Summary

How do you grow hope? For a start, you can visit Bonton Farm-Works,

located in a small neighborhood about five miles south of downtown

Dallas. The area was considered a food desert; the nearest grocery store is

about a three-hour roundtrip bus ride for 63% of residents who do not

have a personal vehicle and therefore, depend on neighborhood liquor

stores and gas stations for their groceries. This dearth of food options

combined with diets mainly of preserved nutritionally-deficient foods

leads to poor health conditions, including cardiovascular disease,

diabetes, stroke and cancer, for those who live here.

Bonton Farms not only fills the need for healthier foods in the area, but

also acts as a platform for spiritual transformation and community

development. They work to cultivate a sustainable and vibrant farm that

utilizes the most innovative urban gardening techniques, providing the

residents of the neighborhood with an opportunity to learn, gain job

training, and have access to local and organic foods.

Imagine a lot at a dead-end street with overgrown woods and vegetation.

In a neighborhood adjacent to a concrete manufacturing facility, this land

was littered with refuse from the manufacturing operations and was

Quick Facts Location 6905 Bexar St. Dallas, Texas 75215

Program Inception 2014 by Daron Babcock

Income About $4,000 in food sales per month

Animals Chickens, goats, turkeys, rabbits, and beehives

Dairy & Produce Variety of vegetables along with milk, eggs and honey

Bonton Farm-Works

Bonton Farms’ Mission:

“An agricultural

intervention to restore

health, create jobs,

and ignite hope in

South Dallas.”

Case Study:

Urban Farms

What is a Food

Desert?

The U.S. Department

of Agriculture defines

a food desert as “a low

-income urban area

where residents have

to travel further than a

mile to access fresh

food.” Not only do

most food deserts

have no access to a

grocery store, their

only options are fast

food restaurants and

convenience stores

that offer few options

for healthy, affordable

food.

Case Study: Bonton Farm-Works

Summary (continued) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

overlooked until Daron Babcock decided it was the perfect location to start

his community garden. The garden began as a small vegetable patch on this

vacant lot and grew to two acres in less than two years. In early 2016, a Dallas

businessman donated 18 acres of land to expand the farm.

With this donation, Bonton Farms will start construction on a new

community marketplace, The Market at Bonton Farms, in 2017. This market

will sell the produce from the farm as well as serve the community. A café will

serve breakfast and lunch during the day, and health and wellness classes will

take place in the afternoons and evenings, further transforming a

neighborhood that was once isolated and dilapidated.

In 2017, Bonton Farms will also complete the Bonton Farms Extension, a 40-

acre area located in southeast Dallas. This extension, only a 15-minute drive

from the original location, will allow more crops to be grown and will provide

a home for more animals as the farm continues to quickly expand.

Sustainable Principles

Community development

Community garden

Farmers market

Organic

Urban farms

For more information

about Bonton Farm-Works,

click here.