CrossFit Somerville—located in densely populated Somerville, Massachusetts—appears to be a typical CrossFit affiliate. But look a little more closely and you’ll find a chicken coop, a beehive, flowers, plants, vegetables, herbs and more. The membership of CrossFit Somerville, led by affiliate owner J.T. Scott, started the urban-agriculture project to provide eggs and vegetables to the community.
“I built this community here in Boston, stocked with several hundred strong, capable people who are able to work together as a team, who are able to work together under adverse conditions, who are aware of what it takes, mindful of being prepared for every effort,” Scott says. “What they haven’t necessarily been prepared for is how to take care of themselves.”
Using the space surrounding the box was a matter of necessity, and the CrossFit Somerville community worked together to design and create the farm. With a few hundred square feet of area to plant, they also use the roof of the gym for the beehive, flowers and plants.
“All of this gets watered from our rain barrels that are hooked into a solar panel and a solar pump,” Scott explains. “So we’re not using any fresh water. We’re not using any electricity to take care of all this.”
Scott says the project has brought a whole new level of functionality to the lives of the gym members.
“I’m into CrossFit because I want to be functional so that I can be prepared for the rest of my life,” he says. “The reason I run the box here is so that I can help other people be functional.”
Video by Dave Leys
4min 44sec
Additional reading: “The Ground and the Fury” by Andréa Maria Cecil, published Feb. 15, 2015.