Farm on Ogden — Attraction in West Chicago Township

With good and relevant international skill sets and experiences, I applied for several upper level administrative positions. Administrators had encouraged me to apply and said I would receive follow up to my applications as well as to my later emails about never having received any follow up. But, still, no one ever contacted me. Also, I once I tried talking with the executive director about this matter. But he seemed very unconcerned, uncaring, and dismissive about my concerns. I wonder about Farm on Ogden's hiring of Blacks in high administrative positions, while serving a good number of the Black community with programs. What do the Farm on Ogden staff look like whose professional careers and lives are mostly helped and advanced by their experiences there??

With good and relevant international skill sets and experiences, I applied for several upper level administrative positions. Administrators had encouraged me to apply and said I would receive follow up to my applications as well as to my later emails about never having received any follow up. But, still, no one ever contacted me. Also, I once I tried talking with the executive director about this matter. But he seemed very unconcerned, uncaring, and dismissive about my concerns. I wonder about Farm on Ogden's hiring of Blacks in high administrative positions, while serving a good number of the Black community with programs. What do the Farm on Ogden staff look like whose professional careers and lives are mostly helped and advanced by their experiences there??

Update: I recently went to Farm on Ogden and purchased a drink. As soon as I sat down to drink it at a table, a young White woman told me I had to sit at another table so the RX cooking class students (mostly Black) could sit there and eat. Although she placed a table a little further awayfor me to sit at, I found her approach offensive, disrespectful, and condescending. An older woman recognized and tried correcting her approach to no avail. After the class and chef sat down to eat, the young woman's rapid, loud, and commanding sounding voice could be heard throughout store. This experience continued to raise concerns about possible structural and visible leadership issues involving race at Farm on Ogden / in the North...

I finally made it out to Farm on Ogden after contemplating a few times post completion of workouts at Lawndale Christian Fitness Center. Luckily, it was open until 6:00 PM the Saturday of my visit or I would have prolonged it until who knows when. Farm on Ogden stopped me while enroute to a restaurant the evening of my visit; offering me a much healthier choice to eat in comparison. I visited with an interest of purchasing a salad similar to one I had purchased days ago at Green Tomato Cafe, a cafe attached to Lawndale Christian Health Center. But more importantly I wanted to see what produce items were available for purchase.

My introduction to Farm on Ogden was at the 2018 Lawndale 5k where it was mentioned that the proceeds from the race support the farm, which at the time I had no idea of. In time I learned about it after visits to Lawndale Christian Health Center - Fitness Center & Green Tomato Cafe.

This visit felt like an adventure because rarely do I encounter or let alone visit an indoor farm. Highly intrigued by the presence of its greenhouse and aquaponics system which I will have to sign up for a tour in the future to learn about. As much as I wanted to ask questions about it at the time of my visit, the time was limited and I was quite positive that I would learn about it in the future eventually.

Anything that contributes to the growth of a community by offering healthier foods, jobs, and education I am all for. And Farm on Ogden does so with its partnership with Lawndale Christian Health Center and Chicago Botanic Garden - Windy City Harvest. There are opportunities for anyone including veterans and adults with criminal backgrounds.

If you drive, there are no worries about parking because it has its own private lot with street parking available as well. And if you do not drive, yet familiar with Chicago Transit Authority the farm sits right outside of CTA Central Park - Pink line making it an easy commute to-and-from.

I made it no secret to one of the employees that I would be returning in the near future after what I discovered. Even though I live outside of the Lawndale community, it is heartwarming knowing that my contributions to not only Farm on Ogden, but Lawndale Christian Health Center are...

I am VERY disappointed with the VeggieRx program. Initially they provided local produce that you probably wouldn't buy yourself. This may have been due to cost or it may be because it was a new product to you. It was this program that had my family loving soups with kale in them and eating squash. It's supposed to provide healthy food to people with dietary related illnesses. The current distribution has been common fruit like apples and oranges or vegetables like celery and carrots. I find this to be disingenuous as these are commonplace items, easily accessible and low cost. The food I got was mainly from out of state. One product was...