Greensgrow’s Mary Seton Corboy wins sustainable ag award

Since sprouting its first lettuces in 1997 on the site of a former galvanizing plant, Greensgrow Farms has grown into an urban agriculture powerhouse that is often citied as a national model. And this week, Greensgrow will be recognized for its influence on sustainable agriculture from a source closer to home.

Greensgrow’s founder Mary Seton Corboy will get a Sustainable Ag Leader Award from the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture at their 21st annual Farming for the Future conference. (Bravo, Mary!) This year’s conference theme is “Breaking Ground for a New Agriculture: Cultivating Versatility and Resilience.” Greensgrow is a model in both.

Greensgrow has spent the last 15 years adapting into the robust, layered urban agriculture enterprise and local food hub that it is today. Over time, Greensgrow has added a garden center and farm stand, a 600-member community supported agriculture program (my family is a member), workshops, and mobile markets to its operations. So today you’re just as likely to see Greensgrow’s gourmet greens plated up at Philly restaurants, as you are to hear about its LIFE program that gives neighbors in need access to fresh food along with cooking and nutrition classes.