Schwartz Berky said Kingston’s urban agriculture program would also target the poorest communities, given the acute need within this segment of the population for better food. Nearly a fifth of the city’s population, 17.4 percent, is low income and doesn’t have access to healthy food, she noted, and a fifth of the city’s children are suffering from malnutrition, according to a recent study. Forty-four percent of the population is overweight or obese, compared to 33 percent statewide.
Coordinating with farm projects in the surrounding region, such as the new, not-for-profit sustainable farming hub located at Gill’s Farm, could be another focus of Phase 2, she said. “We could implement not only new farming methods and forms of cooperative farming, but also promote Kingston as a market hub for the region, where food is sold and consumed.” Rather than be shipped to New York City on a refrigerated truck, the food could be sold and perhaps processed locally, she said.
Many of the specifics haven’t yet been hammered out. For example, the report doesn’t recommend changing the ban on backyard chicken coops. However, it does promote the planting of front-yard gardens, a decision based on the fact many residents lack backyards. (As the zoning code is written now, putting up a fence or other gardening structure in your front yard could generate a complaint from a neighbor.) The recommendations also promote the planting of gardens in underutilized parks, such as Cornell Park.
Plus, as Carey noted, incorporating the recommendations into the comprehensive plan qualifies the city for new grant opportunities. “This has momentum because there is funding to continue incorporating sustainability into the comprehensive plan and zoning, from NYSERDA through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,” said Schwartz Berky. “Funds will continue to be available for cleaner, greener regional planning, including urban agriculture. By doing this work, the City of Kingston sets itself up for greater revenues from grants.”
Carey noted that his committee’s approval of the report “is in line with stuff going on in Kingston for the last several years, in terms of going green and being more environmentally friendly.” One recent indication of support is the successful funding campaign for the Kingston YMCA Farm Project, which calls for planting a quarter-acre farm on the grounds of the YMCA, located in Midtown Kingston. The Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, which started March 1 and ran through April 15, raised $10,417, slightly above the $10,000 goal. Farmer Kaylee Wimbish, who is overseeing the Kingston YMCA Farm Project, said the funds will pay for an irrigation system, soil (although most soil for the raised beds has been donated), farm-stand components including a tent, and other upfront, one-time expenses.
Produce from the farm, which is located behind the Y and is adjacent to a community garden of 20 raised beds, will be sold at a farm stand at the Y every Thursday from 4-7 p.m. starting June 19. Wimbish will also operate a bike-powered mobile market every Tuesday from 2-7 p.m., starting June 17. Stops include the Oncology Support Center at Benedictine Hospital at 3:30 p.m., the lot at Henry and Broadway, where last year’s Midtown Farmers’ Market was held, at 4 p.m., and the Kingston Library (time to be determined). The YMCA project will involve local youth through after-school and summer camp programs, she added.
For more information on the project as well as the KUAC study, visit www.grow-Kingston.org.
