The Urban Farm at Romanowski Park
- Park development
Between 2003 and 2006, The Greening of Detroit with many other community partners transformed Romanowski Park, a 26-acre park located in southwest Detroit, into a new destination point and resource for urban agriculture. The Romanowski Farm Park, Detroit’s newest urban farm, is now a thriving community resource with a two-acre community farm plot, teaching pavilion, playground with integrated teaching gardens, 118 fruit tree orchard, sugar maple grove, 1-mile walking trail, soccer complex, and numerous athletic fields.
Through the Romanowski Park project, The Greening of Detroit provides community members increased access to food, and promotes nutritional awareness and health among residents living in the neighborhood. The park serves as an anchor for urban gardeners throughout the city of Detroit, providing a site for farmers to come together for workshops and training programs, and a place to meet and learn from each other, as well. The park also serves as the primary training ground for The Greening’s Farmers Apprentice Program, creating a new crop of urban farmers each year. Perhaps most important, the Romanowski Urban Farm Park has allowed us to demonstrate how urban gardening can play an important role in combating hunger and improving nutrition for Detroit families, a significant problem for many residents who sometimes struggle to buy food.
The Greening also works in partnership with three neighborhood schools at Romanowski Park, teaching gardening and nutrition to over 300 students on a weekly basis during the growing season.