STRATFORD — Driving past some of the asphalt-covered industrial properties dotted with corrugated steel buildings downtown, “fresh vegetables” aren’t the first words that come to mind.
But at one of them, that will change by the end of the year thanks to the efforts of a nonprofit founded by a Bridgeport minister.
A 4,500-square-foot warehouse at 1895 Stratford Ave. will soon be producing six acres worth of fresh veggies for food pantries, farmers markets and commercial customers using indoor, vertical farming methods.
The farm is a project of nOURish Bridgeport, a nonprofit founded in 2010 by the Rev. Sara Smith, senior minister at Bridgeport’s United Congregational Church.
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday — Fresh Veggie Day — Smith said she grew up working on a 1,000-acre farm in central Kentucky, a land of abundant crops and nutrient-rich soil.
“Then I arrived in Bridgeport 12 years ago,” Smith said.
The Park City isn’t the Sahara, but it can still be a “food desert” when it comes to finding fresh greens.
“We try to give healthy food to our hungry neighbors, but fresh produce, whether summer or winter, is almost impossible to find at the food bank,” Smith said.
The warehouse-based farm was initially financed through a grant from the Elizabeth Pfreim Foundation, and will feature three different growing methods: 4-by-10-foot “microgreen” rigs, “fork farm” vertical pods with 10 square feet apiece, and a purpose-built freight container farm.
The diversity of methods will allow the farm to grow new plants quickly, Smith said.
“We are growing to grow healthy food in a food desert,” she said. “You want some vegetable? Give me two weeks, I can grow it for you.”
The farm’s continuing operations will be financed by selling produce at farmers markets and food pantries and to commercial customers — with PizzaCo., about 1,500 feet down Stratford Avenue, already committed to be the first in line for the crops.
Smith estimated the farm will be producing about 200 pounds of fresh produce per week by the end of the year in the form of pesticide-free lettuce, baby kale, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, cucumbers, eggplant, squash and spinach.
“Come the end of fall, we’ll be selling vegetables,” she said.
She thanked property owner John DeMattia for sprucing up the space, as well as town officials who, she said, committed to providing her all the help she needed after a single Zoom call.
“I’ve never had that effect with a sermon,” Smith joked.
Mayor Laura Hoydick told Smith the town is full of groups and organizations who will be eager to partner in the farm’s efforts as well.
“We do have community gardens, but nothing like this, sister,” Hoydick said. “We’re all in this with you.”
Economic Development Director Mary Dean said after the ceremony that the idea for the farm “just fit so well into the needs of the community,” crediting the department of economic and community development’s Karin Doyle with helping to pave the way.
“It’s just a really unique and creative way to feed the community,” Dean said. “And who would have known in this building here?”
Hoydick said the permitting process was stream-lined through the “concierge service” offered by Town Hall to potential groups and businesses interested in moving to Stratford.
“It’s pretty seamless,” the mayor said. “We do it frequently. Each community is different, so it gives the applicant a way to understand how Stratford functions and who the go-to people are.”
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Stratford welcomes a new kind of vegetable farm - Fairfield Citizen
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