We are really excited this year about the buzz around gardens. From the White House garden and the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign to the recent Community Food Security Panel, there has been talk locally and nationally about urban gardening. Here at the Capital Area Food Bank we have had a dramatic increase in the number of folks stepping up to donate produce from their gardens to our Grow A Row program.
Grow A Row got started last summer as gardeners called to see if we could take their extra produce. Not only does the food bank warehouse accept produce donations, but Grow A Row pairs gardeners with non-profit organizations in their neighborhood to form a produce partnership. The program starts in April and runs through November and spans the entire D.C. metro area . Right now we are in the midst of pairing produce partners and are really excited that we already have lots of new gardeners on board.
We are inspired by a group that has stepped into the role of gardener for Grow A Row this year: schoolchildren! We have three schools growing produce in their schoolyard gardens. Holton-Arms school in Bethesda decided to take part in Grow A Row after attending a “Face Hunger” hunger advocacy and awareness class taught by our very own Advocacy Coordinator, Amanda Melara. Georgetown Day School will donate produce to Grow A Row through a new aftercare gardening class that includes cooking lessons by Slow Cook blogger, Ed Bruske. Bancroft Elementary school is also a Grow A Row participant as a natural extension of their involvement in DC Farm to School Network’s Local Flavor Week and their work in the White House garden with Chef Sam Kass and First Lady Michelle Obama. All three schools are doing really exciting work around nutrition, garden education, and working to feed their neighbors in need.
Inspired? Check out the Grow A Row website for details and email us at growarow@capitalareafoodbank.org to sign up!