Mission

Urban Agriculture/Local Food can help Northeastern Ohio eliminate food deserts and malnutrition and improve the quality of life. The cities of Cleveland and Youngstown are each sitting on 3,300 acres of vacant land that could be producing over $600* million in fruits and vegetables per year by 2019 while creating as many as 25 to 30 thousand* meaningful jobs in an urban environment.

The Local Foods sub-groups that formed at the 2009 summit and continue today are:

• Growhio
• Community Kitchen Incubator Project; and
• 10,000 Farmers

Contacts

Todd Alexander, Tunnel Vision Hoops and Growhio, c.todd.alexander@gmail.com, carlton@reachthechildren.org
Peter McDermott, E4S and localfoodcleveland.org, peter@e4s.org
Gwen Forte, incubator kitchen and Growhio, gwen.forte@gmail.com

Potential Projects

1. Growhio, a non-profit organization whose mission is to strengthen and support all aspects of Northeast Ohio's local food economy through branding, marketing and collaboration;
2. Increasing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA);
3. Developing community kitchen(s) and incubator with a mission to advance our local food economy by fostering entrepreneurship, providing educational opportunities and promoting sustainable food production and preservation at a shared commercial kitchen incubator facility;
4. Supporting and mobilizing 10,000 new farmers in 10 years;
5. Creating year-round food production with the development of greenhouses and hydro/aquaponic gardens; and
6. Strengthening the food distribution network.

Updates

Fall 2010

• Growhio has fostered strategic partnerships that have helped it to progress significantly over the past year to design a logo, print marketing materials, design and launch a new website. Donors and partners include Consolidated Graphics Group, Inc., the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Food Policy Coalition, and thunder::tech. In partnership with the Cleveland Farmers’ Market Guild, Growhio was recently awarded a $65,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Grant program to promote the availability of Ohio Specialty Crops at these farmers’ markets.  Next up: issuing an RFP in December for graphic designers to create print materials for the marketing campaign portion of the ODA grant activities.  Email gwen.forte@gmail.com to be added to the RFP distribution list.
• Community Kitchen Incubator Project–The Incubator group has developed a mission statement and 1-pger, and obtained funding for a research trip to ACEnet, an incubator kitchen in Athens, OH. The group is using Ohio City Near West as a fiscal agent, which hired ACEnet to conduct a feasibility study for creation of an incubator kitchen in the Ohio City neighborhood.
• 10,000 Farmers–The 10,000 Farmers in 10 Years workgroup continued their vision through a series of three Local Food Cleveland Network Events that focused on the need for new farmers. The first of these events, "So You Want to Be a Farmer?" was attended by over 250 people and included a panel of new and experienced farmers. Participants at this event learned about the challenges and opportunities in entrepreneurial farming and were connected to the local resources that can help them get started.
• Year-Round Food Production–
  • Tunnel Vision Hoops was formed after the SC2019 2009 Summit. The company designs and builds High Tunnel Hoop Houses from locally sourced materials to extend the growing season for garden farmers in urban, peri-urban or rural settings. Current clients are Case Western University Squire Valleevue Farm, Cleveland Botanical Garden’s Green Corps, with orders for Ohio City Community Gardens and designs for the Ridall Green Partnership.
  • Local Food 365–was a first place winner at Start-up Weekend Cleveland 2009. Local Food 365 revitalizes vacant spaces into urban greenhouses that nourish our local community year round with food, jobs, education, and reinvestment.

Spring 2010

• The group visited community kitchen incubator in Athens, OH;
• Helped develop the RFP for a local food business feasibility study (through the ReImagine a More Sustainable Cleveland project at the city);  
• In discussion with Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority and Ohio City Near West community development corporation about repurposing green space at public housing Riverview Tower for market gardens;
• Looking for a community kitchen/ incubator space near Riverview and the West Side Market 
• Ohio City Near West will act as fiscal agent to Growhio to develop plans to move from its current state as an advocate of local food to a resource center / information hub that can help drive market growth and improve knowledge of what is going on in NEO's local food scene.

Links

Updates on the 2019 Local Foods projects can also be found at localfoodcleveland.org

Related groups

Four new Local Foods groups formed at the 2010. They are: 

• Long-term agriculture
• John Hay High School—fresh food in school
• Year-round local food
• Sustainable micro-enterprise