Rep. Jim Himes announces $1 million in federal funding for the construction of a hydroponic farm and community outreach center for members of the East End community at the former Mount Trashmore site on Central Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn., on Wednesday, April 19, 2022.
Rep. Jim Himes announces $1 million in federal funding for the construction of a hydroponic farm and community outreach center for members of the East End community at the former Mount Trashmore site on Central Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn., on Wednesday, April 19, 2022.
BRIDGEPORT — A planned hydroponic farm at the former site of one of the city’s most blighted spots got a $1 million boost from the federal government Wednesday.
“What used to be an eyesore, Mt. Trashmore, not just an eyesore, but a dangerous eyesore, a contaminated eyesore that was challenging the health of everybody in this community, will be the subject of a renewal that will grow food for the community,” said U.S. Rep. Jim Himes Wednesday at the site of a planned hydroponic farm on Central Avenue, in the city’s East Side.
“Mount Trashmore” was the popular name of an illegal dumping ground at the site. It has since been cleaned up and capped to protect against contamination.
Himes, along with other state and local officials, was on hand to announce the farm and a community outreach center would receive the additional funds. The location is especially important, officials said, since the area is poorly served by grocery stores.
The farm, which was previously announced early in 2021, would consist of shipping containers where produce would be grown using hydroponics, where plants are grown using a mixture of nutrients in water instead of soil. The process can lead to much faster harvesting times.
Joe Alverez, the owner of High Ridge Hydroponics, which will operate the farm, said the new farm will also have an educational component.
“I believe there is going to be a health and wellness center where you will be doing some classroom learning, and they’re working on some classrooms for UConn,” he said. “We’ll do some staff education as well. It’s all going to be really cool to have a hydroponic greenhouse and shipping container for classroom setting and a (building) for processing and packing the food.”
City Council President Aidee Nieves said the lack of grocery stores in the area compelled members of the community, including Deborah Sims, a member of the Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, to address food insecurity.
“One banana on Stratford Avenue, it cost you $1.25 to buy a banana in a corner store,” Nieves said. “And I think at that moment, Deb Sims’ fire was lit. And it’s been ever since.”
The farm will be geared toward residents of the East Side. Suzi Ruhl, an associate scientist at Elevate, a program at Yale that studies the effects of poverty on mental health, said the project will not only lead to healthier residents but have mental effects as well.
“We’re really so excited about the hydroponics because we know food is not (just) food, it’s medicine,” she said. “And we also know that food is connected to other parts of our lives, from our from our mental health, our physical health, the health of mothers and families and children and fathers. And this example here, like I said, is such an important precedent.”
Brian Lockhart contributed reporting to this article.