Omar E. Zapata | THE RIDER
Due to COVID-19, the UTRGV Farmers Market has pivoted to e-commerce with the help of an urban farm that is run locally and sustainably by students.
A partnership between the UTRGV agroecology program and Edinburg First United Methodist Church created a farm called the Hub of Prosperity, which is located at 3707 W. University Dr.
Suzanne El-Haj, a sustainable agriculture and food systems senior and student employee of the farm, said the farm is operated by students who are employees or volunteers.
The project is a student-led initiative from its core, El-Haj said.
“We grow sustainable food with organic practices,” she said. “So, that means we do minimal tilling, we do drip irrigation, we harvest rainwater, we do composting, we don’t spray the vegetables with any chemicals.”
The Hub of Prosperity came to fruition when Alex Racelis, agroecology program director and associate professor, noticed the church had a plot of land that it was not using.
Racelis said that the urban farm’s name is inspired by 1920s advertisements seen in the Museum of South Texas History that tried to recruit people to visit the Rio Grande Valley for its year-round growing seasons.
“Essentially, the university is leasing the land from the church and at a very low cost,” he said. “In fact, it’s $1 per year.”
Rebecca Gadson, associate vice president for Student Life and dean of students, told The Rider via email, that Racelis submitted a request for funding to the Student Fee Advisory Committee.
Gadson said the committee recommended $30,000 to the UTRGV Office of the President for Fiscal Year 2021 in support of the Sustainable Campus Community Initiative, which pays the student employees and farm.
Racelis said UTRGV and the church will partner for the next 10 years.
“So, in 2018, a group of students, myself and some faculty actually worked with the church to rezone the property back to agriculture,” he said. “So, there was a bunch of conference calls, a bunch of meetings and, eventually, at the beginning of 2019, we were able to successfully petition that the area be rezoned to agriculture.”
Racelis said it took about a year to get the farm ready. The Hub of Prosperity is also used for classes and research projects by students. The farm is run by six student employees and one part-time farm manager.
“I think it’s really important for students to know that you can grow healthy fruits and vegetables right here in town,” he said. “You know, this region is known for healthy fruits and vegetables and the fact that a lot of people who live here can’t really get a hold of it, it’s somewhat a sad story.”
The Hub of Prosperity’s website takes orders Monday through Friday, with Saturday as the pickup day from 10 a.m. to noon. The pickup location is behind the Edinburg First United Methodist Church.
El-Haj said the farm will offer a farm stand for customers, who did not order produce online, to shop from in person on Saturdays.
Fatima Garza, an anthropology junior and a student employee at the farm, said that it follows university and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 guidelines at every stage, from harvesting to giving people their produce.
“We always, even though the farm is a very large and open space, keep our masks on, sanitize all the tools or anything that can be shared between us and keep 10 feet distance,” Garza said. “When it comes to the pickup, we’re also very careful with that. We clean, we rinse all the vegetables, we wear masks when bagging them and even if someone gets off to get their produce, it’s really quick and safe.”
She said ordering online is encouraged but if somebody wants to buy something last minute, they will freshly harvest the produce they want.
Garza said the UTRGV Farmers Market is open to the entire community.
“It’s small as of now, but it’s consistently growing as well,” she said.
Garza said she enjoys being a part of the program and seeing the process, from planting seeds to selling produce.
El-Haj said they will have lots of tomatoes coming soon and are hoping to have melons, peppers, cucumbers and potatoes in the spring.
“We’re really trying to be consistent, but since we’re small scale, we only have about six student employees, and it’s like five acres of land,” she said. “It’s a lot to manage, so we’re, just, we’re getting there. … We’re trying to be more consistent and supply more vegetables every week.”
El-Haj said there are volunteer-specific hours, and they have been getting more volunteers since the semester started. To volunteer, visit the farm during the hours that are posted on the UTRGV Agroecology Instagram page, @utrgvagroecology or the Hub of Prosperity’s Instagram page, @hub_of_prosperity.
“What [volunteers] should bring is, they should wear long pants, close-toed shoes, they should bring their own water bottle and their mask, of course,” she said. “We have all the shovels and everything, and we sanitize them regularly.”
Samantha Martin, a biology junior, volunteered for her first time Thursday.
“I’m volunteering because I think initiatives like this are really important for food systems, especially here [in the Valley], because we have a huge food-health problem.”For more information on the available produce and future market dates, follow the UTRGV Farmers Market and the Hub of Prosperity Instagram pages, @utrgvfarmersmarket and @hub_of_prosperity, respectively. To order produce from the Hub of Prosperity, click here.
