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COVER STORY COVER STORY
desert does not need sand. It does not need a malicious,
ever-present sun. It does not need cacti and tumbleweeds. It
doesn’t need quick-tongued lizards clinging to the warmed
face of a rock. A desert, after all, is not defined by what exists
within it, but rather what does not.
Food deserts are a sort of buzzword in sociology now. The United States
Department of Agriculture defines them as the vast stretches of low-income
territory, usually urban, that deny easy access to fruits and vegetables, usually
offering fried, fatty foods in their place. There are food deserts across the nation,
including metropolises like: Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, Charlotte, Tucson and
Cleveland.
Battling these deserts is no easy feat. Urban real estate is sometimes difficult
to afford, brutal to zone and torturous to cultivate. Growing an oasis of nutri-
tion requires more than desire. To alleviate the pains of a food desert, one needs
determination, know-how and an ability to collaborate with the community.
One of the groups attempting to sow health conscious seeds is the Rid-All
Green Partnership, an organization run by a trio of former residents. Rid-All is
located in Cleveland, Ohio's Kinsman neighborhood, a notorious food desert
that was desperately in need of a fresh produce oasis. The company hopes it has
started to remedy the problem.
In the beginning
Rid-All begins with three kids, a snow shovel, a typical Cleveland snowfall and a
desire to make some money.
We’re in the Lee Miles neighborhood of Cleveland (where plants are not
particularly popular) and Damien Forshe, G. Keymah Durden and Randy
McShepard are pounding the pavement, in search of exhausted neighbors who
don’t have the will, time or patience to shovel the freshly fallen inches from
their driveway. The boys are no older than seven but they’re overcome with an
entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to support their community. The trio’s snow-
shoveling “company” is a success, at least in terms of businesses operated by
under-10 year olds.
Fast forward a few decades.
Forshe is running a successful pest management business, teaching people
how to use environmentally friendly techniques to repel rodents and insects.
Durden is a world-travelled engineer and vegan with a taste for delicious, well-
prepared meals. McShepard is a Vice President of a Fortune 1000 company and
a member of a Cleveland-based think tank called Policy Bridge.
One of McShepard’s think tank papers finds that Cleveland, and other cities,
can revitalize its underserved, underprivileged neighborhoods by converting
vacant lots into urban farms, fighting two problems with one solution: putting a
healthy dent into a food desert and converting eyesore properties into something
more visually appealing. After reading his findings, Durden and Forshe pose a
By Chris Mosby • Photography by Laura Watilo Blake
OASISHow one urban grower is sowing the seeds of community
in a food desert, one plant at a time.
G. Keymah Durden,
Damien Forshe, and
Randy McShepard
founded Rid-All in 2010.

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COVER STORY
challenge: why not do something about it?
Why not start an urban farm?
Challenge accepted
So they do. Around the end of 2009, the
three men, none of which had strict grow-
ing experience in their past, went to Will
Allen and his company Growing Power
for training. They returned with ideas and
concepts and a desire to grow something.
They started their operation in the
spring of 2010 and named it Rid-All. “Re-
deem integrity and determination for all
mankind, that’s what it stands for,” Forshe
says. Their plot of land now sports two
greenhouses and four hoophouses, as well
as a teepee and treehouse for visiting stu-
dents or businesses to hold meetings. One
of the greenhouses features a full aquaponic
system, that houses about 3,500 tilapia fish
at any given time.
They grow a variety of plants, depend-
ing on the season, including: peppers, okra,
thyme, oregano and tomatoes. They have a
staff of four or five full-timers and a slate of
volunteers who harvest, plant and mix Rid-
All’s special brand of soil. In some of the
hoophouses, Rid-All has planted remedia-
tion plants to absorb the lead and mercury
that was illegally dumped into the ground
prior to the grower’s presence.
Most of Rid-All’s facilities do not
feature exterior heating sources, which
can create unique challenges when grap-
pling with the frequently fierce Cleveland
winters. Marc White, the farm’s manager,
says they use cheap, organic remedies to
counter the cold. For instance, they have
dual compost piles filled with beer brewing
waste, coffee grinds (both donated) and
wood chips which, via chemical reaction,
generate a core temperature of up to 150
degrees. The heat emanating from those
piles is enough to keep the hoophouse con-
ditions growable. They also use biologicals
to counter pest problems and rotate crops
to battle seasonal difficulties.
Once the facility was built, and before
the crops were fully grown, the founders
went door-to-door in the neighborhood to
introduce themselves.
“We wanted them to know us as part-
ners in the community,” Durden says.
Meeting all of their neighbors was a
Ed Parker, a local Cleveland artist, donated a statue (left) to Rid-All. The statue is modeled after one of the characters in "Brink City," a comic book
produced by Rid-All. The facilities (right) are designed to be easily duplicated across the country, in any climate. Rid-All is working with organizations
in Detroit, Michigan, and Youngstown and Columbus, Ohio to help them construct greenhouses and hoophouses of their own. One of the organiza-
tions they're helping is a homeless shelter that hopes to grow its own produce to feed its residents. "Every urban core community in America has its
fair share of vacant lots that are in the process of being torn down. Creating these facilities will help to change the culture," McShepard says.
shrewd decision. It not only created a sense
of kinship in the Kinsman neighborhood,
but began the development of the Rid-All
brand, debuting the company to a mass of
potential partners.
