PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia has been chosen as one of 17 American cities to get a service center from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support small- and medium-size urban farms.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and his top deputy on Friday visited Saul Agriculture High School in Roxborough to announce a major investment in urban farming.
Vilsack says the USDA wants to encourage the creation of urban farms, gardens and food systems, “recognizing the significance and importance of it in creating opportunity, job growth and the connection between the need for healthy food access and healthy food being grown right here in cities like Philadelphia.”
To that end, the USDA is establishing one urban service center in each of 17 large cities across the United States.
Philly may not be the first place that springs to mind when one thinks about farming, but Congressman Dwight Evans noted the city has some important agricultural assets. Saul High School,” Evans said, “is the largest agricultural high school in the country.”
Vilsack says the urban farming investment is part of a larger initiative to support small- and medium-sized farms — a reversal from the Trump administration’s dictum to “get big or get out.”
The service centers will be staffed by USDA employees who can provide financial and technical assistance to people who want to start anything from a community garden to a local or regional food system, using a $30 million fund for the new Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
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Vilsack says urban farming creates jobs and opportunities and improves access to healthy food choices.
Currently, the largest 7% of farms make 89% of farming profits, while many small farms make none, Vilsack said. He hopes supports like the urban service centers will help to spread the wealth.
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