Straddling the geographic border of two neighborhoods in north city St. Louis, New Roots Urban Farm maintains and nurtures a farm site, a greenhouse with an outdoor kitchen, chickens, bees, ducks, bunnies, and each other.
New Roots does much more than simply grow organic produce in the city, they are actively working toward building a new economy based on caring for each other and the planet.
“On the most local level, we think each block or each neighborhood should have a localized food system that they create to meet their community food needs. We cannot rely on distant farms in distant countries and markets to feed us, let alone nourish us. We must take responsibility for ourselves and our communities. We are here as a fledgling experiment and model for what urban communities can accomplish for themselves.”
The FUMCAH youth were blessed to be able to able to be a part of the beautiful work that New Roots has been up to. We spent two mornings there during our 5 day stay in St. Louis: weeding, caring for the animals (and playing with them too!), creating art for their farm and advertising around the city, and learning about systemic food injustices in St. Louis (and every city).
visit FUMCAH Happenings to view photos from the trip
We were also gifted with the chance to visit Sk8 Liborius, the Catholic Church-turned-indoor-skate-park next door. That was an incredible experience of witnessing the resurrection and transformation of a space that was no longer serving the original need for which it was erected. The same story plays out with urban lots that have been abandoned and have become neglected urban prairies. And the work Antajuan and his crew were doing at New Roots is actively transforming these forgotten places into fruitful, beautiful spaces of constructive creativity and nourishment.
To our great dismay, we learned that two weeks after we had visited the farm, Sk8 Liborius caught fire, burned the roof off and reduced the rest of the building to a brick shell. The devastating result of this four-alarm fire is that New Roots Urban Farm, situated immediately next door, was contaminated, covered with soot and debris, and rendered completely ruined. New Roots is literally rising from the ashes in an effort to rebuild an even better version of their dream, and we, at FUMCAH, get to be a part of that hopeful work during the month of August as we highlight them as our monthly mission focus.
We hope you’ll support the ministry our youth have been up to, as well as help New Roots get back on their feet. The Lord provideth!