For years, people passing by the litter-strewn vacant lot at the corner of Somers Street and Webster Avenue saw only remnants of long-term community depreciation.Kent Bey saw bright flowers, fresh veggies and family movie nights.Over the past two years, the Hill District resident and a committed crew of military veterans and neighborhood volunteers have worked tirelessly to make that vision into the reality of Peace and Friendship Farm, an urban oasis of nearly a hundred raised flower, fruit and vegetable beds.Bey, 58, is president/CEO of Project Love Coalition, a nonprofit that seeks to secure permanent, affordable and healthy housing for homeless Pittsburgh veterans and their families. From the outset, he believed the cleanup could develop beyond a typical beautification effort.“It has become a place for residents to come out and learn how to grow healthy organic food,” he says. “Whatever you grow, just take it home and make a healthy dinner for your family.”Kent Bey works in Peace and Friendship Farm, located at Somers Street and Webster Avenue in the Hill District. Photo by John Beale.Peace and Friendship Farm is part of an expanding network of volunteer-nurtured food cultivating sites throughout Pittsburgh. This year’s Pittsburgh Urban Farm Tour sponsored by Grow Pittsburgh featured 15 community-based farms that provide nutritious food, environmental education, workforce development and gathering spaces for neighbors.After graduating from Taylor Allderdice High School, Bey served four years in the U.S. Navy. That military experience has guided the disciplined and collaborative approach that helped Peace and Friendship Farm take shape.“When we started Project Love Coalition, we probably had about seven of us,” he recalls. “We grew that seven up to a roster of 50, of which 30 have been active in creating the farm and garden.”Bey has enlisted support from several local nonprofits (United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, McAuley Ministries Foundation, Grow Pittsburgh, Poise Foundation) and businesses (McDonald’s Corp., Patterson-UTI Energy, Superior Appalachian Pipeline, IGS Energy, Lowes Store #3051 in McCandless, Duquesne Light Co.).NEXTpittsburgh talked with Bey about the impact he hopes Peace and Friendship Farm can have on promoting food equity in Pittsburgh.* * *NEXTpittsburgh: You’ve been involved over the years in many community improvement projects. When did the idea for Peace and Friendship Farm come about?Kent Bey: It goes back to 2015 when we formed the Project Love Coalition. That was after a group of our veterans met with the mayor at that time, Bill Peduto. He was one of the mayors who took up the challenge from the White House under the Obama administration to end veteran homelessness. After we met, the veterans wanted to do something to assist the mayor and help the local government with its vision for improving the quality of life for all people in this area.We said, “Well, we can start by cleaning up the community, and there’s a lot of vacant lots in the Hill District, so we can start there.” And that’s what we did. From cleaning up those lots, we took a shining to one and thought we should plant some flowers and things of that nature, and that’s what we did.Kent Bey gives directions to University of Pittsburgh students taking a sustainable food systems class who were working at Peace and Friendship Farm. Photo by John Beale.NEXTpittsburgh: How did you get access to start planting?Bey: I contacted some folks I knew at Grounded Strategies. I was in their Ambassadors Program. I let them know that my group of veterans were ready for a project. They guided us through the whole process of the city’s Adopt-A-Lot program, and we got the lease for the garden.After we cleaned up the lot and made it beautiful, some of the veterans mentioned wanting to plant a couple raised beds of flowers and things of that nature. I thought that was a great idea, and as we went along I said, “I think we could do better, because as veterans, we’re used to safeguarding multimillion dollars’ worth of machinery every day during our military service.”We saw more potential. Instead of five raised beds, how about we put in as many raised beds as we can? And leave some space so the neighborhood residents can come here. And make that into a green space so they can relax and have activities if they want, birthday parties or cookouts. NEXTpittsburgh: Like an outdoor community center?Bey: Right. Eventually, I’d like to show movies here for the residents. So, instead of five raised garden beds, we ended up with almost a hundred. We have one high tunnel that’s already installed, and the second high tunnel should be installed by the end of this year.Corey Flynn, sustainability program manager in the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Sustainability for the Health Sciences, left, talks with Kent Bey at the garden. Flynn teaches a sustainable food systems class, and her students were working at Peace and Friendship Farm. Photo by John Beale.NEXTpittsburgh: Did you have any personal experience with landscaping or agriculture?Bey: My family came from the agricultural belt from down South, so most of the elders I grew up with would grow green beans and tomatoes and collard greens, whatever else they wanted to grow in the patch of dirt in the backyard. It was something they brought with them when they migrated to Pittsburgh. As a child, I used to sit with my grandma and watch her grow all these things. The next door neighbors also grew things in their backyards. My favorite part was waiting for my grandma to pick a ripe tomato that she had grown and then sit with her on the front porch and wait for her to cut me a slice. And in the process, I’m learning how to do this.NEXTpittsburgh: That knowledge stayed with you all these years? Bey: It all started coming back to me with the community garden, because I’d really never had any opportunity to do it after my childhood. It was a way for me to connect with the elders and honor them. It made me feel good spiritually. NEXTpittsburgh: Do you get the chance to share any information with the farm volunteers about sustainable growing methods?Bey: I let everyone know that we should make sure we have a focus on conservation in terms of the environment. That opened the door for new conversations, and we started speaking about the air quality here in Pittsburgh. That’s been an issue for a while now, and I’ve been learning about that from an environmental scientist by the name of Dr. Maren Cooke.Kent Bey pauses for a photo at Peace and Friendship Farm in September. Bey wears a fez, a national headdress worn by Moorish Americans. Photo by John Beale.NEXTpittsburgh: Doesn’t she host monthly “sustainability salons”?Bey: Yes, and they’ve been instrumental to my knowledge, meeting all the folks there and hearing the lectures they present has been a wonderful journey. Having Dr. Cooke come to our site and share her knowledge about plant life and the environment has been awesome. She’s a great inspiration.I’ve also been getting more heavily involved in the environmental aspect of what we do with the community garden. That took me in the direction of the Climate Reality Project, which is an international organization that focuses on local community engagement as a way to achieve environmental justice.NEXTpittsburgh: Besides folks from the neighborhood, where does Peace and Friendship Farm find volunteers?Bey: We couldn’t maintain this without the help of volunteers. We always need volunteers. We’ve been fortunate to have volunteers from many organizations come out from time to time. Duquesne Light has a number of veterans who work there, and they caught wind of it and came out to spend some hours. We’ve had volunteers from students at Pitt, Duquesne, Carlow, Theta Phi Alpha Sorority at Pitt and groups like Gay for Good Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Cares. They’ve all been so instrumental, so important to helping us get the farm completed. If Peace and Friendship Farm can alleviate the food insecurity that is still prevalent in the community while creating a safe place for learning and civil discourse, then we know we’ve made a positive contribution to the city.The post Peace and Friendship Farm is growing food and community in the Hill District appeared first on NEXTpittsburgh.