project leader
Yonnette F
location
49 Van Buren Street
(Bedford Stuyvesant)
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the project

The Hattie Carthan Herban Farm is an educational herb farm guided by the principles of food justice. The community herb farm is part of the Hattie Carthan Food Projects in Central Brooklyn working to promote the use of herbs for holistic individual, communal and environmental health. We are a grassroots, feminine led agricultural regeneration project. Our approach is holistic and direct in nature aimed at finding creative ways to bridging the gap among the generations in order to collaborate in the efforts of dispensing wisdom gained through experience pertinent for regeneration and well being.

The Farm is located at 49 Van Buren Street and operates a small farm stall and apothecary on Sundays 1pm to 6pm, July to November. The farm and community based market was co-founded by Yonnette Fleming, Président of the Hattie Carthan Community Garden. Farmer Yon as she is fondly known is a highly recognized leader who has received a plethora of awards for her decades of contributions to the borough of Brooklyn and NYC ecosystem. 

The community farm lot was cleaned and envisioned in March 2011 when Fleming rallied a group of neighbors to invest in the rehabilitation of a neglected neighborhood lot. In April 2011 the farm license was signed for the new site, then operated by the NYC Housing Preservation Department. Work began in mid-May to clear, clean, design and utilize the lot. By the end of May of that year, Farmer Yon and volunteers were planting in grow bags. The After Church Market was launched in August with a Fresh Connect State grant from the Governor.  Our community work has been heralded in a number of forums and was recently featured in the Natural Farmer publication in the Urban Agriculture section.

In 2017, the farm was transferred to NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, a new fence and gate was erected in time for our preparation to scale up our production and impact. We are seeking the support of like minded Earth angels to upgrade the farm stand area, build a new meditation space on the farm, a small processing room for drying and preserving herbs and installing a new cob oven for neighbors to explore alternative grains and herbs which already grow on the farm. Our previous campaign helped us raise funds to build the outdoor kitchen cover,add a new 10ft pergola. Now we need your kind assistance to finish the apothecary, add massage tables and finish outfitting the processing room with shelves and herbal learning aids.

indeed every long journey begins with a step forward. Help us move our vision into a orking reality.

the steps

PROJECT TIMELINE

[MARCH - MAY] 2020 GRASSROOTS FUNDING FOR PROJECT

[JUNE - JULY]

CONSTRUCTION

[LATE JULY]

Farmers MARKET Resumes offering herbal products

why we're doing it

The Hattie Carthan Farm sees its work as building the physical and human landscape for community health. This work of human and Earth repair/regeneration is an ultra creative, Sacred endeavor which demands communal support, commitment and perseverance.

In fact, this act of social justice occurs every time a dumped-on lot or piece of Earth is snatched from industrialization and converted into living, breathing ecosystems which benefit communities in a myriad of ways. Every time a grassroots regeneration project succeeds, it challenges the dominant industrial landscape and changes the tone of our communal stories of defeat and despair which make us accept the unacceptable and become tired before even trying.

The herbs breaking through the concrete slabs on our pavements and walls remind us that they have co-evolved alongside us humans for a reason. They are patient and strong and alive fighting with tenacity, yet they are often overlooked as survival allies and plants of agency. Every regenerative patch of Land give birth to spider webs of mycelia that rumble across the planet like little Earthquakes empowering more of us to wake up and take our place as healthy humans and functioning stewards of the living Earth.

On the human side, We find that across the United States, rates of obesity and diabetes are increasing dramatically, particularly within lower income, African-American and Latino Communities. A third of residents in New York City neighborhoods like Bedford Stuyvesant are living in poverty and more than 12% of adults have diabetes, compared to 8% nationwide. Chronic diseases are directly linked to lack of healthy food consumption. Less than 8% of primarily African-American and Latino residents in poor communities report eating than the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables; 20% report to eating none at all. Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn faces the realities of systemic racism that engenders poverty, violence, and food insecurity. According to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, some of the greatest rates of food insecurity in the city occur in Central Brooklyn (where Bedford Stuyvesant is located). Over a third of Central Brooklyn is in poverty (www.nyc.gov). The community is heavily over-policed as the city continues to employ forms of broken windows policing in communities of color like Bedford-Stuyvesant. In Central Brooklyn, bodegas (small convenience stores) represent more than 80% of food retail and about one in five bodegas carry fresh apples, oranges, and bananas and only four percent carry dark leafy greens (www.nyc.gov).

The farm, garden and its two markets are agricultural regeneration projects that seek to create a healthy and self-sufficient community grounded in the earths cycles and processes. The Urban Agriculture Youth Corps and Food Justice Leadership Collective empowers young people 14 to 30 years old with the mechanics of owning and operating a community venture through learning to grow nutrient dense food, livestock care, food justice, herbalism, cooking skills, and community organizing.

The Hattie Carthan farm is a place where all ages can gather to learn about herbs and healing.

 

budget

Disbursed Budget (6.5.18)

Raised = $2,541.00
less ioby Platform Fee $35.00
less ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $72.99
Total to Disburse = $2,433.01

Original Budget

AREA 1: IMPROVED FARM STALL DIMENSIONS: 10ft X 12ft COST: $3000 
AREA 2: BREAD BAKING AREA DIMENSIONS: 10ft X 17ft COST: $4000
AREA 3: RAINWATER CATCHMENT WASHING STALL ROOF DIMENSIONS: 10ft X 10ft COST: $1000
AREA 4: COOKING DEMONSTRATION AREA DIMENSIONS: 10 ft X24 ft COST: $3000 
AREA 5: FIRMED UP ADOBE HOUSE FOR APOTHECARY DIMENSIONS: 10ft x 15ft COST: $2000
AREA 6: COMMUNITY  MEDITATION ROOM DIMENSIONS: 8X8 COST: $3000
AREA 7: HERB PROCESSING AND MILLING ROOM DIMENSIONS: 8ft X 14ft COST: $5000
AREA 8: REGENERATION AREA DIMENSIONS: 8ft x 8ft COST: $4000 



SUBTOTAL = $25,000
ioby Platform Fee $35
Donation Processing Fee of 3%  $750
TOTAL TO RAISE = $25,785

 

updates

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photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Mandy Rice
  • sam
  • Lashon A.
  • Sarah Mukpo
  • Anonymous
  • Barbara Turk
  • Hines
  • Renee K
  • Ai & Jason
  • kristin r.
  • Rachel Isreeli
  • Karin K.
  • JK Canepa
  • Rachel and Dustin
  • Sebastian Robins
  • BrightFlame
  • Leah Obias
  • James Amenta
  • Arif U.
  • Green Guerillas
  • Onika, Anthony and Forest
  • Steve Frillmann
  • Emily P.
  • ALisa Starkweather
  • Paola Garcia