Growing Southland Farm is Expanding Their Operation
Growing Southland Farm is Expanding Their Operation (Lynwood, IL) — Soileviah Farm, located in Lynwood, IL, is the only Black-Owned Farm in Cook County. Farm owner, Regina Porter, and her husband, Dr. Prince Amiel, hope to expand their operation in the next year to include more crops and services to the community.
Opening last year and currently entering their second growing season, Soileviah Farm provides fresh, organic produce and foods to the community. The farm welcomes visitors to explore their 14 acres, as they seek to be a place of education on top of growing their crops. The farm boasts milkweed plants, the only plant that Monarch Butterflies lay their eggs on, fruit and vegetable crops, hemp, and even beehives that produce fresh, local honey. Porter and Dr. Amiel are seeking to expand their operations in the coming year, aiming to educate the local community on the importance of knowing and understanding where the food they eat comes from.
Porter and Dr. Amiel are looking to become more than just a farm. They would like to become a community center for education. Being the only Black-owned farm in Cook County, they really want to educate the community on healthy food, how to grow food, and how to turn crops into a meal. They would like to grow into a large training facility that processes crops and trains both the youth and adults. Currently, over 95% of farmers are white and over 98% of all farmland is white-owned, so Porter and Dr. Prince feel that this is a calling. “Black people and minorities in general are historically living in food deserts. They are seldom educated on the importance of healthy eating, and even less-so on how to grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables. This gap between our community and the rest of the work needs to close,” said Porter. In addition to helping Porter run the farm, Dr. Amiel is currently the chairman of the Farming and Agriculture Committee of the Southland Black Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Soileviah currently sells their products at their farm. The public is encouraged to reach out if they are interested in visiting and seeing what they have to offer. Regina Porter and Dr. Amiel can be reached at 708-553-0030 or via email at soileviah19@gmail.com.
Soileviah is also seeking the community’s help in growing their operations. They have launched a Go Fund Me page to assist with the costs of expansion and are looking forward to soon providing more food and more services to the Southland. You can donate by following this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/farmlandfood-enrichments-warehouse-upgrades
Growing Southland Farm is Expanding Their Operation
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