Pittsburgh’s summer growing season is weeks away, but Food for the Soul Community Farm in Manchester might not make it to harvest. Founded by Ebony Lunsford-Evans in 2020, Food for the Soul sits on six plots of land, two owned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and four city-owned lots, which the farm accesses via the city’s Adopt-A-Lot program. Over the past four years, Lunsford-Evans and others have invested an estimated $30,000 into the farm. In the coming months, city officials must decide whether to renew Food for the Soul’s lease, which expires in July 2025, or clear away the farm in preparation for property developers.
“Essential” is the word Stanley Lowe uses to describe Food for the Soul and projects like it. Lowe, who is part of the recently formed Manchester Neighbors community organization, says many neighborhood residents experience food insecurity, and the farm is a part of solving local hunger.
In August 2024, Manchester Neighbors applied to become a Registered Community Organization in the city of Pittsburgh, which would allow it to “receive notification of proposed zoning amendments, landmark designation applications, planning board and zoning board of adjustment hearings and other activities.” Four days later, another organization — Manchester Chateau Partnership Alliance (MCPA) — applied for RCO status as well, leading to conflict about who speaks for the neighborhood and its future.
MCPA’s primary contact is LaShawn Burton-Faulk, chair of the City of Pittsburgh planning commission and executive director of Manchester Citizens Corporation (MCC). For several years, MCC has argued against renewing Food for the Soul’s Adopt-A-Lot lease beyond 2025.
In 2022, Lunsford-Evans applied to have the farm’s lots incorporated into the Allegheny Land Trust (ALT), thereby making the farm’s presence in the neighborhood permanent. When ALT reached out to MCC for community input, Lunsford-Evans says “a wall went up,” and the community organization began to vocally oppose the farm. In September 2024, Burton-Faulk told media outlets that “the site of [Food for the Soul] has long been slated for affordable housing [prior to 2012].”
Burton-Faulk, who declined to be interviewed for this article, states that “Food for the Soul was offered three other location sites at no cost,” but turned them down. Lunsford-Evans counters that she has not been in contact with Burton-Faulk and did not decline any such offer. Burton-Faulk did not provide Pittsburgh City Paper with evidence of these communications, nor did she direct us to plans for the site’s development.
The Adopt-A-Lot program, which allows Lunsford-Evans to use the city-owned lots, was created in 2015, and provides a pathway for residents to convert empty, city-owned properties into gardens and green spaces. According to the Adopt-A-Lot Program Dashboard, 138 parcels are part of the program, accounting for approximately 10 acres of city land. Through Adopt-a-Lot, individuals or groups get a one-year lease, renewable for up to three additional years — contingent on city approval. City code describes Adopt-A-Lot gardens as “temporary,” and Land Use Standing Committee members used similar verbiage in a 2015 meeting, calling the gardens “interim uses.”
For projects that outgrow Adopt-A-Lot’s temporary focus, several paths are available. Sally Stadelman of the Pittsburgh Land Bank (PLB) notes that a number of Adopt-A-Lot properties have been added to the Land Bank. From there, the properties can be transferred to the Allegheny Land Trust — protecting the property from development in perpetuity. As Lunsford-Evans’ case shows, however, this may lead to vocal objections from neighborhood groups.
Adopt-A-Lot properties transferred to the Pittsburgh Land Bank can also be purchased by gardeners or farmers outright. However, the PLB has broad discretion over whether or not to sell, according to a source familiar with the process.
Additionally, local ordinance requires the PLB to consider officially-adopted neighborhood plans when deciding how to sell Land Bank properties. In the case of Food for the Soul, the PLB would look to the Manchester Chateau Neighborhood Plan — written by the Manchester Citizen’s Corporation, headed by Burton-Faulk. In late 2024, R. Daniel Lavelle, City Council representative for Manchester and vice-chair of the PLB, signed a letter of support for Burton-Faulk’s Manchester Chateau Partnership Alliance, in advance of the Partnership’s application for RCO status.
Lunsford-Evans could seek to purchase the lots directly from the city and URA directly at a “fair market price” — roughly $40,000 — but to do so, she would need to work with a professional real estate agent and get the approval of City Council. According to Brooke Christy, a lawyer at Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services, Council is unlikely to approve a sale if the Council representative for that district — in this case, Lavelle — opposes the sale.
Notably, Lavelle is vice president of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which holds the deed to two of Food for the Soul’s six lots. Any path forward for Food for the Soul will likely involve Lavelle, whose commitments in this matter are unclear. Councilman Lavelle did not respond to City Paper’s request for comment.
Lunsford-Evans has her supporters in government, as well.
“On March 11, I received an email from a Community Planner for the City of Pittsburgh, saying that Mayor Ed Gainey is committed to supporting urban farmers by helping put the farms into the land bank so ownership could be transferred,” Lunsford-Evans tells CP. The email said she should expect a call from the Pittsburgh Land Bank with further details. After six weeks of silence, PLB contacted Ebony via email, provided a new Land Bank application, and asked to schedule a meeting between key parties.
Though Gainey’s commitment has yet to bear fruit, the mayor has signaled an interest in reducing the politics of the land bank, which could make land transfers easier for urban gardeners and farmers. In 2022, Gainey said that City Council shouldn’t be involved in the PLB Board, which would eliminate Lavelle’s influence in that arena.
Gainey’s promise means that Food for the Soul’s future is also tied to the mayoral primary and election. Gainey’s opponent in the primary, Corey O’Connor, has not signaled his plan for urban farming, leaving it unclear how his administration would impact agriculture in the city. (The O’Connor campaign did not respond to CP’s request for comment.) If Gainey is not re-elected, momentum may be lost. For at least one member of City Council, that would be a considerable mistake.
“A core function of a city is to make sure we produce, save, and distribute food,” says Councilwoman Deb Gross. Gross was chair of the Land Use Committee in 2015, when the city began its Adopt-A-Lot program. She describes herself as an “enthusiastic supporter” of the program, and sees it as part of a progression — not a final product.
“[City leaders] need to acknowledge that it is good for the city to support community gardens,” Gross argues. The councilwoman points out that the city purchases soil for baseball fields, but doesn’t purchase soil amendments for community gardens and farms — something she considers a missed opportunity. “We need to keep pushing the envelope.”
For her part, Gross is working with geographic data researchers to sort out which empty city properties are best for farming or building. Her hope is that better analysis of the land in question can prevent the kinds of issues Food for the Soul is facing.
Though Food for the Soul’s property woes point to the limits of Adopt-A-Lot, they may also hint at more lasting solutions. Adopt-A-Lot was created by adjusting city code, and further adjustments could implement what farmers, lawmakers, and community leaders have learned from the 10-year experiment. For instance, the city could set specific rules about how it sells land within the program, or offer urban farmers earlier opportunities to purchase the plots.
If politics and legal red tape make Lunsford-Evans’ situation seem overly complicated, Stanley Lowe of Manchester Neighbors offers a simple solution. Lowe says that if property developers can’t provide a detailed plan for developing the land, and can’t demonstrate financial backing, then the farm’s lease should be renewed. Food for the Soul occupies six lots in a city with over 27,000 empty lots — more than enough for housing development elsewhere. Pointing to income inequity along racial lines, and the need for a diverse food system within his neighborhood, Lowe puts it succinctly: “Food for the soul is not a cliché.”
This article appears in May 7-13, 2025.
