[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.34]this is the Agriculture Report.
[00:05.32]Farms are spreading to unused city lots
[00:09.55]and old properties across the United States.
[00:13.78]These urban farms grow crops in areas
[00:17.52]where people rarely buy fresh fruits and vegetables,
[00:22.15]they also have the power to change what people eat
[00:26.29]and the power to influence troubled neighborhoods.
[00:30.22]Eco City Farms is an educational nonprofit organization
[00:35.76]in Prince George county, Maryland.
[00:38.40]It seeks to empower the community
[00:41.58]by teaching economic development,
[00:44.27]job training and a healthier way of living.
[00:49.23]The group has set up farms near automobile repair businesses
[00:54.46]and fast food stores in urban neighborhoods.
[00:58.65]Social activist Margaret Morgan-Hubbard founded Eco City Farms.
[01:04.07]She says the the lack of fresh produce
[01:07.22]is a major health problem for children and their families
[01:11.56]who live in nearby Bladensburg, Maryland.
[01:15.02]"What's critical is that 70 percent of the people
[01:19.75]in these towns are either overweight, obese,
[01:26.98]have diabetes or other kinds of diet-related ailments
[01:31.36]because they don't have access to healthy food."
[01:33.80]Eco City Farms offer several programs,
[01:37.88]including educational activists on agriculture, food,
[01:42.62]and finding jobs with environmentally-friendly businesses.
[01:48.49]People can also learn how to cook healthier foods
[01:53.62]and teach others how to prepare meals.
[01:57.81]On a recent day, Philip Sidibe demonstrated his cooking skills.
[02:04.49]He prepared Aloco, a popular food in Cameroon where he grew up.
[02:11.16]He and other young people not only cook their food,
[02:16.24]they also grow it in a large garden
[02:19.88]next to the Autumn Woods Apartments.
[02:22.81]The apartments are home to 1,000 people,
[02:26.94]but the community has just one small store.
[02:31.68]Tameka Barbour-Gaskins lives in Autumn Woods.
[02:35.62]She says her whole family is eating healthier meals
[02:40.06]because of the local produce.
[02:42.60]"I like junk food. I like quick meals.
[02:47.23]Not easy to just go from eating a certain way all your life
[02:51.81]to switching over to being healthier...
[02:53.50]With the garden here, with my son learning,
[02:57.30]he can help me switch around my style of eating.
[03:01.43]I want a healthy family."
[03:02.88]Margaret Morgan-Hubbard says
[03:06.30]the urban garden is an agent for change
[03:09.34]and the young people are its newest supporters.
[03:13.97]"Our program is about planting seeds.
[03:16.66]It's about planting seeds not just in the ground,
[03:19.20]but in other human beings so that the movement can grow
[03:22.88]and it's really exciting because... these young people
[03:25.93]will be working with us throughout the year
[03:28.18]to help plan the actual farm and to ultimately own it."
[03:36.30]She says this means not only farming food,
[03:40.54]but also making that food available to people
[03:44.42]who live in the community.
[03:46.86]And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English.
[03:52.05]I'm Christopher Cruise.