Neighbors Nourishing Communities
Neighbors Nourishing Communities • M ission- T o provide fresh, nutritious, locally-grown produce to residents in our community, particularly those that lack access due to their economic circumstances • M ethods: 1. Home gardeners- we provide plants, seeds, instruction (gardening, cooking, preserving) for 20% or more of the produce they grow 2. Low-income residents- we provide free garden space, plants, seeds, tools, and instruction they keep 100% of their produce • Our program formula is simple and unique- We incentivize participation to make it sustainable and every partner in the program contributes what they can, as appropriate: Resident gardeners (garden space, water, labor, expertise) + Businesses (soil, materials, merchant incentives, financial support, garden space) + Neighbors Nourishing Communities (organization, labor, plants, seeds, education) + City of Tualatin (water/ land?) = Food security, Nutrition, Community-building, Fellowship in Tualatin
Our Board of Directors: • Chad Darby • Founder, initial vision and planning, business development, volunteer gardener • Robert Kellogg • Non-profit legal services, BD, volunteer gardener • Caitlin Blood (M anager of Skyline Farm) • Expertise, plant starts, nursery and business connections • Autumn Fisher • M aster gardener, writer, volunteer gardener, Grange member • Frank Bubenik • City Councilor, involved in poverty/ hunger issues and also a volunteer gardener
Why Now? The Need is Great • Tualatin’s poverty rate increased from 5.5 percent in 2000 to 13.6 percent by 2011 “ Census and American Community Survey data” “Cheap Apartments in Tualatin - Low Income Apartments in ... Discover a wide variety of cheap apartments in Tualatin . ApartmentGuide.com shows off thousands of low income apartments in Tualatin OR.” -Ad found in Google
Publicly-Subsidized Affordable Housing
How Great is the Need? • Our elementary schools (Byrom, Bridgeport, Tualatin) – All serve free and reduced price lunches for children of low-income families – All have backpack programs to send food home with kids for the weekend • At Bridgeport Elementary – 23% of children were on free or reduced price lunches in 2000 – 64% of children were on free or reduced price lunches in 2012 • Tualatin Schoolhouse Pantry – provides emergency food boxes with up to 5 days worth of food and personal supplies, one time per month (Note: that leaves 25 days potentially unsupported) – TSP had over 27,000 visits in 2012 • Oregon Food Bank – Since the recession of 2008, Oregon Food Bank distribution has increased 41% – 270,000 people eat from emergency food boxes per month • SNAP benefits (food benefits) – Average about $1.40 per meal per person – The Welfare Law of 1996 cut many residents from eligibility, even permanent documented residents – The Agriculture Act of 2014 cut $8.6 billion from SNAP and related programs such as “ Heat and Eat”
Is This Just About Hunger/ Poverty? • Environmental Facts About What we Eat • Around 1900, the average distance farm to table was roughly 15 miles • One calorie of fossil fuel energy produced 2 calories of food energy • Today the average distance is 1,500-2,500 miles • Twenty calories of fossil fuel energy produce 2 calories of food energy • Typical American meal: Ingredients from 5 countries not counting U.S. • Transportation uses dirtiest fuels, contributes to air pollution • Nutrition Facts About What we Eat 1 • Affected by ripeness, plant variety, and length of time from harvest • Spinach within 5 days of picking loses up to 70% of its vitamin C • Tomatoes picked green contain 31% less vitamin C • Plant varieties developed for shelf life and transportation contain fewer nutrients than varieties able to be locally sourced • M any of the chronically impoverished develop diabetes from high-starch diets- this further complicate their financial situation • Community-building and Fellowship across divides 1 “ Nutritional M erits of Home Grown vs. Store Bought Produce,” Aero Grow Worldwide
Neighbors Nourishing Communities Successes thus far: • 16 resident gardeners, 6 low-income families (4 are Latino) • Registered as Oregon non-profit, filing for 501(c)(3) status now • Identified several key business partners • Skyline Farm and M eriwether’s Restaurant • S&H Bark and Landscape • Columbia Bank • Tualatin Park Vet Clinic • New Seasons • The Garden Corner • Al’s Nursery • The Tualatin Grange • Tualatin Community Garden
Tremendous Outpouring of Support M ore Successes: • Launched our monthly newsletter (widely praised) • Elementary Schools Backpack Program advertising • Elementary School Newsletters • Tualatin Park Vet Clinic with supplies from Ace Hardware and S&H Bark and Landscape is building garden space for low-income families • Facebook page following growing very rapidly both inside and outside of Tualatin (also on Pinterest) • Front/ Backyard spaces volunteered by citizens • Winona Grange- provided seeds, distributed information, likely place for some of our classes
Comments I didn’t Expect to Hear “ It is hard to encapsulate in few “ We feel like we have more of a sense of words just how happy and hopeful purpose outside of our own day to day we are about the coming months” challenges, and I can’t overstate how much I appreciate that.” “ I also want to give 20% of my “ Can I share my garden space with produce to the Pantry because others in my situation?” they’ve helped me.” “ M y family and I are very grateful for the opportunity to have a garden. We simply “ Due to a series of unfortunate events, my wouldn’t be able to do this without the family and I have dealt with a lot of loss. help of NNC.” We barely eek by. It can be very expensive to be poor. The garden is going to help so “ This organization is not only helping to much! We are very excited about getting improve the health of the environment and started and watching our plants grow, and forge community relationships, it is we look forward to connecting in the empowering its volunteers to provide community with our fellow gardeners, and supplemental food for their families as well sharing the bounty with others in need.” as others in need.”
Is There a Role for the City of Tualatin?
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