WATERTOWN, N.Y. — Eat Smart New York (ESNY) is supporting champion gardens across the North Country for a second year in an effort to increase access to fresh produce among low-income individuals.
Gardening has long been recognized as a fun and engaging way to eat more fruits and veggies. Those who garden typically benefit from an improved diet and increased physical activity. Although the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has worked to encourage participants to grow their own food by allowing SNAP benefits to be used to purchase food-producing plants and seeds, there are still barriers to backyard gardening for many low-income individuals and families. Not all plant and seed retailers are authorized to accept SNAP. If SNAP recipients rent their homes or apartments they may not have permission to plant a garden. Those wishing to garden may also not have the additional skills or resources or know how to access them to start a new garden. This is where ESNY, the educational component of SNAP in NY, hopes to help out.
Last year ESNY choose school and community gardens as one of its environmental health interventions to address barriers to accessing fresh, affordable local produce and to encourage SNAP-eligible recipients to eat more fruits and vegetables. The project covered the North Country region with garden sites in Jefferson, Lewis, Clinton, St. Lawrence, and Oneida Counties. Gardens ranged in size and style from traditional row crops to raised beds and even indoor gardens grown under ultraviolet lights! These gardens were located at schools and community organizations where the produce grown was used in a variety of ways including: hands-on cooking and tasting activities, donations to local food pantries, distributed to garden volunteers, and used in school cafeterias. A total of 1,858 pounds of produce was grown and distributed in the first year.
ESNY is preparing for another fruitful growing season. This year ESNY hopes to take its garden sites to the next level by helping existing partners plan to sustain their projects beyond the initial funding provided through this agreement. ESNY educators help partners designate a garden site coordinator; assess their sites for things like soil quality, water access, and sunlight; and connect projects to nutrition education and other local resources such as master gardeners through Cornell Cooperative Extension. The success of these projects is documented and at the end of the season partners are recognized with garden certificates and through traditional and social media. ESNY anticipates at least six garden projects will continue this year. As plans for a new growing season take shape, ESNY anticipates a new audience of garden enthusiasts and healthy eaters is sure to crop up!
–April Lynne Bennett, CCE Jefferson County