“Growing in the Backyard” Citizen Health Action Team The Community Commission on Health Approves a New Project for the Backyard

By Janice Barbee, Cultural Wellness Center

On April 7, 2011, the Commission on Health approved the Family Garden project of the Backyard Initiative”'s Growing in the Backyard Citizen Health Action Team (CHAT). The CHAT stated in their proposal to the Commission: “This project will empower Backyard residents to produce their own healthy foods, increase connections to the local food system, and increase each family”'s understanding about how the food system works. Families participating in the Family Gardens project will actively take responsibility for creating and maintaining a series of gardens throughout the Backyard. These activities will also increase a sense of belonging and community for each family.”

The Commission on Health, a group composed primarily of residents who live in the “Backyard” ”“ in Powderhorn Park, Central, Corcoran, or one of the four neighborhoods in Phillips ”“ meets every month at the Cultural Wellness Center. The Commission first met in February 2010 to put community residents at the center of the Backyard Initiative, a partnership between Allina and these communities. Its work is to monitor the health of the community, build the community”'s capacity for taking responsibility for its own health, and support efforts to maintain and improve the health of Backyard residents.… Read the rest ““Growing in the Backyard” Citizen Health Action Team The Community Commission on Health Approves a New Project for the Backyard”