Food Deserts, Libraries and Urban Communities: What is the Connection?

We will discuss how collaboration between large and small agencies can have an impact on impoverished communities with significant food security issues. This collaboration made great strides in the Kinsman neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. For decades, businesses had refused to consider opening shops and stores in the community because of the ill-perceived notion that their businesses would not thrive in a low-income area. The Kinsman neighborhood at the time had no access to healthy, high-quality foods. Through its Summer Sprouts program, OSU Extension played a major role in supporting this effort. During the six-week Summer Sprouts course, other librarians, community advocates and homeowners were trained. Instructors from local area farmers, shared information on soil testing, land tilling, plant rotation, soil nutrients, composting, pest control remedies, and a host of other gardening trends for a successful community garden. The Extension program provided all the needed resources to begin and maintain a successful community garden, for beginners to the more seasoned gardeners. Working with OSU Extension made the gardening process less stressful, because their resources included information about budgeting, seeking volunteers and identifying viable locations for garden placement. Months later, CPL began a relationship with BBC. As a result, the two agencies came together to establish access for members of the Kinsman community to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. OSU Extension and BBC joined together to begin the Kinsman Farm, a 6-acre urban agriculture incubator site located in the neighborhood. This incubator farm is a site dedicated to encouraging new farmers to start their own farm business with a cooperative format. This project was made possible through a partnership with the OSU Extension and BBC. Our intended audience is faculty, research students or those wanting to engage in outreach with communities, researchers in areas like food production and social sciences. Presenter expertise: Tracey Overbey previously worked as a public librarian at Cleveland Public library, where she participated in the six-week Extension program in Cuyahoga County that maintained the community garden between 2015-2016. Tracey currently serves as assistant professor with Ohio State Libraries in Columbus, Ohio. Sherita Mullins is the director of social enterprises for Burten, Bell, Carr Development. She facilitated the collaboration between the CPL and OSU Extension. Sherita has a Master of Science degree in nonprofit management.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Tracey Overbey, Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University Libraries, overbey.13@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Sherita Mullin, Director of Social Enterprises, External Organization: Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc.Food deserts, where access to fresh food is not reasonably close or affordable, exist in both rural and urban communities across the United States. Many institutions across the United States are tackling food deserts, and OSU Extension was part of an effort in Cleveland, Ohio to address a local community's effort to eradicate its food desert crisis