Fighting hunger with a spade
Good ideas don’t get any simpler than this: “We plant food on unused land and give it to hungry people,” says Taja Sevelle, founder and executive director of Urban Farming.
Sevelle, a recording artist with Atlantic Records, happened to be in Detroit on business several years ago when she saw residential areas scarred with abandoned homes and vacant weed-filled lots. “I thought to myself, why not use some of that land to plant food?” she remembers.
Three years later, the organization she founded has planted dozens of community gardens throughout Detroit and dozens more in cities around the country, from Newark, New Jersey to Los Angeles. Many of the plots are located near schools and enlist the help of local kids to plant and raise fruits and vegetables. The food goes to local families and emergency food organizations such as food banks.
“During World War II, victory gardens much like these grew about 40 percent of the food for the nation,” says Sevelle. “If we could do it then, we can do it now to end hunger in our generation.”
The group’s latest initiative, called the Food Chain, employs vertical gardens mounted on city walls. The first installations are up and growing at four locations in Los Angeles, including the skid row area of Central City East, using a wall garden technology developed by Green Living Technologies. Local volunteers tend the gardens, use the food they need, and donate what’s left over. Along with producing fresh produce in neighborhoods where it’s often hard to find, Urban Farming’s gardens create green spaces in the city and an opportunity for community residents to work together to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods.
Wow. Feeding the hungry, beautifying blighted inner cities, giving kids a patch of their own to tend, and making healthy produce available to more families. That’s an initiative worth nurturing. To donate a few dollars or lend a helping hand, check out Urban Farming. Watch the video on the organizations home page and you can’t help but be moved.
Tags: fighting hunger, Food Chain, Green Living Technologies, Taja Sevelle, Urban Farming, urban gardens
Growing food in empty lots is GREAT. It makes a community too! Sharing food helps too. If you have fruit trees that are producing too much fruit for your family to consume… you can share your extra food. Many communities do this. In the SF Bay Area, a local organization, Village Harvest http://www.villageharvest.org/about.htm will come to your home and harvest your trees and share with local food banks. The volunteers are effiicient and friendly – they will also give you whatever you would like to keep for yourself. This is a great way to get all the lemons etc. off the tree, do a good deed and get a tax-deductible receipt. Waste not, Want not!
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