Sustainable Berea

Since acquiring several run-down urban lots in 2013, Sustainable Berea has collaborated with individuals and groups to create a vibrant urban farm and to enable households throughout Berea to improve their health and food security by growing food. 

The Berea Urban Farm grows more than 100 varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers while demonstrating a lean production system that is resilient to climate change and economic disruptions. We share the skills and knowledge developed on the farm through workshops, demonstrations, tours and one-on-one conversations. The Berea Urban Farm is an educational market garden.

The food grown on the farm is provided to the community through a CSA and our “Farmacy” program that provides nutrient-dense food to Bereans suffering from chronic illnesses. We believe that Food is Medicine.  

All Bereans should have the opportunity to participate in the local food system. Beginning in 2015, hundreds of volunteers have built and distributed through the annual Victory Garden Blitz more than 1770 raised garden beds.  The Backyard Fruit Growers Project has provided hundreds of fruit trees and bushes to 150 households. More than 30 households have become beekeepers through the Backyard Bees Program, and more than 120 people are members of the Berea Herb Club.

And kids love the Berea Urban Farm! They come (with their parents) to build fairy houses, treat injured teddy bears with herbs, pet the farm cat and quack with the ducks. We love giving kids the chance to be part of nature and the garden.

Our mission is to increase local food security and community health through urban agriculture. To us, the community includes all of Berea’s people and all the other species that make the urban farm and the city’s landscapes work. Recognizing this, we support the creation of ARKs – Acts of Restorative Kindness – where a household devotes half its land to growing organic food and half to nature. In this way, people shift from gardener to guardian of their family’s food security and the homes of countless other creatures.

Join us as we continue to develop a local food system that will serve as a model for other towns throughout Kentucky.

To learn more about our organization, visit www.sustainableberea.org or follow us on Facebook 

If you would like to volunteer, visit Volunteer | Sustainable Berea