Seeding Change: Woman Launches Eastside Erie, PA Urban Farm

By Lisa Thompson 

GoErie

March 18, 2018

Farm plots will take over vacant lots in the city, bringing food choices to people who need them.

Carrie Sachse, 35, a McDowell High School graduate, returned to Erie in 2014 after earning a degree in political economy and labor studies in Seattle and working around the country for a public sector union. She bought a house in Erie’s west bayfront neighborhood and is now poised to launch French Street Farms on vacant lots at French and East 22nd streets that she is purchasing from the Erie Redevelopment Authority. Sachse, an Erie County government worker by day, recently won a $5,000 start-up grant from the Idea Fund for her pioneering work on urban farming in Erie. Here is a conversation with her, edited for length.

How did you get interested in gardening?

It really all stems from my interest in food. I have always been interested in food and the politics of food, where it comes from, and cooking. After living in an apartment forever in Seattle, gardening was never an option. Once I bought my house, it was just very natural. The first thing I am doing is clearing my yard so I can have a big garden.

What took you to Seattle?

Growing up here, I just felt like this was a place that did not have a lot of opportunities. In the 1980s and 1990s, I felt like the Rust Belt vibe was strong and I always wanted to move to a bigger city that I felt had more opportunity. I put myself through college slowly and I was a manager at a little city market, a bodega. They had everything in a very diverse neighborhood.

I studied political economy as my major and labor studies as my minor. A lot of that was driven by trying to understand the economy of a place like Erie versus a place like Seattle — which is thriving — why do some places thrive and other places decline?

What was your takeaway from that?

I did that degree and then I took a job where I traveled full-time for about three and one-half years. My takeaway from that was that Erie was as good a place as any. I realized that more places are like Erie than not and that we do have a lot of natural assets and unique assets that we just have to capitalize on. We just need to change our perspective a little bit.

Where did the idea for urban farming come from?

To me, it just seemed natural to say, well, we have all this land in the city that no one is doing anything with and everyone is talking about a lack of fresh food in the city.

What were your first steps?

My best friend owns a food truck in Pittsburgh and I also knew I wanted to work for myself eventually. So we were kind of bouncing business ideas off each other and we both separately had the idea to do a city farm on individual lots versus trying to accumulate a lot of land to have a bigger farm. It was right after we started having that conversation that Scott Henry (former Erie Redevelopment Authority director) rolled out his adopt-a-lot program and that kind of felt like kismet.

The first thing I did was show up at the Redevelopment Authority and sit down with Scott Henry. I had no idea what I was doing, but I just told him all the reasons I thought it was a great idea and he was on board right away. His thing was I would have to buy the lots — not just rent them or adopt them — for a commercial operation. I was fine with that because I have to invest so much in the infrastructure, it would not make sense to invest in land I did not own.

But first city zoning had to change. That took about two years, correct?

So that was the biggest thing — almost all the vacant land in the city is residential. Scott Henry was able to talk to (former City Councilman) Dave Brennan and Dave Brennan sponsored the urban farming resolution at City Council. No one really knew what it was going to end up looking like. We just knew we needed some kind of a framework for urban farming in Erie because there was really just a void. City Council referred it to the Planning Commission and there was a little bit of back and forth. I went to the Planning Commission meetings and got to know them.

Did you ever have a moment where you thought, “I should just forget this?”

I really have not. It was an interesting process to go through. I am still relatively new back to town, so I enjoyed getting involved in local politics and seeing the inner workings. I was really pleasantly surprised. I found everyone to be really receptive to the idea. They say decisions are made by the people who show up, and just by showing up, people were really receptive to what I had to say. If I had not gone to the meetings, I think it would have been easy to say, “Yeah, we don’t want that.”

Did you have lots in mind that you wanted to develop?

When I went to see Scott Henry, I got a list of all the lots he had. I started on the lower west side and I drove around to see almost all of the vacant lots in the city.

