Food Vendors:
We are not currently accepting new food vendors at the Community Kitchen.

Cooking, Pickling & Canning Classes
We offer cooking and canning classes open to the public on a first come first serve basis. These classes are listed on our facebook page and website calender.  Join our mailing list to get up to date info on all of the goings on here at the farm.

Folks interested in starting a catering, food truck or wholesale food preparation and sales business in a certified kitchen should:

• Read the City of Philadelphia's Guide to Starting Your Food-Related Business

• License Information Contact:
   Department of Licenses and Inspections License Issuance Unit & Zoning Department
   1401 John F. Kennedy Boulevard Concourse Level Philadelphia, PA 19102
   Phone: 311 or (215) 686-8686

• Plan Review, Food Safety Certification, Inspections or other Food related concerns:
   Health Department
   Office of Food Protection 321 University Avenue, 2nd floor Philadelphia, PA 19104
   Phone: 215-685-7495

We are unaware of any other certified shared use kitchens currently operating in Philadelphia at this time and cannot answer questions regarding inspections, zoning permits, and useage.

-The Greensgrow Team

Greensgrow Offers ServSafe ^® Food Safety Training and Certification.
The next class will be offered in February.

This is a mandatory certification for all Philadelphia kitchens, restaurants & bars. These classes are listed on our facebook page and website calenders. Join our mailing list to get up to date info on all of the goings on . . . and off the farm.

This course requires 8 hours of home study, and 8 hours of training with a ServSafe certified instructor on the test day.  We will notify participants when course materials are available for pick-up (approx 7-10 days prior to test date).

Questions?  Contact: kitchen@greensgrow.org  

The Greensgrow Farm Neighborhood Markets provide residents of low-income neighborhoods of Camden City the opportunity to purchase locally-grown, and affordable produce each week from May to October. Many of these neighborhoods have limited access to fresh and healthy food. Neighbors in these urban neighborhoods benefit from increased healthy food choices and family farmers from the rural area of New Jersey benefit from increased sales of their products.

The Greensgrow Farm Neighborhood Markets accepts EBT/ Food Stamp benefits and offers a Double Value Coupon program to increase the amount of fresh local food low-income families and individuals can buy by matching all purchases made with EBT cards dollar for dollar.

Free health and social services are offered throughout the season. These services include free health and wellness checks, screenings and referrals provided by qualified medical personnel, disease and cancer awareness programs, assistance in applying for federal and state-funded supplemental health insurance and food assistance programs, and nutritional educational and cooking demonstrations.

People come to Greensgrow for many reasons, but urban agriculture has always been our claim to fame. We still have a lot to learn, but coaxing healthy vegetables out of what was once a toxic slab of concrete never ceases to amaze staff and visitors alike. Each season we grow over 20 different types of vegetables, totalling over 2000 pounds of fresh produce for the market and CSA.

Our large raised beds continue to be the powerhouses of our growing system, but the hydroponics, containers, green roofs, and our new off-site farms all contribute to a wholistic community of food production in Kensington. We even have greens going year-round in the high tunnels!

We continue to try new and crazier experiments to boost the quality and quantity of our produce. Stop by anytime to see what's growing, and keep an eye out for our educational series and consulting work across the city as Philadelphia learns the value of local food.

Honey From The Hood. Good for what ails you...and the environment.

What to do with it all? All the money? No, all the waste!

We all have to go sometimes...And what to do when there's no "flush"....

Water is a major concern for the city of Philadelphia, and how we conserve and protect our water supply will only increase in importance in the future.

Philadelphia maintains a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) system throughout the city to deal with all the household sewers and street drains. A CSO system works very well during normal days, but in periods of heavy rain the system can be overloaded and discharge raw sewage into our rivers.

When Eugenia Perret and Elizabeth Oliver from Minima Gallery (www.acleanbreak.org) in Philadelphia approached us to take part in their critically acclaimed A Clean Break design show we did the proverbial ... "Who? Us?" But the curators were insistent that we were their choice to make use of a cargo container as part of the exhibition featuring innovative design solutions addressing issues of urban infill, 21st century development and sustainability. "It is our aim," says Eugenie Perret, owner of the Minima Gallery "to go beyond merely proposing innovative housing solutions, but to provide the opportunity for Philadelphians to experience them firsthand."

We all like a good basket of French fries now and then and many times we feel guilty about eating them afterwards. Enjoy those pommes frittes from our local restaurtants knowing that you are contributing to the local food system even if you might be also contributing to your waist line. For instance, when you order the fabulous fries at Standard Tap, you are supporting local farmers that supply the restaurant.

In 2008, Greensgrow began an ambitious project to install living roofs on most of our permanent structures.

Living roofs (also called "green roofs") are lightweight plant-based systems that can capture and utilize rainwater at the point of first contact - the roof - while also increasing the insulation value of the structure.

Because our farm is located on a brownfield site that has been capped with concrete, rainwater has few places to go since there is little soil to absorb the water. This is a particular problem in Philadelphia where the storm drains and sewers are connected in a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) system.

What that means is that in times of heavy rain, there is too much water for the treatment plants to handle, and sewage and other pollutants can end up directly in the river. Depending on the depth of the soil medium and the type of plant material, some living roofs can capture almost all of the rainfall that occurs in a storm. This means less water in the storm drain and less pollutants in the river.

Greenhouse growers at Greensgrow Farms in Philadelphia are benefiting from a pest management program that limits or eliminates the need for chemical pesticides.

The Greensgrow Philadelphia Project sponsors a regular series of workshops and master classes on Sustainability Issues.

Utilizing Greensgrow Farms unique facilities and the Kensington Community Kitchen, the Philadelphia Project  welcomes local "green" experts -  such as Michael Haas, Director of USDA alternative biomass plant material, Matt Steiman, sustainability program Director at Dickinson College, and Greensgrow staff specialists, Peace Corp volunteer Erik Kintzel - to lead our Sustainability Series.

The series comprises weekly hands-on workshops, lectures, and master classes, focusing on four main areas:

• Current Environmental Issues
• Food and Nutrition
• Home Gardening
• Green Construction

For upcoming Sustainability Series workshops, please check our online calendar.