The urban farm transformed the area, providing living-wage jobs and affordable, healthy food. While I have your attention: Daron Babcock. His focus is on rebuilding the institutions—faith, family, community—that make for strong, healthy homes and resilient residents. Jobs were scarce for folks with a record, he says, and South Dallas was a food desert. When we were in our 30s, my wife was diagnosed with cancer, and two years later she passed away. Quincy Bradley, Daron Babcock, and “Q the Younger” at Bonton Farms’ Extension this summer. We are still taking orders at The Market. I was born and raised in the panhandle of Texas. Courtney Collins / KERA Bonton Farms in South Dallas is evolving to serve its community, by serving meals. Bonton Farms Founder Daron Babcock Delivers Inspirational Lecture at ESD. At first, it was no more than a tiny vegetable patch on a vacant lot beside Daron Babcock’s Habitat for Humanity house, a small plot of green in a dangerous, run-down, historically disadvantaged South Dallas neighborhood full of society’s most marginalized people. Daron Babcock is the executive director of the remarkable urban garden built in and for this community along the Trinity River. Bonton Farms started small. Bonton is a community marred by years of chronic disinvestment and rampant poverty .Bonton Farms is committed to the restoration of Bonton by restoring lives, creating jobs and igniting hope. Bonton Farms is an oasis in the midst of South Dallas where poverty, crime, and unemployment rates are high. Up to this point in Daron’s life, he was a white collar worker with a lucrative job in the business world. Working on no sleep from the night before, Daron Babcock from Bonton Farms came and spoke to the Club last Friday morning abouth the great work he is doing down in south Dallas. Daron Babcock is the founder and director of Bonton Farms, an urban farm that works to grow lives as it grows vegetables. We got married and had two boys. Daron Babcock of Bonton Farms CBS News Daron Babcock started the small urban farm and 40-acre extension to solve a health crisis in the region. Still Shaping: DFW - Daron Babcock of Bonton Farms. I am moved and inspired by Bonton Farms founder, Daron Babcock. As a reminder, Bonton Farms is an urban farm that services the South Dallas community where 85% of men have been to prison, poverty is rampant and jobs are scarce. The featured speaker for this year’s event will be Daron Babcock, “The Rogue Shepherd” and founder of Bonton Farms in South Dallas. Daron Babcock Founder of Bonton Farms. Bonton Farms executive director Daron Babcock said he has had a hard time keeping up with emails lately. Five years ago, Babcock was a corporate manager, living with his two sons in a four-bedroom house in Frisco. The idea was seeded nearly two years ago. In 2014, Bonton Farms owner Daron Babcock started the urban farm to bring healthy food and jobs to South Dallas. I stopped keeping in touch with my friends and family. On a recent visit to the farm, it was bursting with life – farmers harvesting heirloom tomatoes, neighborhood kids helping out and baby … “Let’s start small and see where it takes us.” In Bonton, this was made possible through urban farming. "The idea of this land that was abandoned, that nobody saw value in - and now, it's producing life and food. The name “Bonton Farms” is derivative of its location: a neighborhood nicknamed “bomb-town” because of the extreme racial terrorism it experienced in the mid 20th century. I was lost. When texting this station, message & data rates apply. CEO Spotlight. Daron has led Bonton Farms in launching: A honey company, a car company and transportation initiative, a lawn care service, a market and restaurant, a private Christian school, a 40+ acre farm, a housing initiative, and much more to create 30+ jobs so far. Daron Babcock - Bonton Farms . “Today, Bonton Farms serves men and women coming out of incarceration, homelessness, domestic violence and addiction,” says Babcock. This farm is life changing for the Bonton community as it is creating jobs, supplying healthy food, and offering hope to its residents. FOLLOW US. Bonton residents Daron Babcock (first image), and Patrick Wright (second image) are part of a team dedicated to providing healthy, affordable food for the Bonton neighborhood through the creation of Bonton Farm-Works. And, the carrots are just as amazing! Bonton Village, the new homeless-to-work proposal from the folks who created Bonton Farms, has cleared new hurdles in its quest to build a functioning