Urban Harvest STL Apprenticeship+ Mutual Support Network

Commodities

Practices

UHSTL seeks to provide continuing support and education to urban farmers in St. Louis in an effort to build capacity for the local community to improve the local food system. According to Feeding America, 15.9% of St. Louisans (30.9% of children) were food insecure in 2022. Of those who are food insecure, Black families are 6 times more likely to receive food stamps than white households. 45% of families who are food insecure do not meet the income requirements for SNAP benefits, telling us food insecurity does not only correlate with poverty. 

Systemic exclusion from the food system extends well beyond access to the grocery store. The USDA acknowledges in RBS Research Report #194 that until recently, they had a history of discriminating against growers of color. Due to this systemic exclusion, less than 5% of farmers in the US identify as BIPOC (2022 Census of Agriculture). Equipping each community with the knowledge and resources to rehabilitate their food system will not only build greater access to healthy food in BILPOC and Low-Income/Low-Access (LILA) neighborhoods but will also build stronger and healthier communities. 

UHSTL’s educational programs teach beginning farmers the skills they need to grow their own food sustainably in an urban environment. The programs are designed to reduce the barriers that new and underserved farmers face, making food system rehabilitation more accessible to the local community. UHSTL facilitates two adult education programs throughout the season, the Apprenticeship and the Farmer in Training (FIT) programs, which support the work happening on their 6 farms. As a result of their programming, in 2024, UHSTL grew over 5,000 pounds of produce and donated roughly 98% to the community. Program participants may take home produce throughout the duration of the program to increase their immediate food access. 

In addition to teaching farmers how to grow their own food in order to improve their food security and strengthen the food system, UHSTL teaches farmers NRCS approved conservation methods that strengthen the local environment. A core principle of UHSTL’s programming is to emphasize the importance of a healthy environment in order to grow healthy food. Half of UHSTL’s farms have contracted with NRCS to improve soil health, reduce runoff, improve local habitat restoration, and rehabilitate former brownfield sites. UHSTL not only teaches these methods hands-on, they also connect program participants with the local NRCS offices so that they may utilize these methods in their local communities, expanding the impact of conservation across St. Louis. 

After years of successful programming, UHSTL has received feedback from participants that they wish to remain connected after graduating from the programs. Though the programs are designed to foster a community of practice, there is no current official framework for maintaining engagement with other program participants, partners, and UHSTL. The Apprenticeship+ program will provide a foundation for interested alumni to develop their own self-sustaining mutual support network. This network would facilitate resource and information sharing, opportunities to help each other with projects, seed/plant swaps, etc. To support this network, UHSTL will provide workshops on topics identified by the network, provide a tool share for group work days, and provide training to group members that would like to host their own work day.

UHSTL’s Apprenticeship and FIT programs are designed to be successional with the ability to opt in to the Apprenticeship+ at any time. The goal of the Apprenticeship+ network of new growers will be to establish and support their own farms. The first few years of farm establishment are the most costly and labor intensive with the smallest yields. To help historically underserved and beginning farmers overcome this barrier, UHSTL will provide educational opportunities, farm planning support, donated farming materials, funding for qualifying participants, and the training necessary to host guests for a workday.

UHSTL’s target demographic is underserved or beginning farmers that typically reside in LILA areas. In selecting applicants for their programs, UHSTL ensures that a minimum of 60% are from the target LILA areas. The core participating members of the Apprenticeship+ program, pulled from prior program participants, will recruit participants from their own communities. 

UHSTL found that compensating the Apprenticeship and the FIT programs led to an increase in participation by the target communities. In order to encourage participation in the Apprenticeship+, UHSTL will invite those who attend at least 3 educational workshops to apply for funding in the amount of $150 to jump start a new project or to expand an existing project. If a participant would like to host a collaborative workday at their farm, UHSTL will provide them with the training necessary to do so safely and efficiently.