• Home
  • Soil Generation (formerly HFGS)

Soil Generation!

 

 Mission Statement

Soil Generation is a coalition of Philadelphia organizations and individuals who support equity and social justice for community-managed green space, gardens, and farms through advocacy, grassroots organizing, and community education.  

 

Shared Values

  • (1) Community Self-Determination. We believe communities know what is best for their neighborhoods and should lead efforts to envision and plan for their land and their food system.
  • (2) Community Self-Representation. We believe decisions about policy, land use and resources should be informed by those most affected.
  • (3) Supportive Policies. We believe policies should encourage community-driven green space and food systems, including community gardens and farms. To this end, we advocate for an equitable, accountable and transparent process for accessing, preserving, and tending land for community gardens, farms and green spaces.
  • (4) Healthy Neighborhoods. We believe gardens, farms and green spaces are integral pieces of a healthy neighborhood, yielding many benefits such as: improved public health; opportunities for education; access to and consumption of healthy, affordable, local and culturally appropriate food; self-reliance; safer, healthier and greener neighborhoods; resilient and sustainable environments; community building; leadership development; job training and economic development; and recreation.
  • (5) Food Justice. We believe in a food system that encompasses health and equity at all stages of production, distribution, consumption, and disposal.
  • (6) Environmental Justice. We believe in preserving safe and healthy built and natural environments so that every community has access to gardens, farms, green spaces, wholesome foods and clean water. 

 

History of Healthy Foods Green Spaces and Soil Generation!

Healthy Foods Green Spaces began promoting citywide advocacy by convening individuals and organizations to be a constituent-led voice for farms, gardens, and green spaces through advocacy, grassroots organizing, and education in 2012. The coalition grew out of the successful campaign convened by the Garden Justice Legal Initiative, Weavers Way Co-op, the Philadelphia Horticultural Society, and others, leading a vocal group of gardeners, farmers and allies to halt a zoning amendment (Bill 120917) introduced to Philadelphia’s City Council that would have placed twenty percent of existing gardens and farms at risk. Read more here. After we responded to the zoning amendment, we realized that we needed to formalize our efforts and work proactively to expand the reach of urban agriculture and green spaces advocacy in the city.

Healthy Foods Green Spaces elected to move forward on a number of short and long-term advocacy campaigns. To date, this burgeoning urban garden and farm constituency has already secured three campaign successes: defeating a threatening zoning amendment, participating in securing passage of a citywide land bank bill, and providing input into the strategic planning process for the land bank. Recently, the coalition decided to change it's name to more reflect the diverse membership as well as their work in the community.

 

 Current and Upcoming Projects

Community

 

Policy

  • Development Without Displacement Campaign by the Philadelphia Commission for Affordable Communities (PCAC): PCAC is a coalition of community, disability, faith, labor, and urban agriculture organizations that has joined together to pass laws that fund more affordable, accessible housing and urban agriculture.

 

Education

  • Train-the-Trainers Workshops: (TBA) The goal of these workshops will be to train a network of community-based educators and advocates to lead their communities by understanding how to obtain legal access to vacant lots for gardening or farming, participating in the community planning process, staying current with planning developments in Philadelphia reported by the media, and guiding their communities through a campaign arc that is grounded in community empowerment and centered on a particular piece of land. 
  • Vacant Land 201 Sessions: (TBA) After great success with Vacant Land 101, the Garden Justice Legal Initiative, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and Soil Generation have parterned with community groups and advocates to lead Vacant Land 201 sessions that provide information, resources, and question and answer opportunites for anyone interested in learning more about community gardening or farming on vacant land in Philadephia. If your communitiy is interested in hosting a Vacant Land 201 session, contact Kirtrina Baxter at kbaxter@pilcop.org, and check out this post for more info. 

 

Official Coalition Members

Organizations

  • African American United Fund
  • Agaston Urban Nutrition Initiative
  • Bese Saka
  • Boat People SOS
  • Early Bird Farms
  • East Park Revitalization Alliance
  • Experimental Farm Network
  • Farm to City, LLC
  • Friends of the St. Bernard Community Garden
  • Garden Justice Legal Initiative, Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia
  • Growing Home
  • HIAS
  • Historic Fairhill Burial Ground Garden
  • Lawncrest Community Garden
  • Love City Garden
  • Manton St Community Garden
  • Mill Creek Farm
  • Norris Square Neighborhood Project
  • One Art Community Center
  • Partners for Sacred Places
  • Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
  • Philadelphia Backyard Chickens
  • Philadelphia Orchard Project
  • Philadelphia Urban Creators
  • Philadelphia Urban Roots Collective
  • Sanctuary Wholistic Arts
  • Teens4Good, Federation of Neighborhood Centers
  • The Masters Garden
  • Weavers Way Coop
  • WeNurturies
  • West Philly Fresh Food Hub

 

 Individuals

  • Owen Taylor
  • Annie Preston
  • Lindsey Stolkey
  • Sam Spetner
  • Jasmine Hamilton
  • Paul Glover