freerksen has a garden in the backyard of her south shore neighborhood home in chicago where she plants herbs, fruits and over 10 different vegetables. she harvests corn, green beans, bell peppers, radishes, zucchini, rhubarb and more.

“i remember being very little and [my father] making holes with his finger in the ground and being like, ‘put a seed in each one of these holes.’ and i just thought it was cool because then it would become a plant that you can eat,” said freerksen. “every time i touch the earth to shape it into something pretty or edible, i definitely am connected to him.”

in the last decade, the demand for locally grown food has increased 260% in chicago, and three-fourths of americans report caring about having locally sourced food, according to the chicago metropolitan agency for planning.

fighting food insecurity with convenience, freshness, and health

according to the chicago community trust, about one in seven people in chicago face food insecurity.

freerksen said she only gardens during the spring, summer and into the fall, but doesn’t have a need to continue growing after harvest season, which ends by late november. 

but saving money with her garden is another bonus freerksen said she has experienced, with the production of her tomatoes and kale alone. she said she rarely visits grocery stores for produce as she was even able to produce 14 squashes this summer from a single plant.

locally growing produce is a strategy used by residents, urban farms and community gardens to combat food desert status in underserved neighborhoods across chicago, especially on the south and west sides. it also reassures people about the quality of their produce. in freerksen’s case, she gardens for the convenience of having readily available produce untouched by harmful chemicals like pesticides. 

“i also compost, and for my garden i knew i wasn’t going to use insecticides,” freerksen said. “i use neem oil, which is not harmful. the only fertilizer i use is dead leaves, so organic compost.” 

in her previous apartments, she always had a small windowsill herb garden, so when she bought her house a little over a year ago, she was excited to plant a large garden, she said. 

like freerksen, keith tody, who lives in the edgewater neighborhood on the north side of chicago, said he does not live in a food insecure area, but he too grows produce outside his apartment, where he has two raised plant beds in his small backyard. he has found ways to extend his growing season into the winter. he said his motivation is ensuring he is consuming fresh and healthy foods, especially as he does not often eat meat.  

he usually grows spinach, different types of lettuce, kale, garlic, tomatoes and more in summer and fall. 

“i decided what to plant (by) basically just googling what’s super easy to grow,” tody said. “when there’s big e. coli recalls on stuff like lettuce … i just try to avoid those big supply chain problems by keeping it local and independent.”

during winter, he plants winter-hardy plants like kale and carrots in raised plant beds. 

in addition to concerns with the quality of produce, another big impetus for locally grown produce is food apartheid, also known as the food desert problem: where residents only have close access to corner liquor stores, gas stations, retail locations or small grocery stores for food, but not to supermarkets with a wide selections of fresh produce. 

cultivating healthy foods across chicago

one solution is urban farming beyond the backyard. star farm is a year-round urban farm operating in the south side’s back of the yards neighborhood and is increasing food access in the community. it creates safe spaces for women and children to learn about sustainable foods, and has a volunteer program where people with disabilities can help package produce for sale. 

through the community supported agriculture (csa) program, a weekly (sometimes biweekly) food subscription service, they serve local residents, including senior citizens who are unable to travel for groceries. they also partner with other local organic farms to boost the local economy. 

with winter underway, star farm is centering on growing vegetables like tomatoes, onions and zucchini to ship to the csa members, according to communications manager and farmer mira cameron. 

the farm has additional strategies like growing microgreens as well as broccoli, cabbage and turnips on the main site, an apartment, and in a greenhouse predominantly used in winter. during winter months, they will continue to do pop-up markets, distribute to local hospitals and sell produce at several indoor markets even outside of back of the yards, like in wicker park and lincoln park.

“because we’re able to sell directly to the consumers so often, we’re able to sell them organic local produce for a relatively low price compared to what you would find at a store,” cameron said. 

another smaller and family-run urban farm is cedillo’s produce in the englewood neighborhood, which focuses on providing organic food to people of color through farmers markets in its south side neighborhoods and those on the west side, like little village. the farm operates a csa program and provides leafy greens in the spring and fall, then fruit crops in the summer, such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants and more. 

co-founder dulce morales said that while the farm doesn’t have a greenhouse, it has a large hoop house — an uninsulated sheltered space — and she covers some plants with low tunnels made of plastic tube arches encased by a plastic sheet, to protect crops that thrive in winter, like spinach and lettuce. 

morales said it is beneficial for people’s health to eat organically, avoiding exposure to pesticides and fertilizers.  

