Urban farm grows in Buffalo at mosque

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A new urban farm will soon be sprouting up in Buffalo.

It wasn't a beautiful day for working outside, but there were a lot of smiles on the faces of those who are launching a new urban farm project in the city of Buffalo.

The Community Action Organization's Green Entrepreneurial Center is using federal stimulus money to bring farming into the city. Members of Mosque 23 on Walden Avenue began building a large greenhouse on the Mosque property. The idea is to grow organic foods and to share and eventually sell those products to the surrounding community where it is so hard to get fresh produce.

Jeanneie Muhamad of Mosque 23 said, "Everyone's excited about this and to be a part of this. This is a first in Buffalo, a green initiative on a mosque, on a church backyard. That's wonderful, right?"

Paula Alcala Rosner, CAO Director of Urban Assisted Agriculture, said, "Here in Buffalo, through the CAO, our focus is on creating jobs through urban agriculture, urban farming, and we're setting up small urban farms all throughout the city and we even have one in Lackawanna, one in East Aurora. So, we're really at the forefront of urban farming."

The Community Action Organization also offers workshops to get these urban farmers going and to keep growing. They can learn everything from composting to aquaponics and can also grow a business with training in planning and development.