Philly’s first urban agriculture director kicks off plan to save endangered edible gardens

Philadelphia is creating its first-ever plan for urban agriculture. The goal: to protect existing community gardens and encourage farming use on vacant city lots.

More than 100 growers and food justice advocates filled Council chambers on a sunny fall day in 2016 and pled for support and protections against displacement.

That seed germinated and gave fruit to a process that started on Tuesday night when more than 250 residents packed a room at the central branch of the Philadelphia Free Library to start the city’s first-ever urban agriculture plan.