Spread the Word - Your House of Worship Could Plant a Community Organic Garden to Feed the Hungry

Are you in need of free organic vegetables and fruit? If the weather permits, about a thousand pounds of organic fresh vegetables will go directly out into the community by the end of this produce-growing season. In Sacramento, the LifePointe Church of the Nazarene on Q Street and Rio Linda Boulevard is growing organic vegetables and fruit in its yard to give free food to the poor by donating the produce to people in need.

The church is planning to donate the food to the needy through the local food closet and also by handing it out on the streets. Check out the July 15, 2011 Sacramento Bee article by Whitney Mountain, "In Rio Linda, a community garden blossoms to feed the needy." Eating more organic produce given to you at no cost is one more way to curb obesity in Sacramento.

The exercise in planting the food may be good for you. And eating more vegetables and fruits instead of starchy fillers also may help to curb obesity. But you don't have to plant the food or weed the garden to eat. The produce will be given away.

Planting organic produce in more church back yards would be doing good deeds and acts of kindness for Sacramento's hungry. In June, 2011, the church teamed up with self-taught organic gardening buff James Bridges to plant a community garden that the church has been working toward for several years.

Sacramento's Five Community Gardens

This is one way to distribute healthier foods to people and to fight obesity in children. Have volunteers do the planting and harvesting in the neighborhood's local churches and other houses of worship. If you look at community gardens in Sacramento not affiliated with houses of worship, you'll see about five community gardens so far with a total of 11 gardens to be planted by the year's end. For further information, check out the website of the Sacramento Parks and Recreation Community Garden. See, City of Sacramento Community Gardens.

Planting your own produce is very popular in Sacramento and growing, particularly among people who want fresh organic produce, can't afford the supermarket prices, find some farmer's markets aren't organic, and need to eat healthier foods and to fight childhood obesity. Even school gardens are growing in popularity. In Sacramento county, in addition to what's in the city, there are a total so far of 60 community gardens. But when some people don't have cars, they may not be able to reach all 60 community gardens in the county. That's why a community garden with shared produce is a good deed and growing in popularity for neighborhoods. It's great to be able to get to a community garden by walking or public transportation.

A church or school's first step in developing a community garden is to buy a plot of land. That takes fundraising. Sometimes churches can buy a plot of land next to the church. That's what happened with LifePointe Church five years ago. Most churches will buy land to put in a play area for kids or to create a green lawn. But planting organic food is more useful and comes under the heading of doing a random act of kindness or good deed in the long run.

Most plots of land are just a bunch of weeds. It takes a lot of volunteers to come over and get rid of the weeds. But if the people are going to share the food when harvested, it's a labor of practicality. For example, when you start a garden on a piece of land you first have to create rows where you'll plant the produce in areas that are clear of weeds.

Anyone in the community, not just church members is welcome to join in and do the planting. The reward is that the fruits and vegetables that are produced in the garden will be bagged and made available to anyone who needs a supplement to their groceries.

An example would be those who need help to feed their families and who come to the food closet at the Rio Linda Community Methodist Church. The food also will be available to the homeless in the area. There's even a bike trail that runs to the end of a road that's right near LifePointe. You're looking at a type of rural road here, not on a Sacramento transit bus or light rail stop. People drive down a rural road in Rio Linda. So for those who don't ride bikes and don't drive, but are hungry, how will these people get to the church's garden?

That's why more gardens need to be set up in Sacramento that grow food for the needy and that are on or easy walking distance from bus stops or light rail stops. For example, people who can't ride bikes need to find places where they can get food when it is necessary to call upon the community gardens. Some food banks are on flat sidewalks near bus stops, such as the midtown food banks. But more community gardens are needed in areas such as midtown and downtown Sacramento and Arden Arcade where you have many seniors living on tiny social security incomes that must cover food, shelter, and clothing, and also families in need of finding affordable organic produce for the sake of health.

More schools in Sacramento need to grow community gardens that involve children and parents doing weeding, planting, and harvesting, which also helps families to exercise together and may aid in curbing childhood obesity.