A merciful breeze pushed its way through the Waverly Farmers Market, carrying with it the fresh, herby scent of the bundle of basil that sat in front of me. Beets, carrots, okra, squash, potatoes, and other produce filled the tables as I sat with some members of Farm Alliance in the bustling market at 32nd Street.
From baked goods and sweets from the likes of Atwater’s to prepared foods like Taco Loco and The Big Bean Theory, the market allows for anything from quick meals to speciality and wellness products. But a majority of the farming operations selling produce are located outside of the city itself.
But not Farm Alliance, a membership organization of urban farms, neighborhood growers, and individuals who expand community self-determination and collective power with resource-sharing and advocacy inside Baltimore City. Growing out of an informal farmers’ gathering, Farm Alliance of Baltimore was founded by Maya Kosok in the fall of 2011 with support from an Open Society Institute Community Fellowship and a USDA Sustainable Agriculture research and education grant. Now boasting 41 farm and garden members, Farm Alliance participates in markets across the city, provides nutrition and cooking demonstrations, and nurtures the next generation of urban farmers through its Black Butterfly Urban Farmer Academy.
Aria Eghbal was introduced to urban farming through capstone research that led her to the Black Yield Institute, where she learned about food apartheid and the ways inequities in Baltimore’s food system affect access to fresh, healthy, and culturally appropriate food. Through Black Yield’s relationship with Farm Alliance, Eghbal joined the Black Butterfly Urban Farmer Academy, a nine-month program focused on sustainable agriculture methods and farm business planning through hands-on training. The program provided an entry point into urban agriculture and an opportunity to put into practice some of the ideas she had first encountered through her research.
“It was just a place that folks could learn more about urban farming, and, potentially, get the foundation to becoming an urban farmer,” she said.
Five years later, she was here on a busy day at the Waverly Farmers Market using those skills as customers stopped by. There were many returning, but also a good number of first-timers. Vicky Joyner comes to the Farmers Market at least three times a month and said she gets the majority of her produce from Farm Alliance. She’s drawn to the wide selection and appreciates the consistency of their produce, how fresh and tender it is.
“I know if I shop here I will have good quality produce, know where it is from and how it is grown, that is consistently safe to eat,” she said.
As iceberg lettuce, blueberries, and many prepackaged food items are recalled and grocery prices keep rising, people everywhere are feeling the squeeze. Folks are turning to local farmers and producers like Farm Alliance, which not only provides that access to fresh, safe produce but also helps local farms scale up their contributions to the food economy.
Other market customers pointed out that with the volatile global economy, local produce also makes more economic sense.
Executive Director Denzel Mitchell Jr. sees Farm Alliance as a part of a larger effort to reshape Baltimore’s food system.
For Mitchell, that work is about more than growing food. Farm Alliance’s member farms use regenerative, sustainable, and organic practices that aim to protect the soil, people, and the broader environment. The organization’s goal is to demonstrate what a healthier and more equitable food system can look like in practice.
“The work that I’m doing in my life here and in the organization, is to remind people that food is real and a natural thing,” Mitchell said. “And if we all show up with integrity, sincerity, and transparency, then we can all eat good food.”
“The work that I’m doing in my life here and in the organization is to remind people that food is real and a natural thing,” Mitchell said. “And if we all show up with integrity, sincerity, and transparency, then we can all eat good food.”
That philosophy is reflected in the work happening at Black Butterfly Farm and throughout Farm Alliance. Mitchell hopes the organization’s work can serve not only as a resource for Baltimore residents but also as an example that encourages people to find their own ways to participate in changing the food system.
It’s also a way for people to be more involved in their community.
“Every day people are walking by the farm, living their daily lives, walking their dogs, going and coming back from school,” Jenna, a farmer who started working with Farm Alliance in April 2026, said. “So we get to hang out with lots of other people.”
At Farm Alliance’s fifth annual community day in July, more than 100 Baltimore residents visited the Black Butterfly Teaching Farm in Curtis Bay to tour the farm, make flower bouquets, meet farmers from around the city, and take home free produce.
One elderly woman in attendance had not heard of the Farm Alliance before. Chatting with one farmer who asked about her favorite foods, she said she enjoyed grits. Excitedly, the farmer told her about how they grow and stone-mill their own grits here locally.
Crystal Foreman of Holistic Wellness and Health, who has been working with Farm Alliance for more than a decade teaching food and cooking classes across the city, was leading a cooking demonstration at the community day. This is another way Farm Alliance helps people expand their horizons and enjoy new produce: by educating them on how to prepare different items in ways they may already enjoy or are familiar with.
Farm Alliance also had BGE Smart Energy Academy Kits available for participants at the check-in table. The kits include items such as shower heads and advanced power strips that allow individuals to begin to make small changes around their home that improve their energy efficiency and, hopefully, lower their monthly bills.
The free kits are part of their broader mission to make resources more accessible, whether it’s energy or groceries. In 2025, they created a sliding scale program so that customers who could afford the groceries at full price could also pay it forward for someone else.
The heart of the Farm Alliance is training a new generation of urban farmers. In their 2025 annual report, the organization said it “stewarded more than 25 acres of land, saw a 20% increase in sales at our collective farmers market stand, and responded to our neighbors during a food assistance crisis.”
“The Black Butterfly program helped shape my understanding of what it means to grow food in Baltimore city,” Eghbal said in the report.
“[It] allowed me to build connections with others who understand the importance of food sovereignty, and gave me tools to move forward within this beloved urban farming community in Baltimore.”