Boston wants to plow vacant plots to farm land

Berkeley Community Gardens in the South End of Boston in winter. Photo by Anty Diluvian.

Bring new life to city parcels that have sat empty

By Meghan E. Irons
Boston Globe Staff
November 16, 2010

Excerpt:

Deep in the belly of Dorchester, past crusty corner shops and barren tree limbs, lies an empty, overgrown lot on Glenway Street. It is a desolate patch the City of Boston wants to revive with farming.

City officials have tapped Glenway and two other city parcels for a pilot project in southern Dorchester to place more locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables on Boston’s dining tables. The idea is to get local farming experts to till the land and raise plump tomatoes, broccoli, or zucchini that would be sold to neighborhood restaurants, farmers markets, corner stores, or fancy hotels.

City law allows for community gardens, but not farming. And the city wants to change its zoning code to permit urban agriculture as a way to increase access to healthy food in underserved communities. Officials are expected to outline their plan this evening at Dorchester’s Erie Ellington Community Center, in the first of two public meetings.

They expect to solicit farming bids by mid-December and submit their zoning change request to the Boston Redevelopment Authority board in January.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he wants to bring new life to city parcels that have sat empty for more than a decade, to get more residents interest ed and engaged in where their food originates.

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