“knowing that your food is being harvested the day of … that it didn’t have to travel in refrigeration for a whole week before it comes to your plate, all those things are big factors for people to get the most nutrients,” morales said. 

a communal effort

community gardens are another very common way of tackling food insecurity. the urban growers collective (ugc) supports access to fresh foods by growing abundant produce year-round in two south side community gardens — located in schafer park and jackson park — and eight urban farms predominantly on the south side. the organization also provides community members with job training and workshops on growing food.

laurell sims, co-ceo of the organization, said it is very important to hire local residents to work in the urban farm communities and keep a consistent program going without fully relying on volunteers.

“there’s really low food access, in particularly [disinvested] black and brown communities [of] chicago, so predominantly on the south side, but also on the west side,” sims said. “when you’re really having to choose between paying rent or your heat, or our high quality produce, produce is going to be the last thing on your list.”

ugc’s produce is only available through farmers markets, their fresh moves mobile market bus, and their collective supported agriculture program.

the fresh moves mobile market — which has produce and pantry items like beans and pasta — is a chicago transit authority bus converted into a farmers market used to target areas with higher need of fresh groceries, to shorten the food gap in chicago. the market is run by ugc farmers and the bus route is posted on its instagram, which you can follow for updates. the bus has a $10 voucher for first-time shoppers, and distributed $169,000 worth of free food to people in need, sims said.

“[urban gardening] gives folks a place to be able to grow their own and to have food autonomy, and includes beauty in the city,” sims said. “i think it’s really helped to foster a better living environment for the folks living in chicago.”

1) there are dozens of microgreen varieties

people often believe the number of microgreens produced and available on the market is a small fixed number of plants. this is not true. in actuality, there are many dozens of varieties including everything from carrots and spinach to beets and mustards and beyond. this producer, for example, has over 115 different varieties of microgreens available for consumers. many smaller farms produce about 10-15 varieties at a time.

2) they have a greater nutritional density than fully mature plants

the nutritional benefits of microgreens vary from plant to plant, but so far it appears all microgreens have a higher concentration of phytonutrients than their fully mature counterparts. it has been shown that some varieties have many times the ratio of vitamins than their fully grown counterparts.

researchers from usda and the university of maryland found in a study leaves from almost all of the 25 microgreens they examined had four to six times more nutrients than the mature leaves of the same plant.

there was much variation between microgreen varieties with red cabbage having the highest density of vitamin c while green daikon radish microgreens had the most vitamin e.

“microgreens aren’t going to replace a big, leafy salad that has lots of fiber and will give you a good sense of satiety… but if you throw a big bunch of microgreens on anything, that’s a pretty good shot of vitamins.” ­– gene lester, usda researcher

although so far it appears microgreens are scientifically superior in nutrition to mature plants, more research is needed and it is important to remember that microgreens are not typically consumed in large quantities. instead, the greens are most commonly used in salads and to garnish small dishes. still, the benefits seem undeniable.

3) really, they only take one or two weeks to grow

yeah, that’s right, a higher density of nutrients grown in one week. this also allows quick turnaround for farmers beneficial to everyone.

4) you don’t have to be a top chef to use them, or an experienced farmer to grow them

really, it’s actually not that difficult and there are a lot of online resources like this one that have step by step instructions on how to grow many varieties of microgreens at almost any home.

5) microgreens are not sprouts

unlike sprouts, which can be harvested after germination in water after only 48 hours, microgreens have not been implicated in foodborne illness outbreaks.

microgreens typically require soil and sunlight, although there are alternative methods such hydroponics and the use of artificial light. they also can only be harvested after one or two weeks. this means there is much less risk in consuming microgreens, although they are not risk free.

will you be growing or using microgreens in your kitchen? let us know how you’re mixing these powerful greens into your diet. 

john perrino is a senior majoring in political communication at the george washington university. julia blakely is a senior majoring in journalism at the george washington university.

what sets her crops apart? well, for one they are grown year round in “a controlled agriculture environment.” this means while other local farmers in loudon county, virginia are unable to grow, the lettuce lady still provides her products to top washington, dc restaurants and chefs and local customers.

taylor told us she got the idea from a visit to disney world’s hydroponic gardens. “i never thought i’d go into farming, but i have found it, just right now, the place to be,” the californian raised taylor said.

“this is smart farming.”

– mary ellen taylor, aka the lettuce lady

endless summer harvest grows 4,000 plants a week using just 12,000 ft.2 of greenhouse space. that is the “equivalent of 12 acres of traditional farmland,” she said.

her hydroponic farm uses no soil and she is able to recycle 90% of the water used back through her well into the mixing tanks that produce the solution used to grow her crops.

endless summer harvest’s controlled environment hydroponics system could provide a way for farmers in climates unsuitable for growing crops to provide food for a growing planet.

visitors from around the world, especially in developing nations including afghanistan and botswana have visited her farm seeing it as a model for future use in their less irrigable home regions.

the lettuce lady hopes to double the amount of greenhouses at endless summer harvest from two to four within a year.

is this the future of farming?