On Friday at 10 a.m. Mayor Bill Finch and Congressman Jim Himes will attend the ceremonial groundbreaking for the first phase of Boot Camp Farms Bridgeport, 329 Central Avenue, an agriculture company that constructs greenhouses. News advisory from Finch:
Antonio St. Lorenzo, Founder and CEO of BOOT CAMP FARMS has made it his mission in life to serve and protect his fellow veterans and help our less fortunate families to live with dignity for over 30 years. Mr. St. Lorenzo and his business partner, Sean Richardson, the COO, have created BOOT CAMP FARMS, a Bridgeport-based, socially conscious, for-profit urban agriculture company that constructs and operates state of the art hydroponic greenhouses that will be built throughout Connecticut and will turn Connecticut into a beacon for top-quality produce. The Company’s projects are built and operated with only American materials and local labor.
The flagship farm is located on Central Avenue in the East End of Bridgeport where the Company has embarked on a unique strategy to turn blighted brownfields into sustainable urban farms with 80,000 square feet of computer-controlled greenhouses producing about 800,000 pounds of fresh produce per year as well as 40 full-time jobs for the community.
Governor Dannel P. Malloy has provided a $1 million grant to the City of Bridgeport to remediate the brownfields and Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch has made BOOT CAMP FARMS an integral part of Bridgeport’s BGreen 2020 initiative. Mayor Finch says “My administration has worked tirelessly to bring produce options to our food deserts, sustainable urban agriculture to our green city, and jobs to our residents and our veterans. This project meets all those goals and then some and will be a welcome addition to the Lower East End. By transforming several vacant brownfields into an urban greenhouse, we are literally transforming our past into our green future.”
BOOT CAMP FARMS, in cooperation with a local community development corporation, will also be erecting a 6000-square-foot, not-for-profit community center on their site where UConn’s Agriculture Department will be training the greenhouse workers to be certified hydroponic farmers, and conducting school programs so Bridgeport students can learn about the importance of agriculture and a healthy diet. The community center will also host the local farmer’s market in addition to being a beacon for East End residents.
In addition, BOOT CAMP FARMS will also be erecting a 4,000-square-foot retail store on site that will sell fresh produce and other foodstuffs that you would find in a top-quality supermarket–which the East End currently lacks. BOOT CAMP FARMS intends to help alleviate the urban food desert in the East End and provide healthy food for the community as well as to feed the needy with a weekly sit-down dinner at the community center.
Wow, I had heard of this about 5/6 years ago and the proponents were Charles Coviello and Barry Piesner. I believe Barry had some facilities already in play on the West End.
Antonio Lorenzo and Mayor Finch should be commended for this innovative forward-thinking business on Bridgeport’s East Side. JOBS and fresh produce, that’s what I’m hearing; and utilizing brownfields. Kudos.
*** Let’s hope the Zombie horoscope calling for failure by the next Park City Mayoral race is wrong! For every city district gain, twice is lost due to poor planing in the long run. *** Let’s keep the “happy feet” on the ground for right now! ***
BOOT CAMP FARMS is just what Bridgeport needs: a drill sergeant dedicated to filling a genuine need while helping veterans grow healthy food everyone can enjoy. That’s what sustainability is all about! It’s all good. Add urban farming to the list of things that make for a better Bridgeport.
*** TIME FOR A DISTRICT FUNDRAISER TO RAISE ENOUGH CASH TO HIRE A POLITICAL PRIVATE EYE SIX MONTHS BEFORE THE MAYORAL RACE TO GET ALL THE PRO & CON FACTS ON THE INCUMBENTS TO THEN BASE THE CAMPAIGN ON SOME OF THE FINDINGS, NO? *** DIRTY LOW-DOWN FACTS ***