Asawana Farms at the County Executive Exchange: Agriculture Edition
On July 23, 2026, Asawana Farms was proud and excited to participate in the Prince George’s County Executive Exchange Expo: Agriculture Edition, a special event dedicated to celebrating, supporting, and expanding agriculture throughout Prince George’s County.
The event brought together farmers, urban growers, agricultural businesses, beekeepers, specialty food producers, agritourism operators, agricultural experts, County leaders, and community partners.
Asawana Farms participated in the Mini Farmers Market Showcase inside the Tech Lounge, where we had the opportunity to share our culturally relevant crops, our Food as Medicine mission, and our vision for a stronger local food system.
It was inspiring to see agriculture receive this level of attention from County leadership.
Farmers Are Essential to Healthy Communities
Farmers do much more than grow food.
Local farmers create businesses, provide employment, preserve agricultural knowledge, educate young people, strengthen food security, and help communities access fresh and nutritious food.
In Prince George’s County, farmers are also playing an increasingly important role in addressing chronic health conditions and food insecurity.
Through our Food as Medicine work, Asawana Farms grows culturally relevant African and Afro-Caribbean vegetables such as moringa, bitter leaf, bitter melon, okra, callaloo, waterleaf, jute leaf, African eggplant, and African scent leaf.
These crops are familiar to many families in our community and can help encourage healthier eating because people are more likely to eat foods they recognize, trust, and know how to prepare.
Farmers must therefore be seen not only as food producers, but also as essential partners in public health, education, economic development, and community resilience.
Encouraging Commitments from County Leaders
We were encouraged to hear County leaders acknowledge the valuable contributions farmers make to Prince George’s County.
It was especially gratifying to hear the leadership of the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation discuss new agricultural programs designed to assist current farmers and people who want to enter agriculture.
These are the kinds of ideas farmers want to hear.
Farmers need business training, access to financing, technical assistance, marketing support, infrastructure, and opportunities to sell their products.
However, there is one challenge that must be addressed before many of these other programs can succeed.
The Greatest Challenge Is Access to Land
The biggest challenge facing farmers and aspiring farmers in Prince George’s County is access to affordable, secure, and productive farmland.
A farmer may receive excellent training, write a strong business plan, obtain equipment, and identify customers. But without land, that farmer cannot grow food.
Land prices are often beyond the reach of small and beginning farmers. Many available properties are also under development pressure or are not properly equipped for agricultural production.
Short-term or uncertain leases make it difficult for farmers to invest in soil improvement, irrigation, fencing, greenhouses, wash stations, refrigeration, and other essential infrastructure.
Farmers need stable land access that allows them to plan, invest, build their businesses, and serve their communities over the long term.
This challenge is even greater for beginning, urban, minority, immigrant, and historically underserved farmers who may not have inherited farmland or accumulated the capital required to purchase agricultural property.
Public Land Can Become Productive Community Assets
Prince George’s County has an opportunity to lead.
We encourage the County Executive’s Office to work closely with the appropriate parks and planning authorities to identify suitable public land that could be used for agriculture.
Not every section of parkland is appropriate for farming, and existing conservation and recreational priorities must be respected. However, carefully selected parcels could support:
- Urban farm incubators
- Community gardens
- Beginning farmer training sites
- Youth agricultural programs
- Food production for schools, hospitals, food banks, and community organizations
- Demonstration farms focused on conservation and sustainable agriculture
- Farm stands and local food markets
Rather than allowing appropriate land to remain underused, the County could transform it into productive spaces that grow food, train farmers, create businesses, and improve community health.
Watkins Regional Park Urban Farm Incubator Shows What Is Possible
The Watkins Regional Park Urban Farm Incubator provides an outstanding example of what can happen when public land is used to create opportunities for farmers.
The incubator has given beginning and underserved farmers access to land, shared resources, technical support, and a place to establish their farming businesses.
Asawana Farms is proud to have grown through this incubator environment.
The Watkins model demonstrates that farmers do not always need hundreds of acres to make a meaningful contribution. Even relatively small plots can produce significant amounts of fresh food when farmers have access to fertile soil, irrigation, infrastructure, mentorship, and markets.
This model deserves to be expanded throughout Prince George’s County.
Additional farm incubators could be developed in different parts of the County, especially near communities that face limited access to fresh food and high rates of diet-related illness.
Prince George’s County could become a national leader by showing how parks, agriculture, economic development, and public health can work together.
From Training to Farm Ownership
Farm incubators should not be the final destination for farmers.
They should serve as a bridge.
Farmers need a clear pathway that begins with training and incubation, progresses to business development, and ultimately leads to long-term leasing or farm ownership.
A strong County agricultural strategy could include:
- Identifying public land for new farm incubators and community growing spaces
- Providing affordable, multiyear leases to qualified farmers
- Connecting farmers to grants, loans, and land-purchase programs
- Supporting essential infrastructure such as irrigation, fencing, greenhouses, wash stations, and cold storage
- Helping successful incubator farmers transition to permanent farmland
- Giving local farmers stronger access to institutional markets, including hospitals, schools, senior programs, and food assistance organizations
This would ensure that County agricultural programs do more than provide temporary assistance. They would create sustainable farming businesses that can grow for generations.
Agriculture and Food as Medicine Must Work Together
Prince George’s County has already taken an important step by passing Food as Medicine legislation.
The next step is implementation.
Food as Medicine programs cannot succeed without farmers who can consistently grow fresh, nutritious, and culturally relevant food.
Hospitals, healthcare providers, food pharmacies, Produce Prescription programs, schools, senior centers, and community organizations all need reliable sources of locally grown produce.
At Asawana Farms, we have seen firsthand how agriculture can connect with healthcare.
Through our partnership with the University of Maryland Capital Region Health, we provide fresh vegetables and support nutrition education that connects patients with foods they know and understand.
We are also working to demonstrate that families can grow nutritious plants such as moringa and bitter leaf at home in five-gallon grow bags—even when they do not have access to a large yard or farm.
If Prince George’s County wants to become a leader in Food as Medicine, it must also become a leader in supporting the farmers who grow the food.
Farmers Are Ready to Partner with the County
Farmers are not asking the County to do this work alone.
We are ready to collaborate.
We are ready to grow food, educate residents, train young people, host volunteers, support food assistance programs, supply healthcare partners, and contribute to the local economy.
We are ready to work with the County Executive’s Office, the Economic Development Corporation, parks and planning authorities, healthcare systems, schools, universities, nonprofits, and community organizations.
What farmers need is meaningful access to land, resources, infrastructure, and markets.
We hope the ideas and commitments expressed at the County Executive Exchange Expo will be translated into concrete programs and measurable action.
A Call to Action
Prince George’s County has the farmers.
It has the land.
It has a strong and diverse population.
It has growing demand for fresh, local, and culturally relevant food.
It also has an opportunity to connect agriculture with healthcare, education, workforce development, environmental stewardship, and economic opportunity.
The County Executive’s Office should work with the appropriate parks authorities and community partners to identify suitable land for additional urban farm incubators and community gardens.
The Watkins Regional Park Urban Farm Incubator has shown what is possible.
Now is the time to build on that success.
Give farmers access to land, and farmers will grow more than food. We will grow businesses, jobs, knowledge, healthier families, stronger communities, and a more food-secure Prince George’s County.
Asawana Farms is ready to be part of that work.