A market in the garden

New farmers market sprouts amid Houston food desert

Kashmere Gardens farmers market Urban Harvest

Mayor Sylvester Turner inspects the produce.

Courtesy of Urban Harvest

One Houston nonprofit is doing its part to bring fresh produce to one of the city's food deserts. Urban Harvest's new Northeast Community Farmers Market aims to help the residents of Kashmere Gardens eat healthier.

"We keep encouraging people to eat healthy," Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said at the August 17 opening, "but you can’t just encourage people to eat healthy — you have to provide healthy options."

Managed by local gardening expert Timothy Hammond, the market takes place at Kashmere Gardens Elementary from 10 am to 2 pm on the first and third Saturdays of every month. People receiving SNAP benefits can take advantage of Urban Harvest's Double Up program that provides a dollar-for-dollar match up to $20 for items such as fresh produce, meat, dairy products, and baked goods. A new billboard campaign has been launched to increase awareness of the Double Up program.

Kashmere Gardens is still recovering from the lingering effects of Hurricane Harvey. The neighborhood, which is located east of Interstate 69 and south of 610, is situated in a FEMA flood zone, according to Urban Harvest. Both Halls Bayou and Hunting Bayou pass through the neighborhood. Estimates suggest that as many as 79 percent of the homes in the area flooded during the storm. Adding the farmers market is part of a larger initiative to channel both public and private money to the area.

"Sixteen percent of people that live in this region of 5 million people have food insecurity,” Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis added. With the new market and increased awareness of Double Up, the hope is that number can be reduced significantly.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”