Objective 

The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project seeks an urban agriculture consultant to advise on harvesting, growing techniques and urban agriculture resources.

 

Background

The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project (HKFP) is an urban rooftop farm in Hell’s Kitchen, founded in 2010, managed and run by volunteers. This Project is an outgrowth of community discussions concerning nutritional security, especially scarcity of affordable fresh produce in Hell’s Kitchen. Our mission is to create a more food secure urban community through collaborative farming, education, and community initiatives. We strive to do this by growing fresh food on a previously underutilized rooftop for distribution through a local food pantry, providing community nutritional education, and organizing a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

 

The farm, run exclusively by volunteers grows in fifty-two kiddie pools, twenty growing pockets, 12 pots and four free standing planters containing trees and large berry bushes.  HKFP’s yield has increased every year since our first growing season. We now donate nearly 400 pounds of produce each year to Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries’ food pantry.

 

After 5 growing seasons and many lessons learned, we are looking to assess and evaluate our current growing practices.

 

Our main challenges as an organization have been:

• We are limited in capacity when it comes to time and labor as we are currently volunteer run. The physical capacity of our farm is also limited because of weight restrictions.

• We lack knowledge and experience as a collective.  We are a splendid mix of home gardeners and novice growers. We are all volunteers and lack the experience and skills that come with full time farming.

• We operate on a miniscule budget from RMM and community donations. All of our produce goes to the food pantry or to support educational purposes; therefore we do not generate income from our produce.

 

Request for Proposals

The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project seeks an individual with extensive urban agriculture experience to consult with us on urban growing practices. The consultant will work with the farm to assess the current state of operations and provide guiding principles, given our challenges, in order to achieve our goals. Proposals should include a resume or biography highlighting similar projects completed, along with an outline of steps the consultant will take along with a timeline to create a plan of action for our project.

 

Our Goals:

• Maximize crop production

• Utilize our rooftop and  vertical space to their fullest potential

• Improve composting system

• Develop a winterization plan

• Learn new and innovative urban growing techniques

• Gain resources for the farm (i.e funding streams, educational development, material resources and supplies)

• Create a 5 year plan for farm to meet above goals

 

The consultant is expected to present the following upon completion of the contracted term.

• A final report that serves as an evaluation of the current state of the farm

• An assessment tool to use at the end of each growing season

• A list of recommended seasonal procedures and practices

 

Terms of Contract

• Full season commitment with visits in spring, summer and fall to observe farm in different seasons

• Final report that includes recommendations with implementation steps, a five year plan and horticultural resources

 

Compensation

$1,700 =$500 per visit x 3 visits + 200 final report

 

Proposal Deadline:

Please submit proposals by March 25th 2016 via e-mail to: jperdue@mbcnyc.org

 

Contact information

For more information or to submit a proposal, e-mail Mark Prehn or call (212) 594-4464.