Hartford’s urban farmers grow produce and opportunity

The Keney Park Sustainability Project on Windsor Avenue is where many of the farmers involved in the urban farming initiative got their start. HARTFORD — Sarah Rose and Azeem Kareem of Windsor both have found solace in soil. Sarah Rose Kareem worked at a farm in Granby for about seven years and eventually, with the help of her husband, formed an organization to educate diverse communities about farming. Azeem Kareem had one particular diverse community in mind. "She was the one who had all the all the experience and the know-how because she worked in those areas," Azeem Kareem said. "She had the resources, the connections to those areas. And I was an entryway into the hood, to the urban areas around Hartford." Azeem Kareem lived in Hartford for about half of his life and is familiar with the city and some of its challenges. He said farming can be particularly healing for Black communities. "There’s so much similarity between us and the plants," Azeem Kareem said. "So it’s really just bridging that that mental gap because after slavery was over, they removed all the land from us. They tried to force us into the factories. The only thing […]

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