$1m grant to Pullman for vertical produce farm

Plans were announced today to transform vacant land adjacent to an affordable apartment complex into the Vertical Greenhouse, a $40 million, 63,000 square-foot facility that will grow over 560,000 pounds of produce annually to help ease food insecurity in the Pullman/Roseland community.

Thanks to a $1 million grant from "We Rise Together," a project of the Chicago Community Trust and others to jump start job-creating developments in under-resourced communities, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) will join with Mercy Housing to develop the new project at the Pullman Wheelworks, a former manufacturing facility converted into 210 affordable apartments by Mercy Housing in 1980.

In addition to the produce, which will be processed and distributed through local facilities, the four- story Vertical Greenhouse will create 55 full-time jobs for residents of Pullman Wheelworks and the 9th Ward community at large. The facility will feature a hydroponic greenhouse, an on-site market, a commercial kitchen, and a food depository, as well as host public tours and offer nutrition and cooking classes for the community.

"Besides creating good local jobs, the Vertical Greenhouse is a creative solution to address the pressing need for easily accessible nutritious food in the Pullman/Roseland community," said 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale. "We applaud CNI, Mercy Housing, 'We Rise Together' and everyone else who came together as a team to make this happen."

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Photo by Petr Magera on Unsplash

Source: RE Journals