Reflections on 8 Years at Common Good: A Note from Josephine Chu
Dear Community,
This October 2023 will mark 15 years since Common Good City Farm began operations on its current site in LeDroit Park. From the former baseball field of the Gage-Eckington Elementary School, we have built a farm that serves as a home for the organization and provides community space. Over the past decade and a half, the farm has undergone many changes in our programming, infrastructure, staffing, and more. Still, we have remained true to our pursuit of growing and sharing food as a medium to foster an equitable community.
When I first joined Common Good City Farm in 2015, I had no idea I would spend the next 8 years dedicated to building programming and connecting people on this half-acre plot of land in LeDroit Park. I was initially hired part-time to manage the farm market, workshops, and produce sales to restaurants for the 2015 season. At the time, I had co-founded and co-led Zenful Bites, a women-of-color social enterprise that provided eco-catering services and food education programming, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to build upon this work. Food has always been central to my work and a way to connect with my heritage and people, and I am grateful to have shared some of that with the farm. (Read more about my story here.)
Over the last 8 years, I have played a variety of roles at the farm, from managing the workshops and farm market to planning our monthly community events, managing communications, operations, & fundraising, implementing a venue rental program, and supporting staff. I am amazed by what this farm and the team have accomplished. We have hosted thousands of people on the farm over the years for the farm market, community events, and workshops for youth and adults about gardening, cooking, food preservation, and more.
When I first started at Common Good, I ran the Farm Market, which consisted of one table featuring produce from our farm. We expanded from there to running a joint market with Arcadia Mobile Market, setting up a free produce distribution in 2020 when the pandemic hit, and then pivoted to our current pay-what-you-can model in 2021 featuring produce, meat, dairy, value-added items from a range of producers. (Check out this Civil Eats profile about the farm’s pay-what-you-can model.)
As I reflect on the last 8 years, some of my favorite memories from the farm include:
Hosting the Lunar New Year Dumpling Making and Fire Cider party
Partnering with Ms. Queenie and Ms. Lin on a workshop to make 家鄉芝麻茶果 (sesame sticky rice dumplings)
Taste testing radishes with kids on field trips and seeing their facial expressions as they sample the farm veggies
Picking & eating figs from the tree
Collaborating with Emi of Washington Youth Garden on a joint post highlighting Asian American and Pacific Islander farmers
Practicing and using my Chinese language skills to communicate with the Chinese customers visiting the Farm Market
Making paella in my apartment with Chef Alex of ANXO when we pivoted to a virtual A Night on the Farm series in 2020
Working with Terri & Dionna, two of our Summer Youth Employment Program students who continued to work with us afterward as Farm Market Assistants
Cooking lots of food (and coming up with creative ideas to use farm produce) for our free monthly Community Events
Seeing rainbows on the farm after thunderstorms
It has truly been a joy to work at the farm, and it is bittersweet to announce that I am leaving the organization to move out of DC and onto my next adventure. I am so grateful that I have been able to continue and deepen my work with Common Good over the years.
Working on an urban farm, we are experiencing the impacts of climate change firsthand and are working to foster resiliency by adapting and teaching about regenerative agricultural practices. Thus, I am excited to continue advocating for food, climate, and environmental justice in my next chapter and at the international level.
“We never know how our small activities will affect others through the invisible fabric of our connectedness. In this exquisitely connected world, it’s never a question of ‘critical mass.’ It’s always about critical connections.”
I hope that in my time at Common Good City Farm, I have contributed to making these critical connections and creating a more resilient and interconnected community. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has shopped at the market, come to an event, or just stopped by the farm. I will truly miss all of the wonderful neighbors (including kids I’ve seen grow up and City Farmers I have come to rely on) who have become friends over the years. Your engagement, words of wisdom, and enthusiasm make the farm the community it is. All of you inspire me, and I will carry my experiences forward in my journey.
I am excited to see how the farm will continue to grow in the next 15 years; visit and see how the seeds we planted on the farm bloom & bear fruit. Common Good City Farm will continue to work toward the fundamental values we set as a team: community, sustainability, curiosity, and justice. We hope you stick with the farm for the next 15 years and support the work as the team makes big plans for the future.
With Gratitude,
Josephine Chu
