As many of the area’s new urban farmers have testified, it’s not easy jumping through the hoops to get a large-scale agricultural project going in Cleveland. After seeing the complex juggling involved in getting the six-acre Ohio City Farm up and running this summer, we were a little skeptical when we heard that a new 28-acre urban farming project, called the Cleveland Urban Agriculture Incubator Pilot Project, was being announced for the Kinsman neighborhood.
A splashy press conference last week in Otter Park on East 83rd Street featured a lineup of speakers that included United States Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and officials from the city and state. It was announced that the project had reaped more than $840,000 in federal and state money, via the Ohio State Extension program.
It turns out the project has more modest initial goals.