Chicago's Windy City Harvest Program Helps Urban Youth Start Agricultural Businesses at the Botanic Garden

The Chicago Department of Public Health launched the "Healthy Chicago 2.0" plan last year, hoping to improve "health disparities" and give low-income households the right to access healthy food. One of the plan's goals is to improve people's physical health, disease prevention, mental health and reduce violence.

The "Windy City Harvest program" run by the Chicago Botanic Garden for many years has also been integrated into this cross-departmental policy. It is a social service centered on urban agriculture, aiming to build a system of fresh, healthy food for the city of Chicago, train and employ young people willing to commit to urban agriculture long term, provide opportunities for young people to participate in social affairs, and at the same time address youth employment, unemployment and social problems. (Note: Windy City is another name for the city of Chicago)