Investing in urban farming yields dividends at the dinner table

Photo by McLaughlin Grows Urban Farm.

Our goal is that the garden will be self-sustaining and a job creation engine

By Megan Hart
The Muskegon Chronicle
March 12, 2011

Excerpt:

For a few investors, putting money into urban agriculture isn’t a way to make some greenbacks, but to make the community a little greener – and get a few fresh salads for themselves in the process.

The investment program, called community-supported agriculture, allows people to buy a share in the McLaughlin Grows Urban Farm at the beginning of the growing season, and receive a grocery bag of produce weekly as “dividends.” The cost is $300 for the spring-summer or the fall-winter season, or $550 for the whole year. It’s a relatively new idea in Michigan, but has been practiced elsewhere.

“They get the great produce and they also get to feel good about the investment,” Community enCompass executive director Sarah Rinsema-Sybenga said. “A lot of what you’re investing in is the vision. … The quality of produce will be great. The quantity of produce will probably be a little less.”

Read the complete article here.