Tanya Denise Fields, founder of Black Joy Farm in the Longwood neighborhood of The Bronx…
Tag: Urban Farming
Karen Young-Washington, an urban farmer from The Bronx has just won $10,000 in a national voting contest held by NationSwell to help further the work her organization, Rise and Root Farm.
An AllStar Award Nominee favorite, Karen has been one of the local pioneers and leaders in urban farming in our communities serving as a role model which everyone in our borough can look up to.
“The first plant that changed my life was a tomato,” says Karen Washington, a black urban farmer in the Bronx. “It was the one fruit that I used to hate.” But after watching one that she’d grown shift in hue from green to yellow to red and taking a bite of it, she was instantly hooked. “When I tasted that tomato, when it was red and it was ripe, and I picked it off the vine, [it]…changed my world because I never tasted anything so good, so sweet. I wanted to grow everything.”
For a quarter century, all manner of trees and flowers, fruits and vegetables, have thrived across abandoned lots in the Bronx because of Washington. Deemed “the queen of urban farming,” she’s an African-American woman who’s dedicated her life to greening New York City’s poorest borough. Since 1985, Washington has assisted dozens of neighborhoods build their own community gardens, taught workshops on farming and promoted racial diversity in agriculture.”
If you know Tanya Fields, you know that she knows food and she knows how to throw down some good ol’ fashioned cooking. If you REALLY know her then you know that she’s also an outstanding singer (rumor has it that she’ll be singing at this fundraising brunch). But if you REALLY, REALLY know Tanya, then you know that she walks the talk and is one our borough’s leaders in food justice, environmental justice and so many social issues impacting our communities.
That is why on Sunday, March 15th, Tanya Fields, affectionately known as Mama Tanya, along with her organization, ‘The BLK Projek” will be hosting a ‘Brunch With Mama Tanya’ (I got my ticket, do you?!)
Bronx Hero Karen Young-Washington, who’s on the board of the New York Botanical Garden and a member La Familia Verde (among many other organizations), is featured in the Huffington Post in the Female Farmer Project. The project is the latest endeavor by Audra Gaines Mulkern who’s documenting the proliferation of women in farming. Karen has also been featured on PBS and is on the board of Just Food.
Last year you may remember that we wrote about Bronxite and Hunts Point resident Tanya Fields and her quest to bring access to healthy food to folks in the South Bronx.
Well now after necessary fundraising and support, the South Bronx Mobile Market Is a reality!
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