Giving Compass' Take:

• Organizations in South Dallas are forming partnerships to create urban farms on vacant lots owned by Dallas Area Rapid Transit to address food deserts in the area. 

• Can partnerships in Dallas be replicated in other communities with food deserts?

• Read more about eliminating food deserts.

A vacant plot of land next to a DART station could become an oasis for the Frazier neighborhood in South Dallas’ food desert.

Seven organizations and nonprofits have teamed up to create urban farms in vacant lots owned by Dallas Area Rapid Transit, starting with a pilot program next to Hatcher Station.

“We call ourselves community builders,” said Dorothy Hopkins, CEO of Frazier Revitalization Inc. “We’re really trying to make Frazier a better place to live and trying to help the residents who live here be stronger and understand that their combined forces has the ability to create change.”

At first glance, the 16,000-square-foot plot looks almost empty. Look one way, and there are 18 wooden boxes with seedlings planted inside next to a wire fence that separates the land from train tracks. The other end of the property is bare except for a giant tarp that’s being used to kill off grass, depriving it of sunlight rather than using chemicals.

Hopkins said that Frazier is one of the most marginalized communities in Dallas, with low employment and high poverty. It is Frazier Revitalization’s mission to change that, with help from the urban farm and other projects.

Read the full article about community revitalization by Sriya Reddy at Dallas Morning News.