In less than two years, a south Augusta property has undergone a transformation from an overgrown dumping ground to an urban garden and greenspace.
“This was a blighted property,” said Dan Scott of a lot at 2025 Cook Rd. in Albion Acres. Scott is the executive director of Studio Farmer Inc.
Through a pilot program with Augusta’s land bank, he purchased the lot in April 2019. It was one of about 80 properties deemed as tax delinquent, blighted and abandoned that the land bank wanted someone to rehabilitate, he said.
Scott has also partnered with other individuals and organizations to use already owned land with the goal of eliminating food deserts in the Augusta area.
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According to an August 2012 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “Food deserts are areas where people have limited access to a variety of healthy and affordable food.”
Scott, who lives in the nearby Glendale neighborhood, saw that the Cook Road property could be one of several sites used to alleviate this desert. While paying on the loan, Scott and Urban Farmer couldn’t do much to the property except clear the space. The organization recently paid off the loan and has rows of vegetables planted on the site.
Studio Farmer has multiple objectives and can do a lot with a little, said Scott.
In accordance with federal guidelines, the work of Studio Farmer to alleviate the food deserts in Augusta can be used to assist people on SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with their work and training requirements.
Scott knows of federal grants that are available to help people get greenhouses put on private land as well. He knows how to maneuver through the paperwork and can help people through the process.
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Also, people can use their food stamp EBT to purchase produce online through Studio Farmer.
Studio Farmer currently has ties to 10 properties with a total of nine acres listed as farming tracts in the city. Some belong to churches or nonprofits while others belong to individuals.
He’s currently eyeing another blighted property and would like to turn it into a urban garden and greenspace. He hopes that the success of Cook Road will help him obtain the other lot.
“Our activity here has helped this neighborhood,” he said.
An abandoned home in the lot next to the Cook Road garden has since been torn down and is no longer an eyesore.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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