Hilltop Urban Farm is a nonprofit, community-centered farm in Pittsburgh’s Hilltop community. Located on 107 acres of land – with 23 acres dedicated to farming – it is a multi-pronged initiative that produces locally-grown crops, provides agriculture-based education, generates entrepreneurial opportunities, and strengthens communities. With development and core programming underway throughout 2018 and 2019, Hilltop Urban Farm is set to transform the land it currently occupies. Given its size, scope and reach, it will ultimately become the largest urban farm in the United States and serve as a resource for urban farming initiatives. Serving as a vehicle for youth education and development, the Youth Farm at Hilltop Urban Farm will engage school-aged children from the Hilltop communities with food production and teamwork. Partnering with the Pittsburgh Arlington School (adjacent to the site) and Lighthouse Central – a pillar of local community youth service – the Youth Farm acts as a living agricultural and ecological laboratory for children. It promotes the teaching of Nutrition & Cooking, Growing Food, Local Food Systems, Agriculture as a Career Pathway, and Ecology of Western Pennsylvania through the lens of urban farming with the support of program partners Penn State Extension, Allegheny Land Trust Education Department, and Grow Pittsburgh. Open to anyone age 18 and over, the Farmer Incubation Program will train adults who are eager to gain hands-on experience growing their own farm enterprise. In exchange for an annual program fee participants will have access to ¼ acre of restored farmland, storage, solar panels, mobile coolers, a shared tool library, greenhouses, hoop houses – structures that use the solar rays to warm plants, allowing farmers to extend the growing season. Taught by a consortium of Hilltop Urban Farm program managers, educators from the Pennsylvania State University and more, the program provides training in food production and business.
