Urban farmers planting seeds in business, education

From community gardens across north central Springfield to an urban farm in the West Central neighborhood, local residents don’t have to look far to see the urban farming movement is putting down strong roots.

Economic viability also may soon be seen on the city’s south side, as MaMa Jean’s Natural Foods Market LLC builds a new supply chain through a partnership with startup Sustainable By Nature LLC.

Susie Farbin, who co-owns the markets with Diana Hicks, said Sustainable by Nature operations manager and co-owner Drake Hughes approached MaMa Jean’s with the idea to grow its own products at the 1110 E. Republic Road store.

“Our organizations are in line with each other,” said Hughes, who co-owns Sustainable by Nature with brother Riley and sister-in-law Alyssa Hughes. “It just made sense. Why wouldn’t we use this space to grow food?”

Fully realized, the plan include 520 square feet of raised beds and rooftop space growing vegetables for deli use, plus herbs for deli and retail sale under the market’s own label. A roughly 3,800-square-foot green roof at the Green Circle retail center, now home to native grasses, would contain wildflowers – necessary habitat for pollinators like butterflies and bees that will help the gardens grow.

Hughes said beds and irrigation systems were installed at cost – around $6,000 – and MaMa Jean’s will pay Sustainable By Nature $800 per month to maintain the operation.

Farbin said produce would be prepared at MaMa Jean’s fourth store, a minimarket scheduled to open with a central kitchen in early May at 900 E. Battlefield Road, Ste. 140, in Battlefield Market Place. The focus at the 6,900-square-foot space, formerly Florentina’s Ristorante Italiano, will be freshly prepared foods and grab-and-go items.

“I thought it would be great to be able to say, ‘This was grown by MaMa Jean’s,’” Farbin said. “But you can only spread yourself so thin. By (Sustainable By Nature) maintaining it, we can focus on the business and still reap the benefits of growing fresh produce.”

Community agriculture
For husband-and-wife urban farmers Adam and Melissa Millsap, 2016 is positioned to be a prosperous year. Despite having no guarantees in the agriculture industry, the duo’s Urban Roots Farm LLC at 823 W. State St. has made steady sales progress since its establishment in 2011, reaching about $55,000 last year. Adam Millsap said the half-acre farm produces about 500 pounds a week year-round. “This is a business model that was thought to be impossible for the past 70 years,” he said, comparing large-scale farms. “This isn’t supposed to work, but we’re finding better production and profit margins on less space.”

Roughly 75 percent of Urban Roots’ business comes from community supported agriculture shareholders. In the CSA model, customers pay an upfront price – $395 or $670 based on the size of share – to receive produce weekly. Shares tripled to 75 in 2015 from 25 in 2011, and the Millsaps hope to reach their capacity of 85 this summer.

Remaining revenue represents sales at farmers markets, to MaMa Jean’s and other retailers and restaurants like The Order, Golden Girl Rum Club and Rogersville-based Harvest. Adam Millsap said the company’s relationship with chefs is a major departure from Springfield’s culinary scene when Urban Roots started.

“Now, instead of them calling us saying, ‘This is what I need,” it’s ‘What do you have?’” Millsap said. “It’s the perfect relationship between a farmer and a chef.”

For Gilardi’s Ristorante owner James Martin, who grows some of the Walnut Street eatery’s ingredients on the restaurant grounds and at a second garden behind Rogue Barber Co., the line blurs between the two occupations. Estimating expenses for each of the gardens at $8,000-$10,000, Martin’s goal is to produce 80 percent of the restaurant’s ingredients by the end of June – either directly through the gardens or by trading for items grown by other chefs.

“I’ve owned Gilardi’s for three years and 2015 was the highest revenue the restaurant has ever done,” Martin said, declining to disclose figures but citing a 55 percent sales increase. “I think it’s because we’ve focused on local food, and that sticks in people’s minds.”

Paradigm shift
The growing movement is filtering into Springfield Public Schools, too.

The Springfield Urban Agriculture Coalition helped establish eight gardens for nine SPS sites, merging green thumb know-how and SPS core curriculum with help from Springfield Community Gardens’ volunteers.

“It’s all about interconnections,” said Maile Auterson, SCG co-founder.

The nonprofit currently manages 18 gardens in city limits, and each cost $6,000.

“We’re relatively new to the scene, but we’re becoming a conduit for conservations around sustainable agriculture,” she said.

SCG is able to implement new gardens by working with other local businesses. One example is a land-use agreement with Habitat for Humanity of Springfield to develop a 1.72-acre community farm at 1909 N. Park Ave. in the Tom Watkins neighborhood. A $10,000 grant from Mid-America Transplant Services Foundation funded a high-yield farmer-training program conducted by Fassnight Creek Farms.

Auterson said SCG also plans to start a 3-acre farm with Convoy of Hope adjacent to its East Chestnut Expressway warehouse, as well as a garden with Mercy Hospital Springfield in Ray Kelly Park on South Fremont Avenue. Next on the farmers’ docket is an influence at franchise restaurants and supermarket retailers.

“That’s what you’re seeing reflected; interest and investment in where your food comes from,” Millsap said. “When McDonald’s is offering kale on the menu, that’s a sign that things are changing.”