Bowen Harvest: Chicago’s Only Youth-Led Container Farm
Bowen Harvest flourished from the desire to bring sustainable youth-led solutions to food access for Altgeld Gardens. In order to address the community’s stark food needs, By The Hand Club partnered with Kenilworth Union Church to envision Bowen Harvest, a first-of-its-kind hub for youth entrepreneurship and nutrition education. In January 2022, By The Hand received a transformative gift from the church’s “Gilbert and Marlene Bowen Christian Outreach Fund” to launch Bowen Harvest.
Of the 77 Chicago neighborhoods, Altgeld Gardens residents have the lowest annual household income–less than $9,000 per year and the closest grocery store is over three miles away, with no direct public transportation routes. Food is the greatest need in the community.
In the summer of 2022, we began teaching our students how to grow their own food indoors using the renowned Green Bronx Machine curriculum. Through this curriculum, students learn aeroponic gardening and nutrition principles, improve reading, science and math skills, and additionally have increased students’ vegetable intake by 157% over the past two years.
Hydroponic container farms yield four acres of produce in just 500 sq. feet annually and can operate without harsh chemicals or weather concerns. Chicago experts in container farming, Freight to Plate, came alongside us to bring this advanced technology to our community. In January 2024, 13 students became our inaugural Bowen Harvest entrepreneurs. They planted lettuce seedlings to prepare for the first harvest.
In March 2024, the container farm’s first harvest yielded 4,400+ bags of produce! All produce grown at Bowen Harvest will be distributed by youth entrepreneurs to members of the community, their families, local food banks and other partner organizations throughout the year.
