Childhood Hunger
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Summary:
While many New Hampshire farms continue to suffer due to the economy, there is one local farm that is thriving due to the number of families who are hungry.
The production garden is a recent addition to the New Hampshire Food Bank’s Recipe for Success program. Located on the grounds of the Youth Development Center in Manchester, the garden is meant to provide local families with fresh, healthy food.
September 16
Food Bank Farm Keeps Growing
The Telegraph (Nashua, NH)
Michelle Collins
September 16, 2009
While many New Hampshire farms continue to suffer due to the economy, there is one local farm that is thriving due to the number of families who are hungry.
The production garden is a recent addition to the New Hampshire Food Bank’s Recipe for Success program. Located on the grounds of the Youth Development Center in Manchester, the garden is meant to provide local families with fresh, healthy food.
“The food gets divided up between three programs at the Food Bank: the warehouse, (Operation) Frontline and the culinary training program,” said Jason Rivers, garden coordinator.
The Recipe for Success program is meant to empower less fortunate individuals and their families in order to improve their food security. The culinary program at the NHFB provides unemployed and underemployed adults with the skills necessary to get jobs in the food-service industry. Operation Frontline is meant to teach less fortunate families how to make healthy food choices, prepare delicious meals on a tight budget and make the most out of their money when it comes to healthy eating.
The production garden was not developed until last year and started at only a quarter of an acre, which was donated by the N.H. Division of Juvenile Justice Services. The garden has already grown to half an acre, and it received more than 2,600 pounds of vegetables last season alone.
“My understanding is that (the garden was started) because a lot of the donations that were coming in weren’t coming in anymore,” Rivers said. “This season was a little rough … but I think we’re coming along and doing great.”
Rivers was signed on as garden coordinator halfway through the summer of 2008. Rivers was a student at the Food Bank’s culinary training program before being promoted to his current title. This promotion couldn’t have come at a better time, seeing as the number of families who rely on the NHFB for their meals has risen considerably since the last calendar year. For instance, the Food Bank distributed 508,847 pounds of food this past April to local families, compared to the 443,974 pounds it distributed the previous April.
“We’re looking at working on a project to (build) a year-round greenhouse so we can start growing the plants earlier,” Rivers said.
The production garden grows everything from corn to carrots to potatoes to a variety of squashes, as well as a more unique plot of produce: a pizza garden.
“A pizza garden is … everything you’d put on a pizza,” Rivers said. “It’s (even) shaped like a pizza.”
The pizza garden grows everything from tomatoes to basil and is just another way the production garden benefits the culinary students and the local families that are looking for easy, healthy meals to assemble during the week.
The production garden closes for the winter at the end of October and reopens at the end of May. However, Rivers is always looking for volunteers, as he is already building his list for the next season.
If you are interested in volunteering at the garden, or the NHFB in general, contact the volunteer coordinator at 669-9725 or nphillips@nhfoodbank. org. You can also visit the NHFB Web site at www. nhfoodbank.org.
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