A lot of them are just small overgrown lots in between houses that did not look very promising. But when I saw the lots I am buying, I immediately, I just stopped. I was just like, “Oh! I found them.” They were perfect.

I signed the sales agreement. I will be buying five lots this year.

What is the total price?

The first three, it is $750 for all three. The other two are $200 each and the fees are just nominal.

What are you going to sell and where are you going to sell it?

The more I read, the more I realized for it to be a sustainable operation, in the long run, I do need to have a diverse cross-section of crops so that I can rotate them and the land is not getting depleted. And also, for seasonality purposes, if I only wanted to grow peppers and tomatoes, I would not have anything to sell until August. So I do need to grow some spring stuff and early summer stuff. It will be around 20 different types of vegetables. I grow a lot of heirloom and specialty varieties.

Are you confident about that part of your skill set, actually producing the food?

That is probably the part I am most confident in because of the fact I have been gardening in my yard and I am a strong gardener. The business side of it is more new to me.

I did a master gardening training program. There is also a larger trend in agriculture. The farmers we have are getting older and most American farmers are around retirement age and there is a big problem with them not being replaced. One of the biggest demographics of people moving into farming right now are college-educated women. I am kind of an anomaly, but not totally.

When will you start planting?

I am starting seeds right now. There are also plenty of cold-starting crops, like kale and lettuce, that I can plant pretty early, hopefully by mid-April.

Are flowers in the mix at all?

I am going to do some sunflowers because I think they are great and I think they will do well at the farm stand. I also planted some bulbs as kind of a hedge in case we have a crappy spring, then the tulips and daffodils can round out my stand.

When you say “stand,” what are you picturing?

I am just going to do folding tables and a tent that I set up in different locations. So social media (www.facebook.com/frenchstreetfarms) is going to be really important for getting the word out to people and the regular website, too. I want to hit different areas of the city, so I can find good spots and find where people are especially interested in what I am doing.

You said at the Idea Fund competition that some restaurants are already reaching out?

Yes, which is amazing. If anything I am more concerned about keeping up this year. Judging by the response so far, if anything, I am not going to have enough to sell.

So you are getting good reactions?

People seem to be really excited about it, especially people my age and younger. They are interested in food in a way that I think older generations aren’t necessarily. And they are interested in where it comes from and how it is grown and they understand the importance of having it grown locally. They are excited at having a new option for that because we have been pretty limited in Erie.

And that was part of the Idea Fund competition — impacting Erie? How will the farm impact Erie?

I think this project works on a lot of levels. First, it is about producing more fresh food for people in Erie to eat and for people who have limited access — by being in the city and coming to them. It is also about giving people who have access, access. I have a car and I can drive to the grocery store, but this gives people better options.

The redevelopment component is real for me. I think it is a fun project. It is an interesting project. There is also some vibrancy here that I think Erie needs, in terms of the neighborhood and putting the land back into use on the tax rolls and giving the neighborhood something cool. That part of town has been struggling for a long time. I think there are so many ways (the farm) contributes to the general momentum that Erie has right now to kind of turn the corner.

What is your long-range vision?

I hope it is a successful venture. I think there is a lot of potential in a lot of different directions. We know there is a lot of vacant land in Erie and there is going to be more if the comprehensive plan is implemented. There are a lot of blighted houses and things are going to be changing if we continue to implement the comprehensive plan. I don’t know, but theoretically, there is a lot of room for expansion. It depends on how receptive people are and how successful business is.

You talked about feeling that “Rust Belt vibe” growing up. How does it feel being part of something that might help the city turn a page?

It is really exciting. I really did come around to the idea that Erie is just as good as anywhere else and maybe even better. There is a lot of opportunity here and maybe people who have been here forever and don’t have the broader perspective might not see it. But land is really cheap. Buildings are really cheap. I think Erie has a lot more potential and a lot more opportunity than people give it credit for.

Lisa Thompson can be reached at 870-1802. Send email tolisa.thompson@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNthompson.