The founder of a St. Louis nonprofit that promotes urban farming is preparing for another growing season — but, for the first time in the group’s history, it is doing so without its beloved community farm.
“It was a learning lesson,” said Nick Speed, founder of Ujima. Created in 2018, the north St. Louis-based group maintains urban farms in the city’s Fairgrounds and Hyde Park neighborhoods.
But Ujima won’t be planting in its community garden. In August, the group was evicted from the Clay Community Education Center where the garden was located.
The eviction was triggered by a break-in that damaged the school property. Although Ujima wasn’t involved in the incident, it prompted St. Louis Public Schools to cancel its partnership with St. Louis University. That decision forced several nonprofits off the grounds of the former school — Ujima among them.
Speed said the loss was followed by an outpouring of community support, including nearly $3,000 in donations.
“The community showed up in a very big way,” he said. “We had over 50 volunteers show up [to help us move] over the course of three weeks.”
On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, Speed discussed preparations Ujima is making for the coming growing season, how the nonprofit is adjusting to losing its community garden and how the group works to distribute its produce through community groups and food markets. Joining Speed was DeZha Smith, an alumna of Ujima’s Sunflower Institute.
To hear the full conversation with Nick Speed and DeZha Smith, including details for how teens can get involved in urban farming through the Sunshine Institute, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
