Launchpad: Growing Beyond Soil

In this lecture we will be discussing how farmers & agricultural professionals can diversify their agricultural revenue streams, why planting and having a garden is important and helpful to the community and doing a planting demonstration. It should be a fun and educational workshop.
Root Life is a black-owned urban farming business that focuses on community upliftment & empowerment through urban farming, urban farm training, food justice education, agritourism, food aid efforts & community focused health events. In recent years, Root Life has been able to partner with The Armory Community Garden, 333 Valley St An Intergenerational Organization, ConnCAT, Soul Fire Farm, Gather New Haven & Local Community Chefs to create successful projects that have offered cooking demonstrations, nutritional education, hands on farming lessons, community garden creation, youth programming, nature immersion and free produce to youth, adults and elders in hostirically underserved & excluded communites throughout New Haven, CT.

Root Life currently farms out of 5 different urban plots in New Haven, CT. Each plot has unique features, and they all are intertwined with the surrounding BIPOC communities. We grow culturally relevent varieties of tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, summer squash, watermelon, sweet potato, potato, scallions, garlic, collards, mustards, kale, lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, cucumbers, strawberries, goji berries, elderberries, raspberries, microgreens, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, tulsi, lavender, cabbage, brocolli, chamomile, beans, parsley, peanuts & okra.

We only use sustainable, organic, regenerative practices & materials in our farming. We prioritize the health of our community members first & foremost.

As part of addressing issues of Food Apartheid, we sell our produce at subsidize rates to BIPOC community members through partnering CSA programs, direct on-site sales, and farmers markets. We are hoping to create a new line of value-added products for 2026.

Host or Publisher The Lab at ConnCORP