Funds Awarded to 26 Urban Agriculture Projects Led by Public Gardens and Community Partners

March 11, 2024 – Sarasota

Selby Gardens is pleased to announce that it has received an award through The Urban Agriculture Resilience Program that will support expanding its partnerships with Operation Eco Vets and Easterseals Southwest Florida.  The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) and American Public Gardens Association (Association) are awarding support to 26 public gardens and their community partners engaging in urban agriculture, food-growing, and related education work. The 26 awards total $445,600 in support for public garden partnerships across the United States that will foster public engagement and education in urban food growing and build capacity in urban agriculture programs. The Urban Agriculture Resilience Program aims to strengthen collaborations, promote resilience, and gather best practices from across the U.S.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, located at 1534 Mound Street, in Sarasota, Florida is one of the 2024 recipients. A partnership with Operation Eco Vets to design, plant, and provide ongoing maintenance of the Drs. Andrew and Judith Economos Rooftop Edible Garden, is a significant component of Phase One of Selby Gardens’ three-phase Master Site Plan. The on-site rooftop garden provides edible gardens to supply the new restaurant—The Green Orchid—and is an extension of Selby Gardens’ mission to understand and appreciate plants. Selby Gardens has long partnered with Easterseals Southwest Florida to help maintain the Permaculture Garden at the Downtown Sarasota campus, and the award from USBG and the Association will allow Selby Gardens to expand this program to include hands-on learning in the Rooftop Edible Garden from the team at Operation Eco Vets.  

Easterseals Southwest Florida has served children, youth and adults with special needs in Sarasota and Manatee counties since 1946. Operation Eco Vets seeks to enable personal, educational, and professional growth opportunities to veterans in our community. The partnership between Operation Eco Vets and Selby Gardens provides local veterans with sustainability skills development and social connections in a scenic, natural environment that fosters overall wellness—reflective of both organizations’ missions.  

The funds will help programs in 26 states and Washington, D.C. integrate urban food growing and urban agriculture education while addressing food security challenges in their communities. The program seeks to leverage the strength of public gardens working with partners in their communities, ranging from schools, universities, and urban farms to food pantries, community gardens, local government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. This year, the program especially sought to support collaborations involving smaller public gardens, as well as organizations demonstrating a strong commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.

Over the UARP’s previous four years, the program has awarded $1.57 million to 80 collaborations in 30 states and D.C. These programs have grown and shared over 690,000 pounds of produce, distributed more than 260,000 seedlings, and provided more than 46,000 hours of urban agriculture training to students, interns, and trainees.

“The collaborations supported through this year’s Urban Agriculture Resilience Program demonstrate many creative ways that urban agriculture can connect people and plants through food,” said Dr. Susan Pell, USBG executive director. “We are thrilled to embark on a fifth year of supporting such vital urban food-growing programs across the country and to expand the existing Urban Agriculture Resilience Program community with these 26 new projects.”

The Urban Agriculture Resilience Program began in 2020 as a way for the USBG and the Association to support and expand urban agriculture and food-growing programs at public gardens. Learn more about previous awardees at www.USBG.gov/UrbanAg.