Food Bank Garden

I discovered an exciting article "From Hand-Outs to How-to" that inspired me to grow my own little garden. The article came from Tucson, Arizona published in the Nov.-Dec. 2008 issue in Orion magazine. It was in reference to a food bank. Beside the food bank a seven thousand square foot organic garden was being grown by local people in the community. The garden was filled with tomatoes, beans, chiles and other types of vegetables. They also had chickens that were eating the garden scraps and using their waste for a compost pile. The workshops, for this community, are ongoing for training and they are presented in both English and Spanish. Not only do they train people, they give them the necessary compost piles and tools to get started. They will send someone to your home to select a suitable garden and help you through the process of growing your own food. The community as a whole benefits and the spreading of knowledge will allow the community to become a more economically stable environment. Instead of "how-to handouts", they are actually showing you "How-to". The project is very socially healthy in many aspects. My garden will consist of tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers and green beans. I am also going to plant tomatoes and peppers at my mom's. Wish me luck! On another note, we are really coming together with our Novant Health project. Things were a little shakey at first due to the break we had last week. Now that we have a clear vision and strategy plan, I am anxious to find out if the calorie counting application can be embraced by other colleges.