Urban Farming Town Hall

Please read the following article about my recent Town Hall on Urban Farming:
http://www.examiner.com/x-31741-Cincinnati-West-Side-Examiner~y2010m6d24...

State Representative Denise Driehaus holds town hall meeting “down on the farm”
 
June 24, 3:06 PMCincinnati West Side ExaminerJulie Hotchkiss
 
Denise Driehaus represents the 31st Ohio State House district, which includes the Cincinnati neighborhoods of Camp Washington, Sayler Park, South Fairmount, Price Hill, and Westwood, as well as communities outside Cincinnati in Hamilton County. Although her district includes some suburban and exurban areas, she selected a farm in an urban environment—the Enright Ridge Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project—in East Price Hill as the site for a town hall meeting on Wednesday, June 23, that focused on agricultural issues.

Other issues came up in the question-and-answer session, including recent legislature that provided funding for ancillary services in Catholic schools and bills that ensure local businesses and workers are involved in building and running the urban casinos coming to Cincinnati and three other Ohio cities. But the conversation came around again to farm issues, especially support for local farms in Ohio. Attendees pointed to legislature in Kentucky that offers incentives for large purchasers, such as schools, hospitals, and prisons, to purchase produce and other food products from local suppliers.

Agriculture is the biggest industry in Ohio, Driehaus acknowledged, but much of that is large farms growing corn and soybeans. Members of the Enright Ridge CSA asked about plans to encourage wholesale buyers to support smaller farms that grow a diversity of crops. 

Restaurants in Cincinnati are leading the trend to buy locally; some even have their own small farms to raise produce they use in their offerings. One attendee from Findlay Market, the Cincinnati farmers’ market in Over the Rhine, said that area chefs often come very early to their weekend farmers’ market and buy out the available produce. “That’s a good problem!” exclaimed Jim Schenk, a founder of the Imago Earth Center and the Enright Ridge Eco-Village that led to formation of the Enright CSA.

At the end of the evening, Driehaus went on a tour of the Enright greenhouse facility and CSA members answered questions about how the farm co-op works. Unlike most CSAs, the Enright Ridge group does not depend on a large tract of land they own or rent to grow their crops. The farm is instead spread out over property owned by several members and the CSA itself, including the greenhouse. The CSA is also using some land in Sayler Park to grow larger crops, such as watermelons, so the “farm” is spread over about eight different plots.

The Enright Ridge CSA has 40 shares this year, up from 25 last year. In some cases, two or more people and family members share a share, so there are nearly 100 people involved in this urban farm co-op. Members pay for a share and agree to work at least 36 hours a year on the farm. This year, they have harvested greens, herbs, turnips, beets, lettuce, cucumbers and radishes already, with tomatoes, squash, melons, and other crops ripening for harvest soon. Representative Driehaus and her aides saw cucumber vines and tomato plants, cabbage and onions ready to be harvested, and broccoli, leeks, carrots and herbs growing behind the greenhouse during their tour.