It's been there for a while.
I've seen it plenty of times.
But I haven't really thought much about the farm at Fenway Park until I saw a piece on news about it.
The farm produces 7,000 pounds of fresh produce every year. They've been farming on top of Fenway since 2015 when ownership wanted more sustainable, local food sourcing. The food they grow is used in concession stands in the ballpark and for private event catering.
"This knocks off a significant portion of produce being bought on the outside, so we're not shipping produce thousands of miles and bringing it here to Boston," [Green City Growers President Christopher] Grallert explained. (Source: CBS News/Boston)
"Used in concession stands?" Hmmmm.
I'm wracking my brain trying to think of anything on offer at Fenway that might use farm produce.
I came up with classics likes hot dogs, burgers, sausage sandwiches, and CrackerJack. And latter-day spiff-things-up items like chowder and lobster rolls. But anything healthy? I struck out.
But I googled and, sure enough, if you're at a game at America's Most Beloved Ballpark, you can get a salad at the gluten free stand under Concourse A.
Which is good to know, even though I don't imagine I'll ever avail myself of the opportunity to eat healthy. If I want a salad, all I need to do is open my fridge. If I'm at the ballpark, my preference is for a sausage and pepper sandwich, with second choice going to a hot dog. Followed, in either case, by CrackerJack and/or a Sports Bar. (Minor complaint: I liked CrackerJack better when the prizes were something real, like a plastic charm or a tiny, non-workable yoyo which deployed thread instead of string. These days you get a flimsy little sticker or rub-on tattoo.)
Although eating healthy is not my ballpark jam, I'm delighted that the Red Sox are doing this. And by not doing my bit by going green with my food choices, I'm making a contribution to local food banks, as any produce not consumed at Fenway is donated to food justice organizations. (However, it could be that the pepper and onion part of my sausage sandwich was rooftop grown.)
The setup for Fenway Farms is all very cool and clever.
The farm operates using a modular system with milk crates that have a special lining inside, organic soil and that irrigation system.
It's not only sustainable growing but in a city with many black asphalt roofs, the farm reduces heat in the area as well as reducing rainwater in the storm drains because it's used for the crops.
"When we plant a garden and when we have plants breathing and respiring on a rooftop, we're actually reducing heat island effect," Grallert explained.
We had so much rain this season, I'm betting that they didn't need to rely all that much on their irrigation system.
Fenway Farms is run by Green City Growers, which has 250 sites in Eastern Massachusetts, including 48 in Boston Public Schools. They call the farmers who work at Fenway "the Red Sox other farm team."
This past season was a dismal one on for the Red Sox. They finished under .500 and played some pretty dreadful ball, especially late in the season when they totally collapsed. One of the few highlights of the season was seeing some of the younger players coming up through the Red Sox farm system.
After a disappointing season, I'm delighted to be reminded that, when it comes to farm teams, the Red Sox are doing pretty well on both the field and farm fronts.
Maybe they'll even set up a pig farm out there somewhere. That way I could have a locavore sausage sandwich.
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