356: Jourdain Beltran on Re-purposing Unwanted Land

Making the most of discarded plots for farming and community gardens.In This Podcast: He did not finish college, but that has not stopped Jourdain Beltran from pursuing knowledge and growing healthy food. He found a great business partner and together they are improving access to healthy food in local food deserts. They are also tackling the problem of healthy eating by teaching the youth in these areas about where good food comes from and starting good habits early!Jourdain is an Arizona native who started gardening by growing jalapeño plants with his grandfather. He is the co-founder of Urban Farming Organics, who are looking to overcome the food desert crisis in Arizona.Their mission is a “fresh off the vine” concept to make nutrient dense produce easily accessible to Phoenix locals. Part of that is working with local youth helping this next generation learn good, healthy, eating habits.Early on they saw the potential of vacant land as space for small gardens, specifically to help local residents to get fresh food with higher nutritional value. UFO is working to find local vacant or unused land by contacting the owners to start repurposing the land for farming or community gardening.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/06/02/356-jourdain-beltran/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.