It Takes a Village: NRCS urban ag success story

SAUK VILLAGE, Ill. — It Takes a Village is a nearly three-acre, urban nonprofit farm in Sauk Village, a suburb of Chicago, that opened in response to the last grocery store closing in the community in 2019.

Some residents were limited to accessing food from gas stations and convenience stores without fresh options available within walking or driving distance.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service not only helps large row crop farmers, but also can provide assistance to small urban agriculture operations and community farms.

When ITAV needed to expand with a second high tunnel, they called on their local urban conservationists at NRCS.

About ITAV

It Takes a Village isn’t just a name — it’s a true statement that reflects how the organizations that lead the farm approach their work. The farm is collaboratively led by Just Roots Chicago and Grace United Church of Christ.

Rev. Melody Seaton, the senior pastor of Grace UCC, and Beverly Long, a member of Grace UCC and founding member of the farm, have been instrumental in the visioning, development and leadership of the project.

Partnering with other organizations in the community and seeking U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance has helped them extensively in their mission. That mission is to provide access to quality food and education for their community.

When arriving for an interview with ITAV’s Sean Ruane and Paul Krysik, there were groups of incoming school children being bussed in for a field trip to the farm.

As Krysik put it: “We want to help people reconnect with food. They don’t only access food here, they learn how to grow it themselves. Food is a catalyst for education.”

In addition to providing over 2,000 people annually with access to fresh, healthy food, they provide the knowledge to their customers so that they can grow their own food in what space they have. Find out more about ITAV and Just Roots at justrootschicago.org.

Working With NRCS

Whenever Just Roots was ready to expand to a second high tunnel, they sought out assistance from NRCS to offset the cost and provide technical assistance by contacting their local field office.

NRCS now has urban conservationists and will be expanding into Chicago with a new office in the future.

“Just Roots was in our first batch of Environmental Quality Incentives Program participants since our inception. Sean and his team were ecstatic to learn about how we at NRCS could assist them with our financial assistance programs,” said Joseph Bridges, NRCS urban conservationist.

“They were adamant about learning the importance of conservation and how our practices could help address their resource concerns.

“Not only has the Just Roots team applied the NRCS conservation practices to their operation, but they have become spokespeople for their community about the good we can do when we all work together.”

What’s Next

Other NRCS practices that are still pending at ITAV farm are cover crops and wildlife habitat planning. Through NRCS assistance, the farm will be able to protect the soil and provide needed habitat for wildlife in an urban environment.

The Illinois Urban Service Center was established in 2023 and is comprised of Bridges; Alicia Lozano, urban conservationist; and Jacey Fears, Farm Service Agency county executive director. The team’s jurisdiction covers Cook County.

To learn more about urban conservation, call the USDA service center at 815-462-3106 or visit https://tinyurl.com/urban-conservation.