Kosarachi Okwunna describes to Lamont how important CitySeed has been to her business, Kosy’s African Kitchen.
Lamont said he wants to expand farm-to-table programs for fresh food access.
Five years after moving to the U.S. from Nigeria, Kosarachi Okwunna now runs her own West African restaurant out of the lab-office building at 101 College St., filling what Okwunna saw as a gap in the city’s culinary landscape. She credits CitySeed for making that possible.
Okwunna shared that story — and her appreciation for CitySeed — with Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday, as the two-term incumbent toured the Fair Haven nonprofit’s 162 James St. headquarters.
CitySeed, which boosts access to farm-fresh food and hosts programs for aspiring food business owners, is also on the precipice of renovations and expanded programming.
“They opened the door,” Okwunna said, when it came to getting her business started. “They showed me the way.”
“None of this would be possible without state support,” said CitySeed Executive Director and Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller as she walked the governor through the organization’s headquarters. The purchase of the property itself was made possible thanks to a 2022 state Community Investment Fund grant.
Miller and Christine Kim, CitySeed’s board chair and a Downtown/East Rock alder, described some of the nonprofit’s work: running the city’s three farmers markets, working with 60 different farms across the state, operating a Food Business Incubator for aspiring small business owners, hosting and training Sanctuary Kitchen’s refugee and immigrant chefs, and providing food for people in need, such as during Covid and after SNAP benefits lapsed for thousands of city residents during a federal government shutdown in the fall. CitySeed also partners with Fair Haven Community Health Care for its “Food as Medicine” program.
“You guys are saving some lives, I hope you know that,” Lamont said.
In the Ely Center gallery space.
Christine Kim and Sarah Miller, alders and CitySeed leaders.
Miller and Kim led Lamont through the James Street building, including the gallery space temporarily being rented to the Ely Center of Contemporary Art. Behind the building, where English Station looms, Miller pointed to an area where CitySeed will be installing a large refrigerated container thanks to a federal Agricultural Enhancement Grant awarded in 2024.
CitySeed also received federal Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program dollars awarded through the state for an electric refrigerated van, to be used to pick up products from farms all over the state, according to Miller.
Most recently, in April, CitySeed received $150,000 from the state’s Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Grant Program, which allows the nonprofit to purchase food from farms and supply food pantries. The state created its own LFPA grant after the federal government cut its version of the program.
“That was one of the only programs that you can use just to buy food, local foods,” Miller said.
Lamont said that he is looking to expand “farm-to-table” programs, particularly during the harvest season. “I know what it means for the farms, I know what it means for places like this,” he said.
There are a number of renovations in store for CitySeed. The building will be developed into a food business incubator and food resource center, with four commercial kitchens for business owners who can’t afford their own. (Currently, CitySeed’s only commercial kitchen is at the Dixwell Q House.) There will also be a teaching kitchen, cold and dry storage, and an event space, among other additions.
“We all know about food insecurity and hunger, but what we’re trying to build here is opportunity upstream in the food system, so that people can generate their own economic health,” said Kim.
CitySeed received a grant for the planning of the renovation, which was conducted over the last year. Now, Miller said, they’re applying for funds to actually complete the renovation.
Okwunna, meanwhile, moved to New Haven from Nigeria in 2021 to study public health at the University of New Haven. When she got here, she realized that there was hardly any West African food for her to eat. “It was almost like there was none,” she recalled.
Okwunna began volunteering to cater for events, and she registered her catering business in 2024, the same year she became a part of CitySeed’s Food Business Incubator program. In the fall of 2025, CitySeed told her that there was commercial space at 101 College St. available for her. She has been serving West African meals at her restaurant, Kosy’s African Kitchen, there ever since.
“They have always followed up with me,” Okwunna said about CitySeed. She credits them with helping her succeed as a business owner. “There was no other way I was going to understand.”
Stories like Okwunna’s are why Sasha Fay became involved with CitySeed just nine months ago, as director of the Food Business Incubator program. Fay, who owns Ovelle Coffee in Hartford, said she “wanted to help others grow their business.”
While Okwunna’s food practice began as a passion, she has turned it into a living. “CitySeed made it look so easy,” she said. She was also able to secure a loan to purchase a food van so she can sell food at events. “It’s just fantastic.”
John Martinez School “eco-warriors” describe their recycling and food-waste-reduction initiatives.
Alder Richard Furlow, State Rep. Toni Walker, and Mayor Justin Elicker were among many attendees for Lamont’s tour.
English Station nearby.