Hi Friend,
Can you imagine if every square foot, every corner of a yard, every roadside patch in Northampton was filled with bountiful gardens producing fresh healthy food?
If every resident could walk out their door and pick something that they had planted and prepare and eat it for dinner? If no one had to take a bus to the grocery store to find ingredients for a home-cooked meal?
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That's what Grow Food Northampton (GFN)'s Food Access Advisory Committee – a group of Northampton residents with lived experience of food insecurity that guides all of GFN’s food access work – envisioned, and that's what is happening all over the city this spring.
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Residents in 11 low-income housing communities are leading the way, with the assistance of GFN staff and volunteers, to revive and expand old vegetable and flower gardens, and prepare brand new plots.
That's grassroots food justice work in action!
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Another way that GFN is supporting residents to grow their own food at public housing is through our Seedling Distribution events every spring. Last week we distributed 3,500 seedlings to 18 housing sites all over the city.
Through efforts like these to increase gardening opportunities in the places where people live, we are supporting our community's foundational endeavor to feed itself. This includes the cultivation of preferred and culturally relevant crops.
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At the same time, we are empowering community members – those living in low-income housing and beyond – to be active participants in the creation of a vibrant and robust local food system.
Will you make a gift now to help grow more food everywhere and continue GFN’s food justice work?
Thank you for considering a donation this spring!
Sincerely,
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Alisa Klein
Executive Director
PS: If you have already contributed this season, thank you so much! We are grateful for every donation that makes this work possible. If you haven't had a chance to donate yet, I hope you'll make a gift today.
Photos: Residents of Walter Salvo House prep a new community garden there this spring. Gardens blooming at Forsander Apartments. Seedling Distribution at Michael's House last week.
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