community Growers Program
The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) is working to reduce the barriers to urban agriculture by supporting urban growers with access to land, resources to build long-term sites, and technical support.
The Community Growers Program (CGP), designed in partnership with the City of Chicago Food Equity Council, launched in 2022 to increase food equity in communities with a history of disinvestment by supporting the development of urban agriculture sites led by local growers. This investment in urban agriculture in communities with limited food access will provide residents with more options for accessing fresh produce, while also creating wealth-building opportunities for growers.
Through the Urban Land Access Program, experienced local growers can apply for City-owned vacant lots using the City’s land sale platform ChiBlockBuilder.
BACP has partnered with NeighborSpace as the lead delegate agency to provide technical assistance to new and existing agriculture businesses with infrastructure needs and resources such as water access, environmental assessments, remediation, capacity building projects, and business management support.
Community Growers Awardees & Partners
Round 1: Awarded June 2023
- Contemporary Farmer, Inc
- Fresher Together Farm
- Kuumba Tre-Ahm Community Garden
- Finding Justice A Flower and Vegetable Garden
- Milpa Mizan
- Mollie's Market Garden LLC
- North Lawndale Greening Committee and Farm2Table Pipeline Project
- Only Things In Season (OTIS) Farm Stand Worker Cooperative
- Patchwork Farms
- Community Roots Garden in South Shore
- Stalwart Market, Inc
- Getting Grown Collective's Libations to the Ancestors Community Garden
- The Eat 2 Live Community Garden, part of Cedillos Produce and sponsored by The Seed Keepers Collective
- UNION Impact Center's Jardin Huitzilin
- We Sow We Grow
- What’s Growing On
- Wood Street Collective
Round 2: Awarded December 2024
- Sistas in the Village (SITV)
- Eden Place Nature Center and Eden Place Farms
- Earl's Garden Mae's Kitchen (EGMK)
- The Generation Garden
- Rooted in Transformation
- Saint James Community Farm
NeighborSpace Partners:
- Chicago Food Policy Action Committee (CFPAC)
- Community Food Navigator
- The Conservation Fund
- DePaul Steans Center
- Grow Greater Englewood (GGE)
- Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA)
- Urban Growers Collective (UGC)
- Windy City Harvest
Community Growers impact
Contributing to the Food Equity Council's purpose to build a more just, equitable, and resilient food system in Chicago that advances food security and eliminates disparities in health and wealth.
Impact at a Glance:
- 11 New Farms Funded
- 13 Existing Farms Supported
- 12 Wards Served
- 14 Community Areas represented
- Over two dozen Community Partners established