Baltimore City Urban Agriculture Alliance

Baltimore City Urban Agriculture Alliance

Summary

The Farm Alliance of Baltimore City began as an informal collaboration between urban growers and is now a producer-driven membership organization. We are a network of nine urban producers (and growing!) who are committed to increasing the viability of urban farming and increasing access to urban-grown foods. In our first season we focused on: joint branding and marketing, monthly data collections, membership standards including soil testing and inputs/amendments, a shared stand at one of Baltimore’s busiest farmers markets, a joint EBT/debit/credit machine to accept food stamps at neighborhood farm stands, shared tools and equipment, a unified voice with City negotiations, and increased training opportunities for new and established growers.

In our first season, we collectively: harvested 20,142 pounds of products, coordinated 4,497 volunteer hours, generated $68,421 in sales (including over $18,000 at our shared farmers market stand), hosted 2,249 students and youth, and held more than 16 workshops and special events. Our training sessions, online resources, and how-to guides reached new prospective farmers, and we have developed by-laws and a membership application process for growing the organization.

Objectives/Performance Targets

To date we have accomplished many of our original objectives and some have changed as the group evolves. Our work continues to morph as the group’s goals and values take shape and members become more involved and invested in the Farm Alliance. Below is a brief summary of our current progress on the original goals:

Organizational Structure – We set out to build an organizational structure and platform for a network of urban farmers to work together. Over last winter we came together to create a name, mission statement, goals for the 2012 season, and a basic membership agreement for producers. We operated somewhat informally as a group throughout the 2012 season and this fall and winter have focused on developing concrete by-laws, officers, voting procedures, a clear membership application process, a more precise membership agreement, and a fiscal policy for making monetary decisions.

Branding – We worked with the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Center for Design Practice to develop a logo, brand guidelines, and promotional materials including an informational postcard, a banner, business cards, etc. The group’s members participated in design meetings to guide the development of the logo and brand identity. We also contracted a web designer to build the group’s website including profiles of each member farm. The group’s members participated in creating the sitemap and providing feedback on the overall design. The brand design and website can be seen at http://farmalliancebaltimore.org

Aggregated Sales – We originally planned to sell through a joint farmers market stand as well as joint restaurant and institutional sales. We were fortunate enough to be accepted into Baltimore’s only year-round farmers market and the second largest market in the City. During the season we shared the responsibility of staffing the stand and worked out systems for tracking each farm’s sales and paying-out on a weekly basis. Around the same time, a local restaurateur launched a small food hub to do aggregated restaurant sales. Because of this new business and the high volume of our farmers market stand, the group decided not to pursue our own aggregated restaurant sales in our first season.

Disseminate Results – We are currently in the process of developing a short case study of challenges and lessons from our first season in operation. A graduate student from the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for a Livable Future helped develop a template for this publication, and we are working to adapt it based on our experiences. We applied to present at a few conferences and will be participating in the annual Future Harvest conference, our regional sustainable farming meeting, to share “Urban Farmers Unite: Farm Alliance of Baltimore Story” so that others can learn from our pilot year. We will also be making our case study available in print and electronic formats this winter/spring.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Over the course of the past year we remained fairly true to our original timeline and work plan. Through many collaborations and partnerships we have had lots of successful events as outlined below. Besides postponing aggregated restaurant sales (as described above), our project has progressed very closely to our original expectations and often exceeded them.

February – Founding meeting: We decided on a name, mission statement, and goals for the 2012 season. We began with eight member farms, which was in line with our original goal.

April – We ran a three-part urban farmer training series in collaboration with Future Harvest and had about sixty people in attendance. This was the maximum our space could hold and we are securing a larger venue for this coming year. We also recorded the sessions and made them available through our website. As part of this series we had someone from ATTRA-the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service do a full-day hands-on workshop for member farms. We have adapted some of the topics and speakers to improve the series for this year.

May – We launched our shared EBT/debit/credit machine so that member farms could accept foodstamps at their weekly farm stands. Five farms participated and we sold $651 of products to EBT, debit, and credit customers. We hope to expand the volume and effectiveness of the machine next year through matching incentive dollars for customers receiving government food assistance. (See photo below)

June – We began operating a joint stand at the Waverly Farmers Market. We learned a great deal about tracking inventory from each farm, balancing out at the end of market, reaching new customers, and selling quality products. Many weeks we sold over $1,000 in products and were pleased to reach new customers and collaborators through our presence at the market. (See photo below)

July – We collaborated with local partners on the Charm City Farm and Garden Tour, which brought over eighty participants out to local farms and gardens.

September – We co-hosted the second annual Urban Farm & Food Fair with over 500 attendees, a speech from the Mayor, and exhibitors/vendors from the Farm Alliance as well as Maryland Extension, local food businesses, and other partner organizations. (See photo below)

October – We hosted our first large fundraiser, the Farm Feast, a 3-course catered meal held under the stars on-site at one of our member farms. We had sixty guests, a very long wait-list, and raised over $2,500 towards purchasing shared tools and equipment. This event exceeded our expectations and many guests have already asked when the next one is. (See photo below)

November – We continued our joint farmers market stand through the winter, which was not part of our original work plan. Enough member farmers are producing all winter long and contributed their own funds to the vendor fee that we were able to maintain a year-round presence at the market.

December – We are working with the Community Law Center, a local non-profit legal group, to develop formal by-laws and membership procedures. This happened a bit later than we initially planned, but is involving all of the members and progressing well.

• September Urban Farm & Food Fair
• EBT Machine at a Weekly Neighborhood Farm Stand
• Joint Farmers Market Stand
• Farm Feast Fundraiser Dinner

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Anecdotally, the participating farms have been grateful for the joint branding, sales, and increased collaboration through the Farm Alliance. The monthly data we have collected this season is our first year of data and will serve as a baseline to measure future growth and progress. Our first round of farmer surveys has not yet been distributed, but this will provide additional evaluation of our impacts. Five producers have expressed interest in potentially joining the Alliance for next season and many other prospective growers have used our online resources and workshops to help plan their businesses and organizations. The evaluations from our spring training series were overwhelmingly positive, and we have adapted this year’s series based on input from those evals.

Through press, online marketing, our farmers market presence, and outreach events, many partners and collaborators approached us over the course of the past year. A local catering company and a snack company approached us about doing the Farm Feast fundraiser and volunteered tremendous time and talents to make it happen. A local florist approached us about collaborating to train urban farmers in growing cut flowers. Numerous undergraduate and graduate programs have worked with the Farm Alliance and its members on class projects, internships, and field trips. In addition, many more collaborations are evolving and growing on a constant basis.

Collaborators: