An Urban Food Hub is growing in the neighborhood. If you have walked past UDC-CC’s Backus campus in the past few weeks, you have probably seen greenhouses being constructed on the old tennis courts next to the parking lot on Galloway Street NE.

Greenhouse construction for UDC Urban Food Hub at UDC-CC Backus, Galloway Street NE

The campus is one of a few citywide locations for UDC’s Urban Food Hub project. The project is a concept developed by the university’s College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES).

CAUSES Urban Agriculture and Gardening Education Director Mchezaji “Che” Axum and Center for Sustainable Development Green Infrastructure Specialist Harris Trobman were kind enough to provide some information about the project:

The project is part of [UDC’s] ongoing food hub solutions. We will have a food hub in every Ward of DC. The project at Backus will have [an] aquaponics facility, hydroponics facility, and a native plant nursery. It will also have an incubator kitchen which is currently being designed. The entire project aims to increase economic opportunities around food hub components. The greenhouse facilities will be used for training and then will be leased by an entrepreneur.

They expect construction to be done in the next 60 days.

Sounds like a pretty neat addition to the neighborhood. Read more about the Urban Food Hubs concept here: Urban Food Hubs (pdf)