Springfield Community Gardens partners with CoxHealth on farm

Springfield Community Gardens is adding a new farm to the south side in partnership with CoxHealth.

The project, located west of Ferrell-Duncan Clinic across from Cox South, is funded by part of $1.6 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture grants that also are paying for SCG projects at The Fairbanks and Schweitzer United Methodist Church, according to a news release.

“Plans for the farm originated prior to the COVID-19 pandemic’s arrival in the Ozarks, but now more than ever, we are very excited for this partnership and what it means for our community,” said Jason Bauer, system director of food services at CoxHealth, in the release. “We are looking forward to helping provide our patients and employees with locally grown food that will benefit their health.”

The new farm adds to an existing partnership between CoxHealth and SCG. The two have collaborated for years on a garden at Cox North.

Work on the new farm – named Amanda Belle’s Farm in honor of hospital namesake Lester E. Cox’s mother – is slated to begin in the coming weeks. Crews are adding irrigation lines and high tunnels where food will be grown, according to the release.

The farm will provide seasonal produce that meet patients’ dietary needs, and it also will be opened up to CoxHealth employees through a community-supported agriculture program. The grant funding also stipulates it will be open to the public for certain reasons, such as addressing food insecurity.