Clean, Crisp and Cool our Veggies!
Help us right-size our infrastructure and equipment at Lawn Gone Food Farm so we can wash, store and transport our produce in an efficient way that ensures food safety, freshness and quality.
Leader
Leah McCullough
Location
East Outer Drive Detroit, MI 48224
About the project
Lawn Gone Food Farm, an urban, micro-farm on Detroit’s Eastside, grows healthy, local, chemical-free fruits and vegetables “IN the city, FOR the city.” We sell our produce through Grown in Detroit and share it through partnerships with community organizations. In addition to feeding folks delicious food, we work with other growers towards a food secure and food sovereign city; cultivate healthy communities; teach about food, faith and justice; and serve as a model for how others might transform their yards into food gardens.
This spring we’ve prepared beds, propagated transplants, installed drip irrigation, and are cultivating early season crops, which are maturing nicely! Soon we will begin to harvest and the process of post-harvest handling – when we CLEAN, CRISP and COOL the produce. Currently, our infrastructure (sinks, tables, refrigeration) is functional, yet limited. We need your help to scale-up and right-size this part of our operation with appropriate equipment.
Funds raised through this campaign will enable us to:
1.) build a wash/pack (sinks and tables for cleaning, crisping and packing produce), and
2.) convert a 5’ x 8’ enclosed trailer into a refrigerated space (called a “Coolbot”) on wheels for storing and transporting our produce.
Having adequate washing and storage spaces will allow us to work more efficiently AND to keep food for the consumers safe and fresh. Produce cleaned, stored and transported at proper temperatures is safer, tastes better and lasts longer. We hope this will make those eating our produce happier!
The Steps
- Purchase equipment and construction materials.
- Construct wash/pack station.
- Convert trailer (preferably a used one) into a refrigerated unit by installing insulation, air conditioning unit and “Coolbot”.
- CLEAN, CRISP and COOL that produce!
- Share and sell our safe, fresh, high-quality produce.
Why we‘re doing it
We believe that everyone deserves the right to eat healthy, local, naturally-grown fruits and vegetables that are safe, delicious and of the highest quality – and we are called to work to that end. Installing and utilizing the right infrastructure for post-harvest handling will help us guarantee that our product meets these standards.
Additionally, we hope to create a model of rightly scaled, multiple-use, and affordably priced equipment that will reduce food-safety risks, increase production efficiency, and maximize financial investments. We hope to share what we learn in ways that will be mutually beneficial to other small-scale, urban growers.