farm and community destination in the heart of Lake Highlands.The City of Dallas approved extending Bonton’s option to acquire the 12.8 acres at 12000 Greenville between Forest Lane and LBJ. No purchase necessary. Reply STOP to cancel. The name “Bonton Farms” is derivative of its location: a neighborhood nicknamed “bomb-town” because of the extreme racial terrorism it experienced in the mid 20th century. Executive Director of Bonton Farms. July 18, 2016. Bonton is a food desert, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines as an area without a full-service grocery store within a 1-mile radius. When Bonton Farms founder Daron Babcock moved to Bonton in 2012, beets—or any fresh, non-frozen, non-canned vegetables for that matter—were nearly impossible to find nearby. Babcock and his wife, Theda, started Bonton Farms in 2014 to bring healthy food staples to South Dallas. The Dallas Morning News reports that for Daron Babcock, executive director of Bonton Farms, this moment has been a long time coming. Join Facebook to connect with Daron Babcock and others you may know. 00:07:28. Download. Before Bonton Farms, Bonton was a food desert. On Thursday, Bonton Farms Director Daron Babcock will be the featured speaker for [email protected]’s summer series.. Bonton Farms is situated in the South Dallas neighborhood known as Bonton, where 63 percent of its residents lack personal transportation and the nearest grocery store is a three-hour round-trip bus ride away, according to its website. Bonton Farms is an entrepreneurial and agricultural intervention to restore lives, create jobs and ignite hope in the most forgotten and neglected neighborhoods for the most marginalized and vulnerable people. Donations and words of encouragement have filled … Just two short years ago, the south Dallas lot where Bonton Farms sits today was abandoned – overflowing with trash and overgrown trees. Bonton Farms is the creation of Daron Babcock. Daron Babcock - Bonton Farms. Daron Babcock. Bonton Farms founder Daron Babcock with Malachi and milking goats. Daron Babcock is the executive director of the remarkable urban garden built in and for this community along the Trinity River. Daron Babcock, Executive Director of Bonton Farms, and Donna Collins, Founder of The Jelly Queens, began imagining a facility for preserving food grown on the farm. Daron Babcock, founder of Bonton Farms, told our group on tour that he was invited to be a part of the group. The catalyst has been Daron Babcock, a former business executive who found his faith and then a calling in the little post-World War I housing community known as Bonton. Daron was… The strength of its residents and the uniting power of food helps the Bonton Farms community survive, if not thrive, even during Covid 19. Daron Babcock plants herbs and vegetables around the perimeter of the patio. South Dallas is also a “Food Desert”, … Earlier this year, when grocery stores shelves were sparse and restaurants were struggling to convert to take-out-only, Bonton Farms , a farm, market, and café in South Dallas, jumped into action to feed its neighbors and other Dallasites. Friday, December 27th. The community of Bonton stands as a testament to the fact that all people can flourish when provided with the right environment and the necessary resources to tap into their gifts and talents. I have always loved hearing other people’s stories. Despite decades of struggle in Bonton, we believe that our community can change from within, driven by our own people, using our own hands. Phone: Traffic Tip Line: 214-219-1080 . Bonton Farms’ Sweat Equity Chipping Away At South Dallas Food Desert By Robbie Owens May 17, 2016 at 6:36 pm Filed Under: Bonton Farms , Daron Babcock … Daron Babcock is on Facebook. The Episcopal School of Dallas. And that is exactly what I did. It's a metaphor for what's happening the community." Thanks to Daron Babcock, this neighborhood is now home to multiple urban gardens and a thriving community market. ... vice president of Bonton Farms. At Bonton Farms, according to the CPB, Babcock … More About Us. A few months back, I went with a friend to Bonton Farms, which is located in the community of Bonton in south Dallas. Photo by Monica Johnson. Bonton Farms was built to help feed people in the Bonton food desert where access to healthy foods was non-existent. Once I left, I knew I wanted to go back and learn more. The farm's success allowed it to expand to add a … I met a beautiful young lady in college. 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