If you have an urban farmer nearby, then you’re lucky indeed. After speaking with Monika Owczarski of The Sweet Tooth Farm, based here in the Riverbend Neighborhood of Des Moines, Iowa, I learned a great deal about urban farming and its contributions to the community.

In this episode of TDS, you may be surprised to discover Monika’s approach to the venture and why an urban farm located near where you live can be the best neighbor you’ll ever want.
I considered the work of urban farming as something “new,” having learned of Monika and her work by way of FemCity® Des Moines. It turns out, however, to be a concept we’ve encountered here in the U.S. before, starting in the mid-twentieth century during WWII.

That’s when people living in cities, towns, and rural areas transformed backyards into their own “victory gardens” to help with the war effort. These make-shift farms supplied additional food at a time when there was concern about food shortages, as food, labor and other supplies were diverted to support the troops.

Per the article “The Real Value of Urban Farming. (Hint: It’s Not Always the Food.) over at Vox by Brad Pulmer notes, remarkably, these gardens supplied nearly 40 percent of the country’s produce from 1941 to 1946, before petering out as industrialized agriculture took a stronghold.
The definition of urban farming is the cultivation of food in urban areas. You’ve most likely seen this manifestation in community gardens where people share plots of land to grow food. Or perhaps you’ve noted a green space atop a high rise in a city, as well as models with a farmer recapturing abandoned lands for use.

Urban gardening has had a rebirth with a steady growth of 30% over the past 30 years, which has been even more dramatic in recent years as more people are concerned about sustainable agricultural models.

CONNECTION TO YOUR FOOD
These days consumers desire a closer bond with the merchants who provide their food. Community Supported Agriculture is on the rise, farmer’s markets enjoy robust business, and urban farmers such as Sweet Tooth Farm have become significant contributors.

Some of the most prominent, if not always measurable benefits, of urban farms include:
•The potential to feed large communities at a local level rather than by means of industrial farming.
•A source of healthy food in “food deserts.”
•Environmentally friendly with less travel, costs, and carbon footprint between the consumer and producer.

Per Pulmer, some of these benefits may be overstated where the results depend on location, the urban farmer, and the dynamics of the communities where they reside.

A CLOSER LOOK AT SWEET TOOTH FARM
During this interview, Monika explains Sweet Tooth Farm’s mission to bring local, chemical-free produce to her community at affordable prices. There is nothing to over-promise there, but the contribution is significant. She details how they’ve worked with the city of Des Moines to utilize unused and unkempt areas within their neighborhood, turning it into productive and attractive land.
You’ll be especially charmed with the virtual tour of the Riverbend Neighborhood, a unique segment of Des Moines filled with beautiful old stately mansions more than a century old.

These days the people of Riverbend represent one of the city’s most diverse areas with immigrants from Latin American, parts of Asia and Africa, as well as those who have a passion for refurbishing old homes.

Sweet Tooth is a family farm where the time and energy have been invested by Monika and her husband, while they raise their children. The operations have progressed at a determined pace.
Monika shares the compelling story of how she gained access to the first plot of land and turned an idea into fruition. I challenge you not to feel inspired once you hear her story.

It’s hard to imagine how someone becomes ambitious enough to transform a small parcel of land into a farm providing enough food to sell to a community, but Monika walks us through how they began and where they are right now.

A look at the list of produce they anticipate providing for 2020 points to heirloom vegetables and items that aren’t as readily available in the corporate grocery stores.

Some produce you can expect to find at Sweet Tooth this year include:
•Chioggia Beet
•Amethyst Green Beans
•Dragon Tongue Beans
•Aswad Eggplant
•Yellow Ground Cherry
•Delacata Squash

As with every episode of The Delicious Story, we do chat about memorable meals. Monika’s will warm you. And then there is the over-cooked turkey story. You’ll want to listen in to hear her tell it.

THE SWEETEST VALUE, AN EXCELENT NEIGHBOR
When the dwellers of a neighborhood invest in their community and the people, they raise the entirety of the area for everyone. Sweet Tooth provides the significant amenity of a personal contribution and pride for where they live.

Of all the touted benefits of urban farms, Sweet Tooth delivers the most important one—as a good steward and neighbor in the community where it lives.

For more about Sweet Tooth Farm, you can head here. Also, an update about the Flourish event Monika mentions at the top of the interview. All three entrants were marvelous, but Monika wowed them with her story. You can learn more about Flourish and Femcity® Des Moines in the interview.