RECAP: PORTLAND, DAY 2

On Tuesday (9/1/2015) of last week we continued our week of exploring urban agriculture in Portland (you can read about day one here!) with a day full of site visits and interviews!

We started off our day at Fulton Community Garden, located at SW 3rd and Barbur, where we met with Leslie Pohl-Kosbau. Leslie was the founder of the community gardens program at Portland Parks and Recreation, and serves as a current co-chair of the non-profit organization Friends of Portland Community Gardens. She was able to fill the class in on the process involved with starting the community gardens program, and she also discussed some of the unique challenges and opportunities that managing community gardens poses.

After hearing from Leslie, the class traveled to the Cully neighborhood in Northeast Portland, where we headed to Side Yard Farm to meet with urban farmer and chef Stacy Gibbons. Stacy explained how her farm was started, and talked about the role of urban agriculture within the Cully neighborhood. While at Side Yard Farm we also met with Josh Volk, the owner of Slow Hand Farm. Josh was able to fill us in on his urban agriculture (UA) work, and talk about his experience working with Portland's Food Policy Council. 

Our last stop of the day was at Cully Neighborhood Farm, located behind the Trinity Lutheran Church in the Cully neighborhood. Here we spoke with the farm's founder, Matt Gordon, about his work with Grow Portland and the challenges of running an urban farm. 

Overall, Tuesday provided valuable insights into the role UA plays in neighborhood change and community building, and gave the class a glimpse into some of the challenges that urban farmers and UA policy shapers face in their day-to-day work.


-Gwyneth