Smack dab in the center of what was once the “hog butcher for the world” is a repurposed food packaging plant that is being used for raising tilapia that eat the plants that drink the water that The Plant filters.
I tagged along with the Downers Grove Organic Growers on a steamy Saturday morning to tour The Plant in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago. I’m so grateful that they let me join them. This is what garden clubs are like; open and eager to share the knowledge of growing things and learning about how we are expanding growing environments.
The Plant was home to Peer Foods since the 1920’s. It was where bacon and hams and other meats were processed and it provided jobs for many, especially those living in the Chicago neighborhood known as The Back of the Yards. The “yards’ refer to the stockyards. When it moved it’s operations westward, into the suburbs, it left a substantial employment gap in the neighborhood.
While the scene above may appear bucolic, it is not. It is about as urban as a neighborhood can be with rows of small houses on small lots that have stood the test of time and labor; city streets with small businesses serving the community – and an immense industrial area at its back. Smokestacks and cement cut the blue sky and poverty is but a day away.
The photo on the top is looking out of a second story window onto what was likely a parking lot and upon which now sits an urban farm.
As we departed, volunteers were setting up tables and tents for a small farmers’ market, providing fresh greens and vegetables from the site to the neighborhood. A large cooker was set up in what was once a loading dock to cook lunch for the volunteers and interns working at The Plant.
This is an exciting, emerging environment in an otherwise inhospitable cement jungle with a forward thinking agenda of providing food where food has not grown. Oh, the places one can go when thinking “outside of the box”. This old, dilapidated structure is receiving CPR. Its innards are being rearranged and repurposed. It will take some time to recover, but, recovering it is, with food business “incubators” finding tenant space inside this cavern of possibilities. A nearby bakery rents space and houses ovens inside its doors. A brewery will be taking up residence, as well as storage space for a cheese company. Mushrooms are farmed in a lower level room. A large portion of the basement houses enormous tanks where tilapia are raised; the water filtered back into the water plant beds, pushing up through holes juxtaposed in recycled cardboard gardens. Various heat lamps hang, testing different types of lighting as college interns plant seedlings just a few steps away. There are plans for a museum focussing on the surrounding neighborhood, classes, artwork and numerous other ways to replant The Plant.
I get confused, dear reader, over hydroponics and aquaponics and their relatives, but, you can read more about this topic if you choose by going to http://www.plantchicago.com/non-profit/farms/plantaquaponics/ and you can find out more about The Plant at plantchicago.com.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a few pictures of the growing areas inside The Plant – and outside of it. On the day of our trip, there were several volunteers working on the 3,000 square foot mural being painted on the outside of the building and designed by Joe Miller.
Hope, ideas, agriculture and more grows these days in this city neighborhood. A good thing. A good thing, indeed.
Reusing, recycling, repurposing = real jobs and revival of an old, urban neighborhood! I love it!
Why, oh why, won’t those who are all about ripping out and tearing down learn something from our past mistakes and losses, and consider the possibilities of saving and improving? Sometimes we are penny wise and pound foolish! This is exciting!
Great post, Penny!
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This is a prime sum for your equation, Karen. It was exciting to visit and I’ll be looking to see how The Plant progress.
We never seem to learn, do we? What is rather interesting about this project is that it was purchased by a non-profit for about $550,000 – whig is what a MacMansion in the burbs, which are also tear downs, cost. I”m so glad you found it exciting – and I think you so much!
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It’s always so encouraging to hear about such initiatives. The organic growers out at the beach where my bach is, grow salad greens using hydroponics and the salads are always delicious. It seems to be an effective method, very clean and quick. Thank you Penny. I hope the project goes really well.
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Me, too, Juliet. They have some very ambitious plans for The Plant that will, I believe, benefit not only the immediate area, but, all of us as we look to different ways of farming. You’ve written about those salad greens – and made my mouth water. Thank you, Juliet.
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I asked MTM if he was familiar with this neighborhood, Penny. He wasn’t. I’m off to show him this post now. Glad to hear you survived the storm in one piece.
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Thank you for your concern, Andra. We did have some tornado warnings later in the evening, fortunately none appeared and now we’ve a mass of tree branches to clean up – but no other storm worries. Grateful, we are.
This is a highly industrialized area and where the famous stockyards were.
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I love to see old buildings being re-purposed. Tilapia, what a good idea. I would much rather buy Chicago grown tilapia than fish from China. I have a mental picture of the Chicago stockyards from movies and what I read in books. It was not a pretty place, but I’m guessing it is now. Lovely photos and good ideas.
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So would I, Janet. The tilapia mostly goes to restaurants in the city. That image you have from movies and books is still what this area looks like; not pretty at all. Though the homes are well kept and it seems many have a pride of place, it is a struggling neighborhood to live in. The mural is really interesting and I think will help bring a sense of pride to the nearby residents. I’m really excited about the prospects of what The Plant can mean and that they support starting businesses.
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What a wonderful transformation! I love reading about these innovative ways of approaching life. It’s exactly the kind of thinking that makes a difference.
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It is the kind of thinking that makes a difference, Teresa. This is a dismal neighborhood; not the trees and wildlife and vistas you and I enjoy, but, to be able to enjoy fresh produce by walking down the block and see green growing in cement island is a very good thing. I knew you would be appreciative of this.
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Hopeful happy news indeed. Innovative ways to feed people … how needed and how wonderful. We learned about tillapia at Eco Farm in Florida where their mission is to find ways people in areas of poverty (here and abroad) can grow their own food. Those fish are kind of little miracles aren’t they? It’s wonderful that The Plant is being used so wonderfully and made to look beautiful in the process.
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They do seem to be little miracles, don’t they, Salle? I’m interested in learning more about this. It is truly hopeful that we have such enterprises like Eco Farm and The Plant with forward thinking, proactive people who are looking to ways to to feed people and to help them themselves.
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FIrst off…I’m happy to read that you weren’t too hardhit, personally, in the storms. I did a little “Googling” when I first heard about them, and what I saw was quite a generalized area of turbulence! It must have been very unsettling not to know when things might further escalate. I’m also so pleased you could take this local “fieldtrip” and share such an incredibly interesting story, Penny! How marvelous that there are people who think out of the box. We always hear so muh about technolgical innovation, but stories of agricultural and food technology innovative efforts don’t usually reach me. This is encouraging and very exciting. I hope The Plant might become a “school” for others around the country, and even around the world. I would love to take this tour. 🙂
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Just some, well, lots of branches and debris from high winds, but, otherwise we really lucked out and missed the worst of the storms. Not too far from here had tornados and much damage. We spent some time in the basement, just in case. Thanks for your concern, Debra.
Had it not been for my garden club activities, I might not have known about The Plant – nor been able to go see for myself. There are so many “food deserts” in Chicago, to see such an innovative use of space and technology and energy is a hopeful thing. I thought of you as I toured it – what would Debra’s “take be?
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What a wonderfully imaginative and positive was to make new use of an old and unwanted building and area, Penny. It’s so sad and depressing to see the dereliction that so often creeps in when industries close, but this scheme gives real hope for the future.
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I agree completely, Perpetua. It will take a bit more time and fortitude to get this endeavor fully up and operational, but, they are off to a magnificent start at The Plant and I think it will be good for the neighborhood – and for many others as well.
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