TAMPA, Fla. — Fresh organic produce, meat and eggs are now available at a brand new location in Tampa's Encore District. This is an area known as a food desert, where fresh food can be hard to find.
No longer: Meacham Urban Farm held an opening Tuesday, Feb. 9, as part of a partnership between the Tampa Housing Authority and local farmers. Named after Tampa's first African American school principal, the 2-acre organic farm is accessible to the public.
It's been under construction for about two years.
"The Tampa Housing Authority requested an urban farm be put in to their new Encore neighborhood," said the co-owner and founder of Meacham Urban Farm, Travis Malloy. "A middle school will be here eventually but in the meantime, they wanted to see local, organic, healthy produce being grown right in the neighborhood."
Malloy stresses that there will be a huge educational component to the farm.
"The school district owns the land, and we are going to have a lot of classes and a lot of interaction with the Hillsborough County Schools," he said.
The farm is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at 1108 E. Scott St.
"If we can do something that would give life to this community in addition to the new housing in this community, why not do an urban garden?" said Jerome Ryans, president and CEO of the Tampa Housing Authority.
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