• Boston Globe,  Featured

    An urban farm embarks on its first season, determined to serve its community

    When Hameed and Ayo Bello moved to Springfield, they quickly realized access to healthy food was limited for people of limited means. They set out to change that. STATES OF FARMING: First in a series of occasional stories looking at BIPOC farmers in New England. By Jocelyn Ruggiero Globe correspondent, March 23, 2021 When Hameed Bello moved to Springfield to attend Western New England University in 2015, he and his wife, Ayo, quickly noticed what the Massachusetts Public Health Association identified in 2017: that Springfield — which has the second-lowest per capita income in Massachusetts — is one of the state’s most severe food deserts, where low-income residents struggle to…