In the middle of Cleveland’s Kinsman neighborhood, a place once filled with vacant buildings and run-down homes, there now sits an expanse of urban farmland filled with greenhouses, a fish farm and a massive composting operation. Soon, a farmer’s market and community kitchen will join the fold, expanding Rid-All Green Partnership’s footprint to 15 acres.
Rid-All is not just building innovation in agriculture, but also sustainability and a sense of community – values at the root of Farm Credit Mid-America’s purpose.
“We’ve created an environment where people living in the inner-city can experience the smell, the touch, the ambiance of being in a legitimate greenspace,” says Rid-All co-founder Keymah Durden. “They can learn that food comes from the ground. They can plant a seed and watch it grow. We’re taking them out of that concrete jungle, giving them hope and inspiration through something green.”
Rid-All was a dream of three childhood friends who grew up in the neighborhood and made possible, in part, by the Gardening for Greenbacks grant program funded by Farm Credit Mid-America, CoBank (another Farm Credit entity) and the city of Cleveland to jumpstart urban agriculture. Since launching in 2014, the grant has helped 23 farms start or increase their operations in and around the city. Farm Credit extended its investment in this program in 2019 so the innovative, urban farming movement could continue to thrive in Cleveland.
The result is an increase in fresh and affordable produce, jobs and connection to food sources.
A few miles away, Hannah Teuscher and Logan Coy operate Green Harmony Farm and also are recipients of a Gardening for Greenbacks grant. Neighbors know they can catch Hannah and Logan at Tremont Farmers Market selling everything from German red garlic to arugula and flowers.
Logan says he is appreciative of the Gardening for Greenbacks program. “New technology allows us to do a lot of work in less time, but the tools are expensive. We can’t make that investment at our age,” he says. “With this grant, we’ve been able to make necessary purchases and have been able to provide a lot of good food for our community.”
