can you dig it

How urban farming nonprofit trap garden is working to eradicate nashville’s food deserts

native nashville cover story written by kyle cooke

photo credit: daniel chaney

It’s raining the Saturday before Earth Day. Not a torrential downpour by any means, but one of those perpetually hazy, gusty days that feels like the city is set in the Blade Runner universe. Certainly not an ideal day for outdoor activities, least of all manual labor. But as I pull into the back parking lot of Johnson Alternative Learning Center in South Nashville, wipers working hard, my windshield begins thumping to the anthemic beat of “Act Up” by City Girls. I have made it to the Trap Garden.

Trap Garden is not a plot of fertile land, but a 501(c)3 nonprofit that Rob “Rob Veggies” Horton founded in 2014 after becoming discontent with the fact that he had to drive for miles to find a store that sold fresh produce in his community. “I got frustrated to the point where I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to see if I can grow my own. And if I fail, then I can’t really complain too much about what is available to me at the local grocery store,’” Horton says. He began his gardening career at Tennessee State University’s garden, and now his organization operates two community gardens where neighbors can harvest their own plants and vegetables on a first come, first serve basis.

The Trap Garden name, Horton explains, comes from the fact that when he was growing up in St. Louis, he was more likely to see an actual trap house than he was a community garden. When he moved to Nashville to attend TSU, he noticed a lot of the same problems. But the name also has a deeper meaning.

“Really it was about that work ethic. Somebody who was working within a trap house, you know, they’re putting out an illegal item,” Horton says. “It’s the actual work ethic that they put into creating that item. So trying to get repeat customers, trying to get them hooked on whatever it is they’re trying to put out in the streets. We’re just trying to get people hooked on fresh, healthy, good items that are going to be good for their body.”

With a name that evokes illicit activity and abandoned buildings, there were some skeptics at first. Those critics, Horton says, didn’t understand the cultural influences of not only trap houses but trap music….For the full story with insights from the Trap Garden team and city statistics on food deserts, click here.