USDA Offers Urban Farmers An Online Toolkit

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Farm to table takes on a new meaning at one Baltimore high school. A new Department of Agriculture program is showing students how to create farm to table to career.

Gigi Barnett explains.

Underneath the soil of an urban garden at Frederick Douglass High School in northwest Baltimore is a career path students can bank on.

Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the school Friday to roll out a program called the Urban Agriculture Toolkit.

"People often don't think of the United States Department of Agriculture and cities but the reality is we have a very significant function to play both in nutrition and in gardens like this," Vilsack said.

The toolkit---which is actually an online document---shows students how to plant gardens in the city and that could help stamp out food deserts. That's a term given to areas that don't have grocery stores nearby.

"When we go to the market, we don't know where that food comes from but by us growing our food, we can heat much more healthy. We can see what we're eating," said student Nykerra Williams.

Vilsack says he wanted to use Douglass High School as sort of a test kitchen for the program because it's the school where some students were involved in last year's Freddie Gray riots.

"What can we do at USDA with our urban farming opportunities to let Baltimore know we care?" Vilsack said, "This isn't just a feel good thing. This is a chance for kids to have access to nutritious options."

In addition to teaching students how to grow these crops, the secretary says the program could also lead to budding careers.

"I want to start my own garden and I want to grow it into a business where I can sell plants to other people and help them out, too," said student Jadzia Hall.

If you're interesting in learning more about urban farming, click here.