Amu spent years continuing her education while running a farmers’ market and gardens at lower-income schools around Brooklyn.
The first iteration of Oko Farms started in 2013, on a modest 2,500 sq ft plot in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She moved to the new location, called River Street Farm Collective in Williamsburg last year. The site is shared with other small businesses, such as Compost Power and Island Bee Project.
In addition to selling the farm’s vegetables and fish at a weekend farmers’ market, Oko Farms also sells to a few African and south-east Asian chefs looking for specific herbs and vegetables. When one customer from Liberia who grew up eating sweet potato leaves couldn’t find them anywhere in the city, Amu started growing them.
What produce isn’t sold is donated every week to an organization called One Love Community, which sets up and maintains community fridges around Brooklyn.