North Liberty Community Pantry offers details on a community garden

The public is invited to learn more about a new North Liberty community garden project during a free informational session at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014, at the North Liberty Community Center. The event is hosted by the North Liberty Community Pantry, which is actively seeking donations by Dec. 15 to help build a 9,600-square-foot teaching garden to provide free, healthy food for low-income families and to encourage healthy food choices throughout the community.
“Our goals are to expand access to healthy food for families, encourage healthy food choices, and teach families we serve and community members how to grow food for their own consumption,” pantry director Tina DuBois said. “We need community gifts by December 15 to collect The Wellmark Foundation dollar-for-dollar match.”
The garden project will provide classes on nutrition, food-preparation, and garden planning, plus hands-on participation in soil-bed preparation, planting, harvesting, preparing, and preserving food for consumption throughout the year. The event will include speakers about the need for the garden, the garden’s components, the benefits of community gardening, and the need for donations to match a $38,500 challenge grant from The Wellmark Foundation.
“The Gardening for Health project is a great opportunity to provide hands-on garden to table education for the entire community,” said Stephanie Perry, The Wellmark Foundation. “This project was one of fifteen competitively awarded grants to create pilot efforts or expand health initiatives throughout Iowa and South Dakota focused on childhood obesity prevention and community-based wellness projects.”
Harvested food will be provided free to pantry clients, who also will learn to harvest, prepare, and preserve the food. The pantry will partner with the North Liberty free summer lunch program for kids, provide a free farmers’ market for pantry clients, and provide educational activities for the entire community.
Project planners already include a farmer, a greenhouse operator, a Johnson County Master Gardener intern, and Scott Koepke Education Outreach Coordinator with New Pioneer’s Soilmates program.
“This is not going to be your typical garden,” Koepke said. “This is a garden designed to be sustainable for years to come, and will be large enough to provide a nutritional food source for hundreds of people in need, along with the intrinsic community-wide educational benefits. Research affirms the therapy of gardens on communities. We need your help to build an efficient food source to serve people in the long term, because food insecurity is not going away anytime soon. ”
“The educational components of the Gardening for Health Project will extend beyond our clients, as well,” DuBois said. “Opportunities for learning by all members of our community will range from classes on nutrition, food-preparation, and garden planning, plus hands-on participation in soil-bed preparation, planting, and harvesting.”
For more details, visit the pantry’s website. A fundraiser, including a bake sale, craft sale, and pie-tasting contest, is planned for Nov. 23.