food stamp freeze last fall brought to light how fragile our food system is. During the pandemic and now again, the founder of Tulsa’s Front Yard Farms realizes how much we assume there is food for us in the first place.
Oklahoma ranks fifth in the nation for the most people relying on food stamps. Approximately 17% of the state’s population receives benefits, or around one in every six Oklahomans.
Woodson, who is also a nurse, says the SNAP pause during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history was just a “microcosm” of a larger issue. With his health care background, he thinks people need to truly know they can provide for themselves.
“The root cause solutions of a lot of those problems were with actual roots,” Woodson said. “It may not be a full-scale farm, but it can be a five-gallon bucket on your front porch, growing some herbs.”
Front Yard Farms hopes to “encourage, educate, enlighten and empower” people to grow their own food, Woodson says. Oftentimes, people are turned off to by lack of knowledge and time. But, he adds, growing food is medicine, and it can cost you next to nothing if you’re willing to be resourceful.
The first step is obtaining the seeds, which you can purchase with your SNAP benefits. Local nonprofits like Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma and John 3:16 Mission also have donated seeds available for people to take, Woodson says. Then, you need a bucket and a plot of soil.
Food On The Move, one of the major food distributors that Tulsans turned to during the SNAP suspension, also has programs to support people who want to sustain themselves. For example, residents can visit the organization’s community garden and learn some best practices for growing to apply at home, says CEO Tina Parkhill.
“To make healthy food more accessible, we need to bring food closer to home,” Parkhill said in an email to the Flyer. “For us, this looks like encouraging local farming, offering education programs designed to inspire the next generation of farmers and teaching our community about healthy options.”
Yousef Bin Ageil, founder of Tulsa-based The Soil Institute, is also focused on “rebuilding what gives life food, water, shelter, health and belonging” — which includes some initiatives for local farmers.
Founded last year, The Soil Institute is building a micro-grocery store in northeast Tulsa’s Dawson neighborhood. The store will help package, label, seal, weigh, deliver and stock farmer’s goods without relying on a middleman taking any profit, Bin Ageil says.
“We want people to create with their communities moving forward,” he said. “If farmers could literally build and arm their own food, they could get the support and the structure that they need with The Soil Institute and the tools that we are developing. We are human-first.”
A goal of Front Yard Farms includes installing sweet potato propagation stations along Route 66 in honor of the 2026 centennial. Woodson says sweet potatoes are one of the easier things to grow and can help address food insecurity.
To make a propagation, all he does is cut part of the plant, put it in a little vial with water and add a QR code sticker to Front Yard Farms. Then people can plant it and grow their own food.
“This one clipping could produce this amount of food,” Woodson said.
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