Day 4 of the 2026 Urban Ag Week led Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and friends to Philadelphia — where urban farms are growing more than just food. They’re creating spaces for connection, opportunity, and community renewal.
Across Philadelphia, a growing network of Black-led urban farms, community gardens, and food justice organizations is transforming vacant lots and underserved neighborhoods into thriving centers of health, entrepreneurship, and community pride.
The 2026 Urban Ag Week brought state officials face-to-face with the people doing the work — and the message was clear: urban agriculture is not just about growing food. It is about growing communities.
The Organizations Leading the Way
The Community Grocer
Started on the belief that everyone deserves access to fresh, delicious food in their own neighborhood, the Community Grocer makes eating well easier for all by reinventing the corner store and reimagining nutritional assistance.
Black Girls With Green Thumbs – Gardeners Without Borders
By fostering civic engagement and entrepreneurial thinking in communities most impacted by systemic inequities and violence, Gardeners Without Borders aims to grow safer, stronger, and more sustainable neighborhoods — one garden at a time.
New Kensington CDC — Tusculum Gardens & Ruth Street Garden
Growing community wellbeing, NKCDC's Urban Agriculture and Community Garden initiative aims to improve health outcomes for residents, increase sustainable land sovereignty and food production, and reduce instances of violence.
Sanctuary Farm Phila
Sowing the seeds of health, community, and sustainability, Sanctuary Farm Phila is a non-profit urban farm dedicated to providing fresh, organically grown produce and implementing programs that enhance the health and well-being of Philadelphia's residents.
Strawberry Mansion Green Resource Center
In close collaboration with community partners, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) operates five Green Resource Centers — local community hubs where PHS propagates and distributes thousands of organic vegetable seedlings for community gardens and production sites.
“Urban farms are growing more than just food — they’re creating spaces for connection, opportunity, and community renewal.”
— PA Department of Agriculture, Urban Ag Week 2026
Why This Matters for Black Philadelphia
For communities that have long faced food deserts, disinvestment, and limited economic opportunity, urban agriculture represents something larger than fresh produce. It represents ownership, self-determination, and the power to shape a neighborhood’s future from the ground up.
Organizations like Black Girls With Green Thumbs are proving that when Black women lead, communities thrive. Their Gardeners Without Borders program is not just teaching people to grow food — it is building civic engagement, entrepreneurial thinking, and neighborhood resilience one garden at a time.
