justice Leader Erika Allen, Juneteeth, Urban Growers Collective
- Bob Benenson
- Jun 19
- 3 min read
Chicago Urban Farming Non-Profit Advocates for Food Equity
Yesterday (June 18), I had the pleasure and privilege of moderating a panel at the Chicago Innovation Climate Summit. Local Food Forum will share a recording of the session as soon as it is available, with takeaways from the discussion.
The panel was titled Sustainable Food and Agriculture Innovation, and I was honored to share the stage with three insightful experts:
Tonya Bakritzes of S2G Investments, a venture capital firm that finances companies driving innovations in food, farming, energy, ocean sustainability and more.
Mark Shepard, who converted a tapped-out Wisconsin corn field into New Forest Farm, a cutting-edge regenerative farm, while provided consulting services around the nation and the world through Restoration Agriculture Development.
Erika Allen, founder/CEO of Chicago's Urban Growers Collective, whose urban farms promote healthy local foods, food access and equity, and training, and co-founder of the Green Era campus, which employs an anaerobic digester to reduce food waste, produce compost, and generate renewable energy.
This morning, I was pondering how to commemorate Juneteeth, the June 19 national holiday celebrating the end of the gross injustice of slavery in the United States, when I received an email from Urban Growers Collective with powerful commentary about the meaning of Juneteenth intermixed with the organization's achievements.
I share their message below. If you are inspired to make a donation to this important organization, click the button below.
———————————————
Stand with us in honoring the legacy of Black American liberation this Juneteeth.
On Juneteenth, we are celebrating liberation, justice, survival, and the spirit of resilience in honor of this monumental day in Black history. We rest, we reflect, and we remember that we are free. Our pathways to freedom are abundant, spacious, and we deserve to be acknowledged for our contributions to the economic, cultural, and spiritual vitality of our nation.
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation decreeing that no persons shall be enslaved in the rebel Confederate States. Copies of the Proclamation began to spread throughout the country and notified enslaved Americans that they were free.
It wasn’t until 2 years later, on June 19, 1865, that Union troops arrived in Galveston, TX to announce to the 250,000 enslaved Black Americans living in the state that they were now freed peoples. These newly freedmen called this day Juneteenth. In the 160 years since this day, Black Americans throughout the country have celebrated the emancipation of their ancestors that was the result of centuries of Black resistance and resilience.
This was made possible by daring to imagine alternatives to injustices, and making them tangible through our collective efforts. At Urban Growers Collective we use urban agriculture as our tool and method to continue this legacy through place-based programming that empowers communities on our pathways to freedom — from relationships between neighbors, care within communities, and stewardship of the land.
Thanks to the support of partners like you, we’ve been able to make the following a reality this season:
Activate UGC’s new 30-acre Z-Farm in Chicago Heights with nursery operations to increase food production for our market pathways
Support 64 community gardeners with space to grow and build community
Share and develop our farms with over 150 tour participants and volunteers, so far in 2025
29 Herbalism Apprenticeship constellation participants
Employ and educate a record breaking 51 high school teens, including a new Daytime Diverse Learner program.
Mentor interns across 17 internship slots in our Spring and Summer Sessions
Invest $65,834 into local food economies through our Market Pathways including Fresh Moves Mobile Market, Collective Supported Agriculture, Farm Stands, Wholesale and LFPA procurement
Today is set aside to celebrate our victories, and the fruits of our ancestors who struggled before us. And it is a day for renewing our hope and our solidarity in the ongoing work to sow the seeds of liberation.
This Juneteeth, help us celebrate Black joy and Black freedom by making a donation.
コメント