Agroforestry for Community Food Security

Sola Gratia in Urbana, Illinois grows food for a community where one in 10 people and one in eight kids don’t know where their next meal is coming from. 

 “We want to make sure that we’re getting good, healthy, fresh food to those that need it. And that’s meant really being scrappy and smart with our meager beginnings,” said Traci. “I’ve always said that we had limited equipment, limited acreage, limited funds, but we were really rich in good soil and rich in limited acreage, limited funds, but we were really rich in good soil and rich in good people. And that’s what’s made a lot of this possible.” 

 Sola Gratia was founded 12 years ago by St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Urbana, Illinois. It started on a four acre plot, growing fruits and largely vegetables to address food insecurity in the community. Over the years, the farm has donated 20 to 30 percent of its produce to the food bank, soup kitchens, and other food access programs that they support in partnership with the health department and other agencies in the community.

 “A lot of the students that I work with (and a lot of the adult community members too) don’t really think of what we’re doing as farming. What they know as farming is corn and soybean row crop production and they haven’t been introduced to the diversity of what farming can be. So I’m really excited about the opportunity to show off something they probably have not had a chance to interact with before. Plus, everybody likes fruit, so being able to grow fruit is a big plus.”

 The farm is in the process of moving to new acreage and sizing up to about 12 acres in vegetable production. They are also beginning the process of planting fruit and nut trees to expand offerings to the community and to help rebuild soil, improve the environment, and diversify what’s growing year after year. The organization worked with the Savanna Institute to plan and design windbreaks and alley cropping on the farm.

 “It’s really about a long term vision and a long term goal to improve our soils and help us out in being able to produce food for our community for decades and generations to come. We’re excited to have this opportunity to actually share space and learn in community from our neighbors as well. And there’s a great cross cultural cross-generational opportunity there to just keep sharing that knowledge and that and that joy of feeding ourselves in each other,” said Traci.