Local farmer gets boost from Beyonce to help feed Houston's Sunnyside community

Ivy Leaf Farms helping to feed Sunnyside community with help from Beyonce

Ivy Leaf Farms was awarded $10,000 an effort to feed the Sunnyside Community. The donation was thanks to Houston native Beyonce Knowles.

HOUSTON - After moving to Houston's Sunnyside in February, Ivy Walls was disappointed when she went to the grocery stores.

"The produce on the shelves was just not adequate for my neighbors," Walls told FOX 26.

She decided to help feed her community by launching Ivy Leaf Farms on land her family owns in the area.

"If I could grow healthy foods, I can have healthy neighbors, and we can have a healthy community," she reasoned.

Two weeks ago, she quit her job in public health at a major Houston hospital system to dedicate herself fulltime to growing a healthy Sunnyside.

SIGN UP FOR THE FOX 26 NEWSLETTER

"I really just was thinking how did we get here in this pandemic? How did my neighborhood get hit so hard? And, it starts with what we put into our bodies," Walls concluded.

Her friend told her the BeyGOOD Black Owned Small Business Impact Fund by Beyonce and the NAACP.

This week, she got great news.

"I woke up and I was on Beyonce.com!" Walls said happily.

Ivy Leaf Farms was awarded a $10,000 grant. She says it will be used to expand the growing area in the field and build an irrigation system.
"So, that we can produce those nice Thanksgiving and Christmas crops for everyone," Walls said.

Her goal is to provide fresh produce to 50 families a week at little or no cost.

For more information or to get involved, visit ivyleaffarms.com.