A mission to nourish the city with hope
Activist focuses on fostering healthy living in West Baltimore
As a community activist in West Baltimore, where she grew up, Tiffany Welch has worked to expand access to jobs, education and healthy foods.
As healthy food access coordinator for No Boundaries Coalition, Welch is trying to make it easier for residents, especially the poor and the elderly, to shop for fresh food.
“There is a lack of supermarkets in that area,” said Welch, whose organization, a resident advocacy group, serves Sandtown-Winchester, Upton, Madison Park, Harlem Park, Reservoir Hill, Bolton Hill and Druid Heights. “It is a really dense food desert.”
A project to offer fresh produce for sale, which started last September with “pop-up” food stalls at the Avenue Market, will get a boost over the next three years thanks to a $200,000 grant from the T. Rowe Price Foundation, part of a $1.3 million, three-year pledge for West Baltimore.
No Boundaries and partner Strength to Love Farm II aim to grow thousands of pounds of kale, collard greens, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, green peppers, strawberries and other in-demand produce at about 16 “hoop houses,” vacant lots converted to garden plots, then sell the food six days a week at Avenue, a city public market on Pennsylvania Avenue. Strength to Love now farms eight lots along Monroe Street.
There's no question about the demand, Welch said. During a half-dozen pop-up events last fall, the group sold more than 7,000 pounds of produce.
Besides stocking the market stall, Welch said the groups want to supply produce to small corner markets and offer career training and jobs for neighborhood residents.
Welch, who grew up in Easterwood and attended high school at Bryn Mawr School, said she expects the produce project to have an impact that goes well beyond healthier eating.
“I think it's going to be a good model for workforce development,” she said. “It also creates a new environment in the public market. People will become more comfortable with shopping in the area. … We don't have poultry and meat and seafood. I'm hoping this will attract those kinds of vendors. … The long-term goal is to attract a supermarket.”
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