The sun is setting on an urban farm that aimed to address food and job insecurity in west Bloomington.
Since launching in 2016, Sunnyside Urban Farm has grown thousands of pounds of fruits and vegetables and provided on-the-job training for dozens of youth. That bounty never matched up with the funding required to keep the farm going, forcing them to close at the end of this season. They announced the closure on Facebook.
Co-founder Janice Turner started Sunnyside with her child, Col Connelly. As a high schooler, Connelly envisioned a community garden that would grow fresh produce in an area of Bloomington considered to be a food desert.
“Col and I are really sad, and we felt that it was a good idea,” Turner said in a phone call with WGLT.
Sunnyside Community Garden leased a 1.5-acre plot from the city of Bloomington near Sunnyside Park and sought volunteer help from Illinois State University’s Center for Community Engagement. Initially, everything grown was given away, with regular donations made to service organizations like Home Sweet Home Ministries and the Boys and Girls Club, plus Wednesday night pickups of the surplus available to anyone.
This spring, they rebranded as Sunnyside Urban Farm to enable them to sell more food to restaurants. The farm collects grants through fiscal sponsorship with the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation and has held fundraisers to garner additional support.
Director Caleb Phillips came on in 2019, doubling the farm’s output and managing a fast-growing, paid internship program for teens living near the farm. But despite the positive growth, Sunnyside has struggled to make enough money to survive.
“Unless there could be funding within the community, [Phillips] wasn’t able to continue,” Turner said.
Turner added the physical toll of the workload on Phillips was another reason for closing. Messages to Phillips were not returned.
Operations will continue as normal through the end of the summer, when the lot will be cleared. Hundreds of remaining fruit trees and other plants, plus building materials, will be free for the taking beginning at 10 a.m. Sept. 9.
Turner said she hopes someone new will pick up the idea to grow fresh food and jobs in west Bloomington.
“I think the city of Bloomington would like some kind of student, teenager workforce, and that’s what Sunnyside was providing,” she said.
