$1m grant to Pullman for vertical produce farm

$1m grant to Pullman for vertical produce farm

Pullman will soon be the site of Illinois' first Vertical Harvest - a company that creates hydroponic farms to create jobs and healthy food in communities experiencing high unemployment and food insecurity.

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."

Click here to read more.

Photo by Petr Magera on Unsplash

Source: RE Journals

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