Lee County, Florida Urban Farm Tour Part 1: Estero’s Better Food Farm

Chad Jonas, owner of Better Food Farm, describes urban farming techniques. Photo by Mckenzie Cassidy.

Lee County is on the forefront of urban farming with new operations opening every year.

By Mckenzie Cassidy
Sanibel-Captiva Islander
March 7, 201

Excerpt:

Lee County is on the forefront of urban farming with new operations opening every year. It has become so trendy that the county teamed up with University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) to host a tour where current and retired farmers can learn about cutting edge methods.

Four farms — each open less than a year — were visited by a bus full of “agrotourists” on Feb. 27 as part of the Lee County Urban Farm Tour.

One agrotourist, Dolores McGregor, said most of her friends had never heard about urban farming before. She registered for the tour to learn how it all worked, and maybe pass on that knowledge to others who were willing to make a difference.

“We are from up north and there are so many vacant buildings that could be used for this,” she said.

Better Food Farm, the first stop on the tour, was on a dirt road in Estero, Fla. The bus and its occupants turned off Corkscrew Road and onto a shaky path leading to a metal gate next to a retention pond. Rows of leafy green plants were beyond the gate, some underneath metal pavilions covered in stretched plastic, a familiar sight for any urban farm.

Read the complete article here.