Recipe for Success

Since 2005, Recipe for Success has worked to combat childhood obesity by providing education and access to healthy foods to families. It has since expanded to include those offerings and more at Hope Farms, a seven-acre Urban Agricultural Showcase and Training Center. Each year, the farm hosts over 2,000 students visiting on field trips and another 2,000 visitors through classes, events, volunteering and tours of the facility.

This center is a former school playground transformed into an urban garden in the heart of a Houston food desert. Not only does the facility grow fresh produce, but it also provides farm training, small business incubation, co-op services and workforce readiness for U.S. veterans, allowing them to market, sell, promote, process and distribute their products.

A $128,320 grant from the Green Mountain Energy Sun Club will allow Hope Farms to be 100% energy independent and partially water independent thanks to an off-grid 26.95 kW solar array, Tesla Powerwall and a new rain capture system that reduces the farm’s reliance on the city’s water supply. These sustainable upgrades will make the farm an even greener space for all to enjoy for years to come.