By Thea Hassan:
The 7th annual Be Vocal, Eat Local community cookout, hosted by the Massachusetts Avenue Project program Growing Green, was held today.
The event held at the urban youth farm at 389 Massachusetts Avenue celebrates communities eating food grown locally. The event was abundant with children, skateboarding in the closed-off street and dancing to the disc-jockeyed music. Farm tours, face painting, music, and a three-legged race were also part of the fun. Tours of the farm were conducted, offering visitors the chance to see the 27,000 gallon aquaponics system that houses the one week-old tilapia and a plethora of lush greens.
The Massachusetts Avenue Project promotes urban agriculture, provides local jobs for youth and generates healthy food for Buffalo communities. Their Growing Green program is a youth development and urban agriculture initiative to make the food system more local and inclusive.
“Growing Green youth have transformed vacant lots into productive urban farmland where they grow fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs for neighbors, the elderly, local restaurants and other markets,” said a press release from MAP.