Dear Local Government: Actions Speak Larger Than Words

UrbanFarming
Written By IGrow PreOwned

Dear Local Government: Actions Speak Larger Than Words

Dogpatch Urban Gardens is a female-run urban farm located in Des Moines, Iowa. The farm is facing major hurdles due to changes in policy/regulations by the local county.

Des Moines, Iowa - February 2018: Dogpatch Urban Gardens is an urban farm in Des Moines, Iowa. We just finished our second growing season, and in 2018 we are facing more than $75,000 of imposed infrastructural changes resulting from misinformation from our local county.

In two years of business, Dogpatch Urban Gardens has produced over 12,000 pounds of organically grown produce for people in

Des Moines. The farm is enhancing the community yet the financial burdens from the county are making it hard for the business to be successful. In January, I was featured in the Des Moines Register as a “Person to Watch in 2018.” 

Sadly, these challenges are not unique to our farm. When I talk with other farmers, many of them also have faced, or currently are experiencing, hardships resulting from unclear obligations to their local governments. Urban farming is especially challenging because we are doing something outside of the norm; this makes zoning, policies, and regulations challenging.

To make a long story short, our county originally treated our business using residential building code. A year after our operation was up-and-running the county changed their stance and has decided to require that the business now adheres to commercial codes yet not rezoning us from residential. This is in opposition to the farmstand classification, which was how we were categorized by our county and were the guidelines we were told followed. With the change in classification to a commercial business, we are being required to add public restrooms (new septic), fencing, water retention berms, and landscaping. We also must demo and repave surfaces, create a site plan, and more. While we still meet the county’s definition of a farm stand, they told us we are no longer classified as such, and we must comply with their commercial building requirements.

These struggles with our government seem contradictory. The state of Iowa is a part of the “Healthiest State Initiative” and the main page on the website says, “Iowa is #19 in the nation when it comes to being physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy. Our ranking has moved since the Initiative was announced, but our overall well-being score has been fairly constant the past five years. To claim the #1 spot, we have work to do. It’s an ambitious goal, but with your help, we can change Iowa and show the rest of the nation the road to wellness.” If the state of Iowa is placing such an emphasis on health, it seems natural for the state to want to facilitate an urban farm. Our farm provides access to healthy, organically grown food, beautifies the land, provides employment and volunteer opportunities for people to be physically active, provides educational opportunities for growing food, and more. Having an urban farm in a neighborhood exemplifies what the Healthiest State Initiative is trying to promote.

Many cities in the state of Iowa also used to participate in a program called the Blue Zones Project. The goal of this organization is to, “help transform communities across the U.S. into areas where the healthy choice is easy and people live longer with a higher quality of life.” Our urban farm is a great example of the foundation of The Blue Zones project. Happy, and healthy, communities tend to be more active, have an environment where healthy food is available, have decreased stress levels, limits urban sprawl and invests in beauty. If our farm isn’t a good example of a way to make a community happier (thus increasing health and quality of life), then I don’t know what is!

I was looking for some guidance/input on how to work through our county issues, so I reached out to the Blue Zones organization. Their response to my inquiry was, “Thank you so much for your note and the great work you are doing. Our time in Iowa delivered measurable impact at both the state level and community level that to date has delivered over 650 million dollars in grants, gifts, and direct economic impact for an investment of 25 million. As a reward for this work and outcomes, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the state decided not to continue our partnership which tells us that leadership doesn't understand the value of what we and your work delivers. I'm so sorry for what is happening. I would continue to share value of what your work delivers and stick to your guns!”

In an attempt to raise money to lessen our debt load we are taking on due to misinformation by Polk County, we are launching a Kickstarter (crowdfunding) campaign. The Kickstarter campaign will go live on Monday, February 26th. The campaign is active for 30 days, and if the funding goal is not reached we don’t get any money.

IGrow PreOwned https://www.igrowpreowned.com/
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