Inspiring Conversations with Farmer Chippy of Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm

Today we’d like to introduce you to Farmer Chippy. Them and their team share their story with us below:

The Introduction Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm (PPHUF) was started in June 2014.  Its birth came out of a group of young, black American citizens’ desire to effect change and have a positive impact on the lives of young black and brown adults that reside in the Park Heights community.

After a number of consultations and meetings with schools and community groups, Farmer Chippy and the PPHUF team decided that instead of attempting to repeat or compete with the organizations or non-profits during COVID-19, it would be better to form strategic partnerships and share resources so as to achieve the same goals.

In this respect, we have partnered with Park Heights Renaissance, Langston Hughes Community Resource Center, Creative City Public Charter School, Park Heights Academy Pimlico Elementary/Middle School, Baltimore Office of Sustainability, Farm Alliance of Baltimore, Maryland Farm Bureau, BmoreAg, and the University of Maryland. We chose these organizations because they support urban agriculture training programs that create entrepreneurs.

In this COVID-19 pandemic, the major aims of the PPHUF Team are as follows: Create a safe and healthy environment for every elementary school child and their immediate family in Park Heights.
Build “AgriHoodBaltimore” – A thriving marketplace, community shared agriculture (CSA), and urban farmer training resource institute. Complete the outdoor “URBAN SEEDS KITCHEN/CLASSROOM” designed by Morgan State University students to support our elementary school children with Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) of the food chain.

Grow 250,000 pounds of food, increase our supply chain, decentralize our cold storage and processing to ensure sustainable food security for our community of children and older adults in Park Heights. Empower Park Heights youths to create their own work and manage their own resources as we re-build our city around cleaner greener foods.

It is estimated that during this COVID-19 period, many families will need trauma treatment, skills training, and locally grown, nutrient-dense foods. If properly funded, PPHUF can recruit the right team to effect meaningful change in the lives of 1000 families in Park Heights, Baltimore.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
URBAN AGRICULTURE CHALLENGES IN PARK HEIGHTS!!! GENERATIONAL CURSE: Fear, disappointment, mediocrity, drugs, poverty, pettiness, and lack of access

SPIRITUALITY: Lack connection to IFA and the ancestors… no rituals to connect with the Orishas… believing everyone else faith while denying their own.

POVERTY PIMPS: Achieving academic accolades and appointed to speak on behalf of black and brown folks… meanwhile, completely lacking knowledge of who we are and what we do… this group of “black professionals” use the very same BABYLONIAN techniques to leverage our innovation.

BLACKFACE: Those appointed to disseminate state resources to folks in need but instead, blatantly secure their own selfish desires and use these resources to promote themselves during a pandemic.

PHONY: Spreading rumors about folks actually “DOING THE WORK” in Park Heights… then desperately aligning with anything that appears to be moving. Seeking attention through silly social media posts and gossiping on corners with other non-performers to create chaos.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We wish to give high-risk youth and their families access to Cleaner Greener Foods here in Park Heights. Access to a level of sustainability education and preventive healthcare will allow easier assimilation during the pandemic as we prepare for the rebirth of civility. Presently, there are no facilities or programs that adequately address the needs of the ghetto youth in these crucial times.  Again we have been forgotten!!!

The current system is able to recruit us but unable to retain us.  We have been deemed unacceptable and outcasts because some of us are unable to float through our academic educational system and enter their world of work with ease. Project Access gives these children and young adults a pathway into a society of responsible and hard-working individuals. In collaboration with Pimlico Community Development Authority, The Mayor, and Baltimore City Council, we have created a community economic pipeline by building “AgriHoodBaltimore” – A thriving marketplace, community-supported agriculture, and urban farmer training resource institute.

Project Access becomes the forerunner to community development, workforce development, and urban agriculture solutions.  Primarily our children and young adults will learn basic math, language, and self-sustainability skills.  The partnership with the community allows the PPHUF team to develop a continuous assessment program with junior urban farmers, trainers, and school administrators.  We envisage ‘Cleaner Greener Food Access” for all families at risk in Park Heights and environs.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
TAKE A MINUTE TO REFLECT, GIVE THANKS FOR LIFE, STAY WOKE BUILD-A-VIBE!

We will work through the sun, rain, or snow, sound the alarm and we are ready to go. Team PPHUF is resilient, creative, and bright. Blessing up the place and removing Baltimore City blight. Folks keep telling us how much they care but no COVID-19 relief all throughout the year. “We love what you’re doing” – is what they say, but never contribute in any productive way.

We have all seen this movie before and it’s the same joke. Mind your business and do the work. It matters not what the BABYLONIANS do or say. Their story is built on LIES and DECEPTIONS every day.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.plantationparkheights.org
• Instagram: @cleanergreenerfoodsinc
• Facebook: @plantationparkheightsurbanfarm
• Twitter: @cleanerfoods
• Youtube: Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm
• Other: www.cleanergreenerfoods.com

Image Credits
USDA Flicker Photos by FarmerChippy