Chicago Botanic Garden Spring 2020

31 chicagobotanic.org 2. Sharing Windy City Harvest’s goal to build healthy communities “ e workshop o ered more practical advice and tools than I thought possi- ble.” at was just one participant’s take on the three-day training in urban agriculture o ered this summer by Windy City Harvest. More than a dozen urban agriculture leaders from throughout the country came to the Chicago Botanic Garden for the program sponsored by the U.S. Botanic Garden. Windy City Harvest will lead several others too, all with the same goal: share the model and best practices of Windy City Harvest with organizations that see urban agriculture as a way to improve communities. e Windy City Harvest team shared program outlines, advice, and even honesty about the sometimes bumpy process of building successful programs in urban areas. “I really appreciated seeing the path- way that led to the existing Windy City Harvest programs,” one participant said. “As an organization that is new to urban agriculture, it was reassuring to see that something great can grow from a small initiative.” ere were sessions on partnerships, food safety and distribution, and jobs training, and visits to the Farm on Og- den and several farm sites. e leaders from Colorado, Georgia, Utah, and be- yond came armed with questions: How is the program funded? What is the re- lationship of our farms with the city of Chicago? How do you work with funders? ey left seeing the possibilities for their own programs. “I am inspired by the system and culture you all have cre- ated around food. Hearing from par- ticipants was amazing and very genu- ine. Baton Rouge needs this, and I am so inspired to create this type of food culture in our own Baton Rouge way.” 3. Offering training in sustainable urban agriculture In 2019, Windy City Harvest launched a three-day intensive program, held at the Farm on Ogden with its 52,000-gallon aqua- ponics system, on how to build an aquaponics food production system on a commercial scale. It is just one of the workshops and certi cate courses where students can learn new skills or further their career.