I’ve recently found myself involved with a program called Alternative Breaks. I joined in a bit late, and in a bit of a rush, but when I found out they were partnering with NYC’s Harlem Grown program I forced myself onto the team as quickly as I could.

Harlem Grown is an urban agriculture project in the most historic and unfortunately, most underprivileged part of Manhattan. After the Great Migration of African Americans during the period following emancipation, thousands of black families left the south for opportunities in big cities like New York to the north. Because of very intentional practices by the powers-at-be during the time, they found themselves mostly concentrated in Harlem. This became an unforeseen blessing for the world- the Harlem Renaissance during the 1930s was a period of some of the most culturally important works of art, music, and literature. Now, again due to very intentional practices like selective mortgage lending/financing, bank redlining, and racially restrictive covenants, Harlem is a place of high amounts of poverty, homelessness, and most relevant to this post- food insecurity.

Tony Hillary owned a limousine business in New York City and drove around some A-List Hollywood elites, and he made a lot of money doing it. When the Recession hit, he put a pause on this business and out of the kindness of his heart, decided to start volunteering on local public schools. That’s when he saw just how dire the situation in Harlem had become- public schools are funded through real estate property taxes, and because Harlem had significantly lower property values then, say, other parts of Manhattan, the public schools in it had less funding to pull from. The result was another component in the vicious cycle of poverty, crime, and lack of education.

But where many people saw a problem, Tony saw an opportunity: adjacent from the school he was volunteering for, there was a vacant lot. The kids called it haunted and stayed as far away from it as possible. In reality, the owner had allowed it to become derelict and full of junk and junkies, to the dismay of the neighborhood. Tony contacted local government, acquired the lot, and turned it into the first garden that would go on to become Harlem Grown.

My first conversation with him made me incredibly excited to work with the program, not only to contribute to this beautiful work that they do, but to also learn more about the story that got them to where they are.