Food is magical: It can unite a community, a city, and even a country. The lack of it can change the course of history. Growing it can bring peace of mind, both in the act of touching the soil and in the knowledge that you have the ability to feed yourself and your loved ones, no matter what.
The magic of food, and gardening, recently brought people together, as neighbors in Mansfield’s North End, state representatives, local dignitaries, business owners, volunteers and community members gathered to celebrate the official opening of NECIC’s Blust Avenue Teaching Garden.
Mansfield, specifically the North End, is part of what is known by the USDA as a Fresh Food Desert. That means that within a certain distance, usually one mile, there are no stores offering fresh food.
Since the closing of Ritchie’s Market in the North End, many residents are hard-pressed to find fresh produce. Sure, there are plenty of places full of snack foods, rich in sugar and preservatives, but unfortunately those preservatives aren’t that good for you. If only they’d preserve me, you know, keep me from growing a bit wrinkly and stale with age, well, my opinion would change a great deal.
For those of us that live in areas with an abundance of fresh food, either growing in our own yards, or in an easy drive to Amish Country or a local market, it’s hard to fathom limited access. But for a moment, imagine you live in a downtown area and have no transportation of your own. You are forced to rely on a ride from friends or family, public transportation, or to walk.
Now imagine lugging any groceries home on the bus, or carrying them the mile or more to your home. The conveniences many of us take for granted aren’t available to everyone.
Fresh food should be a staple, not a convenience like burgers and fries. If you’ve read any of my columns, my blog, or popped by the Country Wife Facebook page, you know how I feel about gardening and local food. I’m practically militant on the subject. No one should live their lives without the taste of fresh, homegrown tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, or tangy herbs.
The Teaching Garden’s goals are simple: to teach residents (of all ages) to grow their own food and therefore increase self-sufficiency and offer healthy alternatives; to promote entrepreneurship and teach residents to grow and sell produce at market; to increase accessibility to fresh food in a USDA Fresh Food Desert; to beautify vacant lots and connect residents.
The garden is magic in itself – it has united a neighborhood, reduced blight, and built a strong community in the two years since its inception (these things don’t happen overnight, unless you have magic beans). It has proven, through a wonderful story told by NECIC board member and volunteer Bill Baker, that we are all connected.
Baker, while cleaning out blighted fencerows on the property that was to become the garden, found a card that had been attached to a balloon. That balloon, released in Lucas during a class reunion, made its way to Blust Avenue. The card bore the name of a childhood friend of Baker’s that had passed away some years earlier.
What are the odds that the balloon would find its way to this place, and that Baker would be the one to find it? After all, on that day, a balloon was released for each person that had passed since that class had graduated – over 40 people, as I understand it. The world is a mystical, mysterious, magical place, and we are all fortunate to be a part of it.
Me, I’m fortunate to be a part of this garden. I am officially the new NECIC Teaching Garden Coordinator. I am doubly blessed to be a part of an organization that strongly believes in community and is filled with people passionate about their jobs and their community.
I have been fortunate to become familiar with the community as a whole through Richland Source, and its amazing team of dedicated professionals.
So, as the gardening season draws to a close and I become acquainted with my new position, Country Life with Candace will go on hiatus. In the meantime, feel free to continue to email your gardening questions to CandaceHarrellNews@gmail.com, or find me at the Blust Avenue Teaching Garden in Mansfield. Gardening programs and classes are free and open to all, including homeschool groups and community groups as well as schools and individuals.
As always, keep growing!
