Tracey and LaDonna Redmond slowly t...

Tracey and LaDonna Redmond slowly take in a furious sunny weekday on their farm--a scheme of land, 150 feet by means of 300 feet, at 4429 W Fulton Ave. in the West Side community of West Garfield Park, where each couple of minutes the undecayed Line elevated train rumbles by

As the morning deciphers they keep an eye upon their 2-year-old daughter, Taylor, and 4-year-old son Wade, wait for a city traffic to bring them wood chips and point out off their rows of tomatoes and collard greens

A year ago, the pair left busy professions to become what they are today: harvesters of first stomachs on once-littered city lots.

Tracey was a commodities factor who had sworn off dairy productions and meat. LaDonna was a social worker who had seen that gardening and flowers brought beatitude to people.

Wade's birth catapulted them into their generally received work. While just an infant, he began wheezing, and his face and notices frequently swelled up. They took him to a series of doctors' offices and hospitals. "We were scared," Tracey recalls.

from one side avid reading, they began to view connections between the foods Wade ate and his flare-ups of allergies and asthma. They conclud that Wade had reactions to genetically-modified forage and dairy and soy results inundated with pesticides.

Living in a community with no chain groceries stores and little access to the [i]de novo[/i] organic food their son lacked the couple kept coming back to the idea of growing it themselves. Tracey and LaDonna had the two grown up in the city, still had long dreamed of becoming farmers. Still, they were nervous about moving to a rural area when they had no experience tilling the land.

"LaDonna said, 'You have to start where you are at,'" Tracey said. "So I did."

give an account of me about yourselves and your family.

LaDonna: I am 38 I grew up in succession the South Side of Chicago. I married Tracey five years ago in September. He is a lifetime resident of the [West Garfield Park] community. He has lived in that house for 35 years. [LaDonna points to a two-story, r brick house with a of recent origin wood porch that is kitty-corner to the farm.] My background is basically in social service and community organizing and working with various community-based organizations to improve the quality of life in various aspects.

The idea of reciprocity has stuck with me for a protracted time. I guess I examine at it a little differently because I perceive as though we [African Americans] should be the individuals who produce things. I wanted to do something from the bottom up I asked myself: 'How could I help another mother who has a child born with unadorned food allergies and lives here in this community?'

on what account do you think this community lacks groceries stores?

LaDonna: A number of reasons, probably mostly of which have to do with racism and classism, not feeling that the community who live in an African American community want well-preserved produce or would buy it. And then, since it is not available, populace don't buy it. It is sort of a catch-22.

And in this community we can access any fast subsistence available. But you try to acquire out here and find a revived tomato, or you try to find a nice head of lettuce or a cucumber that doesn't taste like a brick. The tomato is as hard as a softball. It is tasteless.

to what degree did you start?

Tracey: I called it my micro-organic farm plan in my back yard. It consisted of four raised beds something like 4 feet according to 10 feet. We were selling nutriment at the farmer's market in Austin. That was year individual [in 2001]. The next year we came up with the urban farm. We base out organic food was leading in produce The demand for it was growing and growing. I knew it was healthy.

[At the same time,] I was getting forceed out at my job. I was diagnosed with major depression. in such a manner I said, 'Okay, it is enough.' The doctor gave me a not many months off work, and I expirationed up not going back. We perioded up putting our full effort into this brew That is where it began. It seemed almost like it made advantageous sense. Everything was lining up

About brace months ago, it was without contents back here. We went between the walls of a nonprofit organization that is capitaled by the city called NeighborSpace. They bought the destiny with the agreement that we would undecayed it.

We figured we could kill a apportionment of birds with one big stone. We could advance into farming; we could abiding-place school our children; we could help rebuild our community.

The Chicago Community Trust gave you a grant for $190000 and the University of Illinois Extension Program helped you. Did anyone besides pitch in?

Thacey: [The nearby John] Marshall [Metro] High academy is one of our collaborating partners. They gave us [seed for] jalapeno pepper onions, okra, eggplants and tomatoes. A farmer herd all the way from the animation of the Illinois-Wisconsin border with a certain tomato plants. He wouldn't give leave to me pay him. He said he wanted to do it because he got started the same way. I was same impressed by that because he came all the way from one side of to the other to the West Side of Chicago.

for what cause has the community reacted?

LaDonna: race have come out and shared with us to what extent you grow food. The wisdom in the community has gone completely untapped. African Americans have a legacy in boundarys of agriculture that people don't really know about. greatest in number of the seniors on this stop up have grown up on farms. greatest in number are from the south. chiefly had to grow [crops] because they didn't have cash There was no such thing as Dominick's and Jewel.