Began in 2014 - This project was produced by Meei Ling Ng in collaboration with the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission as part of the Social Practice Lab artist residency program of Asian Arts Initiative.
The Sunday Breakfast Farm installation is a unique approach to get the men in the Overcomers Program of the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission involved in an endeavor where the farm's harvest is a tangible reward for their efforts. Since March 2015, beside building the farm with the Overcomers and the community, I started a program with class sessions over the course of 4 months for the Overcomers to learn about urban farming. Topics such as seed starting, tomato plant pruning, proper water techniques, mulching/composting and harvesting were covered. Advanced techniques for urban, high production growing are being used and taught at the installation so participants can stay off the streets and gain a skill set that would enable them to be employed at or start up their own urban ag operation on one the city’s vacant lots. The class sessions include cooking demonstrations that are encouraging the Overcomers to incorporate fresh produce into their diets.
Watch documentry film here for Sunday Breakfast Farm -Grow Food Where You Live, film by Natasha Cohen-Carroll.
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Read article by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Read article by Flying Kite Media.
The UBC Garden of Eden project is a partnership with The Union Baptist Church (UBC) and the artist/urban farmer Meei Ling. Designed by Meei Ling and with volunteers effort, she has developed the churchyard that included art installation with vegetable, herb, flower and fruit propagation for the church soup kitchen, guests and the surrounding community. She used salvaged materials and church pews from the neighborhood to build raised beds for vegetable growing. Local organizations, businesses, neigbors and individuals funded the construction and other work. The installation project completed in 2018 and Meei Ling continue to run the garden with community programs. The harvested produces have been donated to South Philly Community Fridges and other food pantries in the neighborhood.
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Read article by by Plan Philly.