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Ag School Should Grow More Fruits And Vegetables, Petition Says

 Margaret Schroeder, president of the Mount Greenwood Residents Association, is circulating a petition that she hopes will lead to more fruits and vegetables being grown and sold at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. A worker at the high school on the Far Southwest Side was mowing grass Monday behind the school.
Margaret Schroeder, president of the Mount Greenwood Residents Association, is circulating a petition that she hopes will lead to more fruits and vegetables being grown and sold at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. A worker at the high school on the Far Southwest Side was mowing grass Monday behind the school.
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DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig

MOUNT GREENWOOD — A petition being circulated in Mount Greenwood seeks to have the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences produce more fruits and vegetables.

Margaret Schroeder, president of the Mount Greenwood Residents Association, is behind the petition that began circulating May 9. She would also like to see the school's farm stand open more regularly.

"I want to support the last working farm in Chicago," Schroeder said. "There is a lot of land that isn't being utilized with crops."

The school's 72-acre campus at 3857 W. 111th St. in Mount Greenwood includes 40 acres of farmland. The land is mostly used to raise hay for horses and other animals living in the school's barns, said William Hook, principal at the Ag School.

 A horse looks on as a groundskeeper mows the grass Monday on the campus of the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences in Mount Greenwood. A petition is being circulated in the neighborhood requesting a farmer be hired to grow more fruits and vegetables for the school's farm stand. Currently, most of the grounds are used to grow hay for the animals.
A horse looks on as a groundskeeper mows the grass Monday on the campus of the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences in Mount Greenwood. A petition is being circulated in the neighborhood requesting a farmer be hired to grow more fruits and vegetables for the school's farm stand. Currently, most of the grounds are used to grow hay for the animals.
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DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig

There's also a cow pasture, a three-hole golf course, various athletic fields and more on the campus, Hook said Thursday.

"We are not a farm anymore. We are a school," said Hook, who compared the school's farmland to a campus laboratory.

He said the school has dedicated more acreage to hay in recent years as a result of more animals being added to the magnet high school's barns. He also said that the volume of fruits and vegetables is limited to what historically sells in the farm stand.

While sweet corn typically sells out, other fresh fruits and vegetables do not, Hook said. He cited one year in particular where a whole batch of pumpkins rotted while waiting for customers.

So students now grow enough pumpkins to be handed out to children at a pair of annual pumpkin patch events, and there's usually just enough left to be baked into pumpkin pie for the annual Thanksgiving meal for local seniors, Hook said.

Schroeder said she's a strong supporter of the Ag School. But she believes the farm stand likely struggles because of its sporadic hours. There's also not much by way of fresh fruits, vegetables or flowers for sale.

She believes a part-time farmer or "land manager" would be able to focus on growing more crops that could be sold in the farm stand. Students studying agricultural finance would then be able to work in the store as part of their studies.

Schroeder theorized that profits from such a scenario would fully fund the farmer's salary. Further proceeds could go back to the school. She also believes the effort would promote improved nutrition through locally-grown produce.

"That piece of land is a gem," said Schroeder, who has championed such an effort on her own for the past six years.

Hook said a land manager was once on staff at the school but was eliminated years ago after a series of cutbacks from Chicago Public Schools. He also recently had to eliminate a school engineer position.

The Ag School now operates with just two engineers to maintain the grounds — and one of those individuals also shares his time maintaining the nearby elementary school campus of George F. Cassell Fine Arts School in Mount Greenwood.

Schroeder said she'd consider organizing a fundraiser to support the hiring a farmer at the school. But first, she felt a petition would be best, as perhaps the school could fund the position on its own. She also didn't want to unnecessarily burden local residents.

"I am tired of trying to come up with money that other communities get in a minute," she said.

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Schroeder is hoping to have 2,000 signatures by Friday when she collects the petitions. She's also planning to plead her case Wednesday to school chief Forrest Claypool, who be at a funding rally at Mount Greenwood Elementary School.

"It would be so beautiful," Schroeder said of her ideal farm. "People don't see it as beautiful anymore."

She reiterated her support for the school and said she hopes officials, including Hook, can see her point of view. She is also hopeful that the petition will spur some action.

Hook is curious to see the number of people who sign to the petition too, saying the school's farm is already serving a valuable purpose.

"It works for us," Hook said.