Tt post apr 14, 2106

"Didn't the $2.99/head specialty lettuce grower that was in the Erie St. market already call it quits?"

That would be Jim Bloom. He didn't quit farming. He left because the Erie Street Market was sold.

http://www.sustainablelocalfoods.com

https://www.facebook.com/SustainableLocalFoods

October 2015 Blade story

Sustainable Local Foods, which was growing produce inside the Erie Street Market, operated there rent free for the first 18 months of its lease. It left the building abruptly in about August without having ever made a lease payment.

The company moved to Indianapolis but still owes Toledo for a $100,000 enterprise development loan carrying a 4 percent rate. It was originally a 10-year loan but since the company left the city limits, the city demanded it to be repaid in one year. The company made the first payment of $8,515 this month, Mr. Burkett said.

After the company left Ohio, the Department of Metropolitan Development in Indianapolis awarded it $500,000 in community development block grant funds toward the cost of transforming a warehouse there into an indoor, hydroponic, urban farm.

Mr. Burkett asked if the company was using the block grant money allocated by Indianapolis to repay its Toledo debt.

In July, Mr. Bloom said the had company invested “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in the Erie Street Market with the intent of buying it.

Allegedly

This food development model is what social entrepreneur Jim Bloom was after in Toledo, Ohio. Working as an employment recruiter, in a previous position, he was able to see a huge niche market in the area that was sorely being missed.

With only 179 days of sunshine, Ohio ranks four spots above Anchorage, Alaska with only 150 days a year of sunshine — the least amount for the continental U.S.

Because half the year is spent in cloudy weather, 98% of Toledo’s produce is shipped in from as far as 1,800 miles away.

This evening, I planted peas in our backyard garden. A little late, but oh well.