North Lawndale to add greenhouse, expand community gardens

The Garden 2 Table Pipeline plans to add the greenhouse this spring and complete a farm structure by 2029 at its existing site at 1431 S. Harding St., where 20 community garden beds and an agriculture pod already operate year-round.

The expansion aims to help the Pipeline grow over 8,200 pounds of produce annually and distribute 1,000 meals a week across North Lawndale, a neighborhood that lacked full-service grocery stores when the project began.

“It’s really a collaborative effort. Instead of having one site here, one site there, siloed, we have five sites, five sets of trucks, five sets of staff,” said Kimberly George, Garden 2 Table Pipeline coordinator and community asset manager for YMEN, which offers academic, spiritual and emotional support services in North Lawndale.

Seven distribution hubs now give out free food that’s donated or grown across 23 gardens throughout the neighborhood. Four hubs — Stone Temple Missionary Baptist Church, YMEN, the Firehouse Community Arts Center of Chicago, and the Street Vendors Association of Chicago — have commercial kitchens where cooks prepare hot meals using garden ingredients.

The Pipeline officially started during Covid when local organizations increased efforts to provide nutrient-dense food by growing it themselves. Before that, the North Lawndale Greening Committee already tended nine community gardens where passersby can harvest produce.

In early 2024, the Pipeline began using an agriculture pod — a climate-controlled, hydroponic farm inside a repurposed shipping container. The ag pod produced nearly one ton of leafy greens and herbs in its first year and involved 70 young people in urban agriculture practices.

ComEd and the Electric Power Research Institute provided the ag pod and trained recipients on operation. Dr. Shemuel Israel, lead gardener and president of the North Lawndale Greening Committee, uses a refractometer to measure sugar and protein concentration in the produce, harvesting plants when they have optimal nutrients.

“One of the long-term goals that we have is affecting the health of people,” Israel said. “What I’ve heard back from the community is that our food tastes really good.”

“The produce is extra big,” George said of the refractometer-checked plants, adding that some locals “didn’t want to kind of use those practices in part of the gardens too. And you could tell the difference. You could see a big difference.”

The Pipeline considers community input when deciding what to plant. In the last two years, Israel and his two part-time employees started planting kale and greens in the ag pod in October so people could have locally sourced collard greens for Thanksgiving dinners.

Israel said the goal is to eventually sell about 20% of the greens to cover ag pod expenses. He also wants to sell seed starts and market-ready products like seasonings made with Pipeline herbs or hot sauce that young entrepreneurs create from garden peppers.

The commercial kitchens at four distribution hubs host culinary and nutrition programs while preparing free hot meals every day of the week using fresh garden produce and other ingredients. Recent meals included sweet potato cheesecake, potato salad and collard greens served alongside roast beef or ham.

George said Garden 2 Table organizations already provided hot meals four days weekly, but expanded to daily service to prepare for cuts to federal SNAP benefits. Late last year, the Pipeline added four more food hubs to increase distribution during anticipated SNAP cuts.

“We can make sure everybody knows at least where their next meal is coming from,” George said.

Every Saturday morning, YMEN hosts a breakfast where attendees share hot meals and food rescued from restaurants or eateries. The event also includes clothes giveaways, free haircuts, and sometimes a shower truck.

“One of the things that I heard is that different people from different parts of the neighborhood who didn’t like each other are now sitting down and talking to each other at a meal,” Israel said of feedback from YMEN breakfasts.

“This is kind of like the breakfast meeting spot for a lot of people now,” George added.

George said some of the best feedback comes from people who once came for hot meals and now volunteer to serve others.

“Sometimes we’ll have a second meal or bag lunch or something for people to take,” George said. “They’ll take it and they’re like, ‘I don’t need it, but I’m going to give it to so-and-so.’ So we’re kind of” building community connections beyond just food distribution.