“Everything we do is about outreach,”
Durden says, “For people to get the mes-
sage on healthy eating, we’ve been very
careful about how we build.”
Reach out, we’ll be there
Rid-All isn’t just about growing nutritious
vegetables (and fish) and supplying them to
a community that desperately needs them.
They also sell soil to other growers, micro-
greens and select produce to local Cleve-
land kitchens and have developed a fashion
line that’s sold in the city. And that’s just a
sampling of their diverse revenue streams.
The company offers a five-month
training program for anyone that wants
to sign-up. Participants learn some things
you’d expect: composting, how to operate
an aquaponic system, how to manage a
farm, and some things you wouldn’t expect:
business management, social justice. It’s a
popular program. Nearly 2,000 people have
COVER STORY
Rid-All has a diverse growing operation
that includes: aquaponics, hoophouses
with greens, their own soil line (bottom
left) and organic heating sources like
beer brewing and coffee ground-based
compost piles (bottom right).

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COVER STORY COVER STORY
gone through a Rid-All training course in
the last four years.
The Cleveland Municipal School
district also partners with the growers,
bringing in classloads of kids for a day of
hands-on science and agriculture learning.
“We are part of the official fifth grade sci-
ence curriculum for the district. We’ve had
private and public schools attend the farm
and learn through classes,” McShepard
says. “We’re able to teach students the
value of farming and healthy eating.”
In addition to the education and great
PR, Rid-All can then turn to other organi-
zations and foundations and seek grant-
funding for their education programs,
something that has become another source
of revenue for the business.
To help connect to their students, Rid-
All designed and delivers a unique comic
book series featuring characters that fight
for the ideals of a nutritious lifestyle.
Forshe, who is a licensed contractor, has
also been travelling throughout the region
helping other organization install green-
houses and hoophouses.
“We have a ton of different revenue
streams,” Forshe says, including: cook-
ing classes, comic books, fashion lines,
5-month training programs and partnering
with local schools.
Making an impact
Community response has been impressive.
Besides producing a robust alumnus list
that currently sits at about 2,000 gradu-
ates, and a lasting connection with the lo-
cal school system, Rid-All's regular cooking
classes frequently sell out and are usually
standing room only. The clothing boutique
they started sells well-designed garb, with
fibers that Rid-All intends to start growing
themselves. To decorate their grounds,
local Cleveland artist Ed Parker donated
a sculpture modelled after a character in
Rid-All’s children’s comic book series. And
most importantly, they’re growing and
distributing tens of thousands of pounds of
foods annually, both to the neighborhood
and beyond.
What you can learn from Rid-All
So what should you take away from Rid-
All’s success?
• Take chances and diversify your
revenue streams
Rid-All has found success in a variety of
ways. Members don’t think of themselves
strictly as growers. They are partners in the
community. They are educators. They are
fashion designers. They are chefs. They’re
always looking for new ways to define Rid-
All. That diversification has led to a myriad
of revenue streams, some of which other
growers could easily duplicate.
Teaching science through agriculture is
something every grower should be capable
of, whether it be in a school or in a green-
house. Bringing chefs to your facilities to
teach cooking classes requires a little bit of
booking time and a bit of advertising, but
can be worth the effort. And while every
grower may not be able to produce a fash-
ion line, the creativity that may be lurking
within your staff is endless. Don’t be afraid
to explore.
• Develop a strong brand image
That exploration could help you
develop a lasting brand image. Rid-All is
reputable in the community, not merely
because they introduced themselves, but
because they offer such a unique array of
high-quality products. And they do so with
a strong message of community well-being.
Rid-All’s comic book series communicates
the value of healthy eating in a fun way
to a young customer base. The litany of
speakers and educational classes offered by
the organization creates an extensive alum-
nus list and a vast potential customer base,
all willing to evangelize on the organiza-
tion’s behalf.
• Participate in your community and
seek out new partnerships
And finally, participate in your com-
munity. Rid-All’s mission was to alleviate
the pains of a food desert by creating a
nutritious oasis. To do that, they needed to
connect on a deep-level with their commu-
nity. They've educated and hired members
of the community. In turn, they’ve been
supported by volunteers, local chefs and
charitable organizations. That partnership
also exposed the Rid-All brand to their
target customer base.
In short, diversify, develop and partner
and you might be able to create an oasis of
your own.
We operate from
the idea that we’re
already behind.
When you’re behind
you work that much
harder. And when
the prize is people’s
health, you’re willing
to do whatever you
can to help.”
—Marc White, farm manager,
inside the Rid-All teepee
12 Produce Grower December 2014 www.producemag.com