The Harding St. Urban Ag Center in Petersburg, Virginia has one mission: to address existing food deserts in the City of Petersburg by building a sustainable food production system and distribution hub. This includes educating the community about indoor food production operations, marketing, and entrepreneurship. To help further this mission, Virginia State University’s (VSU) Extension Program is spearheading efforts to change the policies behind some of the local problems of quality food access.

The mission of the Urban Ag Center is to address existing food deserts in the City of Petersburg by building a sustainable food production system and distribution hub that includes educating the community about indoor food production operations, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Creating urban land-use policies would expand VSU’s Extension’s ability to impact the community in terms of providing greater access to food in Petersburg.

Virginia State University’s Extension Program has numerous communal garden projects across the state. Dr. Leonard Githinji, who leads the Sustainable and Urban Agriculture program at VSU and was recently appointed as a state program leader for agriculture with Virginia Cooperative Extension, says the top goals of community agriculture are to “address food insecurity, encourage healthy eating, and provide exercise opportunities.”

There is something growing year round at the Harding Street Urban Ag Center in Petersburg, Virginia. But it’s what you can’t see growing that makes the center a success and a unique model for sustainable urban agriculture.

Navy Veteran Says Best Part of VSU’s Sustainable Agriculture Program is Getting Your Hands Dirty