When Monika Owczarski walks past Des Moines’ Central Place Industrial Park in the River Bend neighborhood, she can’t help but look to see if any sunflowers are popping out of the undeveloped lots that were once home to her urban garden.
Instead, Owczarski finds tire marks from semi-trucks imprinted in the same soil she spent three years rehabilitating for Sweet Tooth Farm, dedicated to growing produce for the neighborhood’s residents.
She’d said she’d spent thousands on compost to build the soil before the city of Des Moines informed her that the farm’s lease at 1407 Michigan St. would be terminated in favor of a commercial buyer for the property…