A New Era: Urban Growers Collective Opens National Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture and Economic Revitalization

In Chicago, one in five households currently experiences food insecurity, a challenge that is even more prominent in underinvested South and West Side communities, many of which are food deserts. Since 2018, Urban Growers Collective, a Trust grant recipient, has been working to address inequities in access to fresh, healthy produce and foster local food system resilience.

The ribbon-cutting at UGC’s new Green Era campus, located at 650 West 83rd Street, marked a new day in sustainable agriculture.

The Green Era campus will support local food production through improved biodegradable waste management and increased access to quality soil, thereby creating more sustainable communities. The once nine-acre vacant lot in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the South Side has been converted into a renewable energy facility and hub for economic empowerment, clean energy, fresh produce, and revitalized communities. The new campus is also home to the United States’ first anaerobic digester that is directly connected to community food systems and urban agriculture. It will divert millions of pounds of food waste from landfills while creating clean energy and nutrient-rich compost.

Explaining the broader goal of the Green Era Campus, UGC CEO Erika Allen put it simply: “More compost allows us to grow more food and to transition depleted spaces into productive and verdant spaces throughout Chicago.”

UGC takes a multifaceted approach to building long-term food system resilience through community-based food system development. It manages eight urban farms across 11 acres in Chicago — primarily on the South Side – and produces more than 18,000 pounds of fresh produce each year.

Green Urban Campus is generating economic growth while supporting sustainable development, Allen emphasizes. “We are on our way to adding 30 permanent green jobs and growing over 125 varieties of culturally relevant fruits, vegetables, herbs, and nursery plants per year, after we build our vertical farm and edible green infrastructure and landscape,” she said.

The Green Era Campus is part of the “Always Growing, Auburn Gresham” initiative, which won the inaugural $10 million Chicago Prize from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation in 2020. The project is a collaboration between the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC), Urban Growers Collective, Green Era Educational NFP and Green Era Partners. Together, they are working to bring new life to the South Side through environmental improvements and expanding local job and business opportunities. GAGDC is also a Trust grant recipient.

“This is a quantum leap forward that is tangible and provides many future possibilities in trades, technology, arts, and renewable energy,” said Allen. “It prepares our community for a climate-resilient future [and] the campus will serve as a testbed for early-stage innovations by the next generation of community entrepreneurs right here in our neighborhood.”