Bonton Farms has certainly garnered a lot of welcome attention and press coverage of our work to disrupt the long-standing cycle of poverty in Bonton. We're boldly challenging the short-sighted solutions and complacency that plagued the area for years. Instead, we’re working hand-in-hand with the people there, sharing optimism, Hope, and opportunities for self-improvement.
On the back side of Bonton Farms, one of the country's largest urban gardens here in South Dallas, lies a row of fencing painted with inspiring messages, just past the goats and tomato vines.
For the past eight years, I have witnessed the good work that members of our FC Dallas family have been involved with in their communities locally and globally.
Trog Trogdon grew up in a small town in Missouri with big dreams for his future.
I’ve got some good news to report. The construction of the market is well underway, as you can see from the photo above.
After his first wife’s death, Daron Babcock started picking bar fights and snorting rails of coke. Then he did something even crazier. He started a farm in South Dallas.
Last year, to cover its rear after cutting poor ol' Costco a $3 million check to open a North Dallas location, the city dangled the same amount in front of big-name grocers in the hopes they'd plant a store or two in a southern Dallas food desert.
"We didn't grow up with none of this stuff around," said Clifton Resse, a lifelong Dallas resident and the head bee keeper at Bonton Farms.
Surrounded by traffic, concrete, and corner stores is a 1.1 acre farm located in the middle of south Dallas.
The dusty black pickup rocked back and forth along the dirt path as it charged forward into new territory.
Just two short years ago, the south Dallas lot where Bonton Farms sits today was abandoned – overflowing with trash and overgrown trees.
So when Daron Babcock planted a garden next to his South Dallas home three years ago, he called it an ‘act of defiance’.