“Everybody from this community has to leave this community to get fresh vegetables for their families.”
DALLAS — Tyrone Day is particular about change.
He was wrongfully convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault spending almost 26 years in prison. Now free and exonerated, he returned to his home in South Dallas only to find that some things stayed the same.
“We only had one grocery store at the time that I grew up here,” said Day.
That is still the case today, leading Day to take what he learned behind bars and release it in his community.
Day has teamed up with SMU professors, Doric Earle and Owen Lynch. They co-founded Restorative Farms.
“It’s a pilot that shows that you can grow a large scale amount of food that’s much healthier,” said Lynch, Restorative Farms Co-Founder and Executive Director.
It’s located in South Dallas which is considered a food desert. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food deserts are areas with limited access to healthy foods within a one-mile radius.
“Everybody from this community has to leave this community to get fresh vegetables for their families. On DART that can be a two-hour round trip,” said Lynch.
That’s why the farm is conveniently located along DART’s Hatcher Station with hopes to expand. Residents subscribe to the farm and pay a fee for fresh food.
“If you can create an economic catalyst for change in a community and create a place for a living wage, money stays here,” said Earle.
Earle said not only would money stay in South Dallas but also the residents. Restorative Farms provides jobs to folks like Day who were formerly incarcerated.
“Give them that second chance to be able to fend for themselves and learn a trade to be able to benefit them and their families and loved ones,” said Day. “What community gardens do here in South Dallas, it bridges the gap with neighbors and how the cohesion is between the communities.”
Together, they are bringing change and growing a better Dallas.
