Growing the Backyard CHAT”'s partner, Community Table Coop, organizing a processing team to preserve potatoes for winter consumption.
The Growing in the Backyard CHAT is poised to build a sustainable community food system in a collaborative network that integrates sustainable food production, processing, distribution, consumption and waste management in order to enhance the environmental, economic and social health of Backyard residents. Farmers, consumers and communities in our CHAT partnered to create a more locally-based, self-reliant food economy. The Growing the Backyard project empowered Backyard residents to produce their own healthy foods, increase connection to the local food system and each family”'s understanding of how the local food system works. From May through October, weekly deliveries of locally grown fresh produce were distributed throughout the Backyard area. Overall goals achieved by our project include:
- Developed a CHAT work plan and activity list which includes seed selection, planting, growing, and harvesting schedule.
- Developed Growing the Backyard Buying Club, CSA programs, created a distribution and delivery system which includes cleaning, sorting, and processing with the Community Table Coop, one of our project partners.
- Organized residents and organizations in South Minneapolis to create a network of healthy food businesses and developed partnerships in South Minneapolis to apply healthy eating solutions.
Specific achievements:Â
- Collaborated with youth farm to train 15 youth and start 10 gardens
- Collaborated with Happy Acre Farm to plant and grow on 2 acres and trained 3 youth
- Produced 15,000 pounds of vegetables
- Offered 5 cooking classes with the Hope Community that has an average of 8 people per class
- Served 45 families who benefited from our CSA project
- Distributed 6,000 pounds of vegetable which were made available to 2500 people during the months of July, August, and September of 2013.
- Partnered with 2 Southside Community Centers: Sabathani and Waite House Food Shelf
- Delivered an average of 60 pounds of fresh produces to 2 farmers markets located within 3 Churches