Cultivating a Community to Build a Healthier Bronx

Ja’Keia Person, a Bronx food leader, transformed urban food landscapes with her ancestral farming roots, learning to grow watermelons before riding a bike. Five years ago, she founded Vibrnt Seeds to foster a soulful connection to nature’s bounty and promote food sovereignty. Vibrnt Seeds empowers communities through toolkits and horticultural resorts. Now a Bronx powerhouse, they lead workshops and advocate robust food systems, creating a thriving food oasis and sowing seeds of hope and empowerment.

Assistance Provided

SBDC Advisor:
Jacqueline Rosario

Ja’Keia Person, a Bronx-based food leader, has transformed the urban food landscape through her deep-rooted connection to ancestral farming. Raised with a profound appreciation for the land, Ja’Keia learned to grow watermelons before she knew how to ride a bike. This early immersion in farming instilled in her a vision of a society where people find healing and connection through the foods they grow, consume, and share.

Five years ago, Ja’Keia embarked on a mission to create a vigorous, healthy, and adaptable food system. This mission led to the founding of Vibrnt Seeds, an organization dedicated to nurturing a soulful connection to Mother Earth’s floral creations. Vibrnt Seeds offers toolkits designed to inspire and equip individuals and communities to engage deeply with the process of growing and enjoying their own food.

Central to Vibrnt Seeds’ philosophy is a commitment to food sovereignty. By fostering a collective action plan, Vibrnt Seeds has established a network of horticultural and agricultural resorts that serve communities, individuals, and institutions. These resorts provide the knowledge and resources necessary to empower the next generation of leaders in sustainable food practices.

Over the past year, Ja’Keia and Vibrnt Seeds have emerged as a formidable force in the Bronx, advocating for robust food systems and leading grow-your-own workshops in collaboration with youth organizations, farmers’ markets, and community events. Through these initiatives, they have created a thriving food oasis amidst the swamps of unhealthfulness that often plague urban neighborhoods.

Vibrnt Seeds’ ultimate goal is to mobilize a healthy food oasis, transforming communities by promoting health and wellness through the power of locally grown food. Ja’Keia Person’s innovative solutions and unwavering dedication have not only cultivated gardens but also sown the seeds of hope, resilience, and community empowerment throughout the Bronx.

** Our success stories focus on the work the SBDC has done with our small business clients and does not constitute an expressed or implied endorsement by the NYSBDC of the company and/or their products and services.