Delaware and Chester County Council officials pose for a photo during the farm tour. (Photo/delcopa.gov)
CHESTER, Pa. — Delaware County Council Chair Richard Womack recently toured the Ruth Bennett Community Farm (RBCF) in Chester alongside Chester Township Council Chair Calvin Bernard and Council member Grace Bell. The visit gave Chair Womack and other local partners an inside look into how the farm has grown to be a staple of the Delaware County community.
“I was honored to get a behind the scenes look at this farm that supports the Chester community and improves food security in our area,” Womack said. “The opportunity Ruth Bennett Community Farm provides for residents to enjoy healthy, local food harvested by their neighbors is a great example of what makes Delaware County the best community in the world to live.”
Ruth Bennett Community Farm, which is located on two acres of land at the Ruth L. Bennett Community Homes, is committed to providing Delaware County and Chester residents with increased access to pesticide-free and nutrient-dense produce. To fulfill this mission, they hold free biweekly produce distributions with vegetables grown at the farm along with additional produce and eggs they purchase.
The farm is led by Natania Schaumburg, the farm manager, and Malik Savage, who serves as grounds manager. Savage led the tour and spoke with leaders afterward about the farm’s growing impact on the Chester community.
Each year, RBCF hires Delco teens to work at the farm to assist in food harvesting and distribution, participating in organic farming workshops and community food security, while also honing valuable skills like teamwork, written/verbal communication, time management, and community building.
Ruth Bennett Community Farm is named in honor of Ruth L. Bennett, who moved to Chester from Alabama in 1914 during the Great Migration, when thousands of black southerners migrated to Chester. Bennett dedicated her life to supporting these migrants, many of which were women with no place to stay. Bennett founded numerous organizations to support these women and was the inaugural president of the NAACP’s Chester chapter.
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