Chicago's Urban Farmers Taking A Hard Hit During The Pandemic

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Bills are mounting for those unable to work, but the worries are doubled for small business owners who have everything riding on reopening.

Right off the Eisenhower Expressway sits a greenhouse on Chicago's West Side. Inside Alicia Nesbary Moore prepares to start planting again.

"You name it, we grow it," said Nesbary Moore, the owner of Herban Produce.

But since the pandemic Herban Produce's cultivation is missing a rather important green.

"Money is not growing in the greenhouse," she said.

Agriculture has taken a hard hit by COVID-19, and this urban farm is no exception. A vast majority of those buying the crops are local restaurants desiring fresh produce.

"All of our clients started canceling orders," she said. "As you see behind me, the greenhouse is barren because we haven't had an order since March, so we pretty much had to shut down our operation."

Right before the stay-at-home order, Herban Produce expanded outside the greenhouse to an acre of land.

"COVID came, and we had to try to figure out how to make this thing work."

Nesbary Moore was in a bind like many small business owners, yet she didn't give up. Instead she went to work and applied for every application available, from the federal Paycheck Protection Program to the City of Chicago's Microbusiness Recovery Grant Program.

"I jumped right on it. I got right on the internet, and I filled out the application," she said.

Herban Produce is one of a thousand businesses to receive $5,000 from the city. It's money she says will sprout up more than just veggies.

"It will definitely help us to move forward in payroll," Nesbary Moore said.

She knows her crop will be harvested again, and she encourages other business owners to keep planting new seeds.

"We don't know what normal is after this, so you have to make your business model work for the times," she said. "You don't know what the future holds, but you can pivot to make it work."