Sunday, March 28, 2010

City of Philadelphia offers sub-acre plots for urban farming


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City of Philadelphia offers sub-acre plots for urban farming

manatfarmManatawna Farm Site


Philadelphia's Department of Parks and Recreation, Request for Information, to identify city farmers to manage small plot commercial, chemical–free farms at Manatawna Farm.


Excerpts:


The Program at Manatawna Farm offers emerging or established farmers the opportunity to explore the advantages of commercial, chemical-free urban farming by providing farmers more land than is traditionally available in the City for growing crops. The Program removes many of the start-up barriers farmers typically encounter, including, but not limited to, access to land, capital improvements, equipment and utilities, and isolation. The site is zoned and primed for agricultural use and will be prepared for commercial farming through identified grant funds. The site will be operated as a commercial farming venture and in turn support entrepreneurial farming initiatives.


The City of Philadelphia acting through its Department of Parks and Recreation (the "City") is issuing this Request For Information ("RFI") to gather indications of interest and experience in operating and managing sub-acre commercial, chemical-free farming plots on a City property called Manatawna Farm, located at 100 Spring Lane, Philadelphia.


Background


In 2008, Mayor Michael Nutter articulated his commitment to making Philadelphia The Greenest City in America and the City adopted sustainability as a fundamental approach for all of the City's operations. Fostering further growth of a regional food and urban agriculture system is a key component of achieving this goal and is supported by MAyor Nutter's food initiative, Philadelphia Food Charter, which calls for the use of City-owned spaces for urban agriculture, and Mayor Nutter's sustainability plan, Greenworks Philadelphia, which recommends 12 commercial agriculture projects be established in the City by 2015.


Download all the information from this page, "Request For Information on Farming". Four documents are in the folder.


See also: Farming in Philadelphia? A Proposal for a Sustainable Urban Farm Incubator




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