A jewel in the crown of the Philadelphia Sustainability movement is Greensgrow Philadelphia Project whose mission is the development of a model green business for brownfield sites. Their centerpiece program is Greensgrow Farm, a 3⁄4 acre experimental farm located in the leafy, languid expanse known as the Kensington section of Philadelphia. The Farm is located on a true “Brownfield” - a former USEPA Superfund site! In its tenth year, Greensgrow Farm continues to run an operation dedicated to proving that abandoned land can be not only reclaimed, but returned to the neighborhood as an asset that serves the community while developing and employing sustainable business and environmental practices.
Greensgrow was truly borne of sweat equity, notably the prodigious perspiration of Mary Seton Corboy and Tom Sereduk, who had the bright idea in 1997 to start up a new kind of farm. They wanted to see what kind of market there might be for vegetables picked right from the fields and delivered the same day to friends who ran restaurants in Philadelphia. An agricultural “just in time delivery” assembly line of sorts. Starting on an existing farm in Jacksonville, New Jersey, they grew, picked, delivered, and sold to many recognizable Center City It is on their sunburnt backs that the growth and success of Greensgrow has been carried. After that first year they thought it might be a good idea to try and grow in Philadelphia, where they both lived, on some of the vacant land they’d been hearing about. Philadelphia’s first farm in forty years took root in March of 1998. restaurants.
Their noted hydroponics program - a water and energy efficient Nutrient Film Transfer system built from scrap materials - has been the marvel of first and second and third time visitors to Greensgrow. After two years of refining hydroponic growing, the mind-bending trash crawlers went on to build 7500 square feet of greenhouse space, high tunnels for season expansion, and 4500 square feet of specially designed raised beds to meet the growing interest in their products from restaurants and the community.
Greensgrow, however, is more than just a farm. Committed to its neighborhood and the Philadelphia community, Greensgrow from the beginning has opened its gates for tours of its operations, including lessons in composting, hydroponic growing, high tunnels and beekeeping. Their work has taken them to community gardens, senior centers, schools and arts projects across Philadelphia. Mary Seton is a frequent and always politically incorrect speaker at colleges, symposiums, conferences and forums. Greensgrow has been recognized by Organic Style Magazine, The Womens Chefs Association, The William Clinton Library, PBS, Preservation, and The Philadelphia Business Journal as “inventive,” “workable,” “original,” “ innovative,” and “purposeful.” In 2007, they will begin making biodiesel with waste oil from favorite Philly restaurant and long time supporter of local foods, The Standard Tap. Working with The Fulton Sustainable Farm at Wilson College, Greensgrow is applying solar laminates to their new Farm Stand roof. Greensgrow is also the co-founder of the Farm Market Alliance, developing policies designed to strengthen the nearby rural farming communities while ensuring that the urban consumer has a voice in issues surrounding food choices and methods of production. From Day One, their vision has been to become a profitable urban green business dedicated to growing the best products, people and neighborhoods. Greensgrow takes this vision very seriously and works hard to be a good neighbor, a good place to shop and a good place to work.
This entrant merits consideration as a worthy candidate to receive the Philadelphia Sustainability Award. The very essence of Greensgrow’s mission is sustainability, including job creation, energy conservation, water efficiency, runoff or stormwater management benefits, green buildings and - just as importantly - the growth of friends, neighborhoods and communities. Greensgrow does not shy away from the hustle and beer bottles of a long neglected community. They have succeeded and failed quite publicly and shared their successes and failures with others interested in pursuing alternative actionable greening.
Finding ways to utilize post-industrial lands in neighborhoods that are considered “borderline” is an important aspect of city revitalization. We cannot continue to ignore these land parcels, only to jump to attention when developers have decided to remake a neighborhood in their own interests. Creating “livable” urban communities should not stop at zip codes that are in demand. Greensgrow did not enter the urban local food movement after it had been established; Greensgrow was a fore runner in the development of the movement.
It needs be noted that, based on revenue, Greensgrow’s continued financial performance has led to its emergence as one of the largest urban farm operations in the nation. An ignored, razed and hazed, full city block has been turned from negligence to vibrancy by a couple of people with half a tool box and a vision. The issue of whether or not urban agriculture is even viable has been answered by the hard work of one small organization continuing to hack away at mundane issues season after season in the shadow of one of the world’s great metropolitan areas. Finally, there are the non-metrics of bringing environmentally sound - in fact, progressive - building methods and sustainable management into an underserved community, making fresh food available to the neighborhood, and creating a workplace that fosters original and critical thinking.
