Our Community Need:
In Kingston, New York (approximate population 25,000) our child poverty rate is 31%, 40% of our youth are overweight or at risk of becoming obese, and 42% of our students are eligible for free or reduced priced lunches.
These statistics are overwhelming, and even though Kingston is in the midst of a thriving and verdant agricultural area known as the Hudson Valley, many families in our community lack the transportation and money to access healthy unprocessed food.
The specific area of Midtown Kingston has been labeled a “food desert.” Food deserts are defined by the USDA as parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. While food deserts are often short on whole food providers, they are often full of businesses that provide a wealth of sugar and fat-laden processed food - known contributors to our nation’s obesity epidemic. And Kingston’s main corridor, known as Broadway, is unfortunately the epitome of this scenario.
Our way to address this:
The Kingston YMCA Farm Project, an Urban Farm in the middle of Kingston.
We already have the captive audience, community support, the facilities and the “know how”. The YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County has an underutilized half acre of sunny farmable land. With planned integration into the YMCA’s on-site afterschool and summer camp programming, the farm will train 200 young farmers each season. Families will be involved in all aspects of food production and farm care: seeding, transplanting, watering, weeding, harvesting, preparing and enjoying the harvest. Everyone will know exactly where their food comes from, how it grows, and the energy and effort it takes to arrive on a plate. While young people will be learning and doing and getting dirty, they will also be producing nutrient-rich, chemical free fruits and vegetables (and a lot of them!) The young farmers will be eating this produce and bringing some home to their families, but we will still have more food!
We want to nourish our community! We are working in partnership with the Kingston Farmer's Market to operate two farm stands. One farm stand will be located at the YMCA and will be open on Thursday evenings from 4-7. People can purchase vegetables just a hop, skip and a jump from where they were grown. The other farm stand will be bike-powered and on the move! On Tuesday evenings a cargo bike will be loaded up with produce and will travel throughout Midtown, spending some time at the old King's Inn site and making many other stops. Our prices will be affordable and we will be able to accept SNAP.
Why a farm?
- Farms provide healthy food.
- A farm gets people outside, engaging with nature in an active way.
- A farm is a perfect place to experience the value of working together for a common goal. Alone, a farm is a lot of work, but with many hands the work is accomplished.
- When growing their own food, families are more likely to try and to enjoy healthy vegetables. This can create a lifetime of healthy eating.
- Everyone can be successful on a farm. You don’t have to be a great student, an agile athlete, and you certainly don’t have to sit still.
- Farms are miraculous places of beauty and wonder. We will be creating a source of community pride in Midtown Kingston.
Who are we?
KayCee Wimbish is an educator and farmer and is thrilled to have this opportunity to combine her two passions. She has a Master’s Degree in Education from Bank Street College of Education, and over 10 years of teaching experience. She taught elementary school for five years before pursuing her interest in farming. She currently teaches vocational English as a Second Language to adults who are studying to be Nursing Assistants. For the past two years she has taught food preservation classes at libraries and in people’s homes. She has been farming in the Hudson Valley for the past 7 years, working at Hearty Roots Community Farm, a vegetable farm that uses the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. She also owned and operated the former Awesome Farm, a pasture based animal farm, raising cattle, sheep, turkeys and chickens. She ran the South Pine Street City Farm in 2013.
Lee Anne Albritton feels most lucky to have grown up in concurrent urban and agricultural settings and having been exposed to the best and worst of both in Florida and North Carolina. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and Women’s Studies/Education and has been running YMCA youth and family programs since 1997 in the Southern Ulster area of New York’s Hudson Valley. Lee Anne loves community collaboration to provide free and affordable programs for everyone, and has been successful in creating many healthy lifestyle and enrichment programs that concentrate on fun for the YMCA of Kingston and Ulster day camps and childcare programs . Recently she has been involved in creating several community and school gardens in New Paltz and Kingston that include nutrition and cooking classes that the kids can take home.
What We Need & What You Get
Our goal is $10,000. This will enable to do the following:
- Purchase high quality tools for young people and adults that will last a long time. This includes wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes, hoes, and trowels.
- Purchase irrigation equipment to keep our seedlings and plants happy and growing.
- Cover some operating costs associated with running an educational program.
- Purchase organic seeds and organic potting soil as well as any necessary soil amendments and cover crop seeds.
- Purchase harvest equipment like knives and clippers and totes for storage post-harvest.
- Purchase supplies to build a wash station for post-harvest washing of the vegetables.
- Create our market stand so that the community can access fresh, local, affordable produce. We will be be mobile and bike-powered.
Much has already been accomplished! The 1/4 acre garden is ready and waiting for spring planting. Close to 100 volunteers helped us shovel, haul and spread soil and compost to create twenty 4' x 55' raised beds and pathways. A deer fence has been installed (despite being in the city, deer pressure is a reality!). Farmer KayCee and a crew of after-school students planted garlic, a blueberry bush, and a cover crop. We have a storage shed, a greenhouse and a crop plan!
Every donation is a vital part of growing the farm! We want to thank you for your generosity! For $25 or more you can show your support of the Farm by wearing this tote bag. It is made and printed in New Hampshire and is perfect for carrying (or biking) your vegetables around any town.
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We also need help spreading the word about this NEW farm project and the work we will be doing with children and families. Please tell your friends and neighbors. Have a skill you want to share with us? Please get in touch!
