Growing Healthy Communities through Urban Farms

Food insecurity and access to basic needs

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Growing Roots aims to support the health of the 612 students of Emerson Middle School, their families, and the Pomona community. This project serves the community of Pomona facing serious health issues such as childhood obesity, risk of diabetes, and vitamin D deficiencies. According to a 2017 study done by the Institute of Public Strategies, Pomona childhood obesity rates are some of the highest in the state, with Hispanic students in middle school having an average of 50% prevalence of obesity. Thoughtful programming can ameliorate food security issues, healthy food availability, and overall the general health of the population (both the school and City of Pomona). Our project addresses the dearth of green spaces in our community and on campus, by providing a trajectory towards agricultural literacy. Because Growing Roots is led by affected members of this community, it recognizes the difficulty of this community being able to afford, access, and create meals with healthy foods.

Growing Roots seeks funding to increase the growing capacity of The Grocery Pick-Up Program and provide nutrition and agriculture education to the youth of Emerson Middle School. This project will increase food sovereignty, supplement access to fresh food, and cultivate agricultural literacy. We choose to cultivate foods and herbs culturally relevant and traditionally used by our community. Volunteer and youth preferences inform what we choose to grow and the workshops we coordinate. Crops are grown using drought resistant techniques and otherwise sustainable methods of production. Growing Roots directly supplements access to fresh food by distributing produce grown to volunteers on-site and to the student families of Emerson Middle School through the Grocery Pick-Up program. Funding for the Urban Farmer position will guarantee we meet our short term goal of providing produce bags to 35 returning student families year-round and gives us the possibility of reaching our long term goal of 140 student families by the end of the grant cycle. The Growing Roots Garden is located where access to local, nutritious, and sustainably grown produce has been limited. Growing Roots cultivates agricultural literacy by hosting weekly hands-on learning through the volunteer workdays and farming workshops. Funding for the Farm Youth Educator position will grant Growing Roots the capacity to directly provide one hour bi-weekly agricultural education to the students of Emerson Middle School.

Growing Roots extends agricultural literacy throughout the county by teaching sustainable methods of farming. This knowledge is then transferred and applied to members’ home gardens and the network of knowledge extends from there. Growing Roots continues to collaborate with skilled members of our community to host educational hands-on workshops. The value of our space has grown past those interested in gardening and currently serves as a community hub, supporting local professionals and skilled persons. Successful impact of The Grocery Pick-Up program and increased agricultural education, creates the opportunity to expand growing space on campus and potentially other campuses within the Pomona Unified School District (PUSD). We have the right set of circumstances to display our progress and to use this as a platform to make headway on future endeavors. It is key that we increase the numbers of households we positively impact and continue to expand access to sustainably grown food.

Pounds of produce harvested and the number of produce bags distributed weekly will be recorded to help us adjust our timeline accordingly and create new distribution goals. Sign-in sheets will track parent/student volunteer recruitment, retention, and attendance for agricultural programming. For the educational aspect twice a year Growing Roots will host an in-person survey session for volunteers, students, and parents to receive qualitative feedback and assess the impact of the program. Detailed time sheets from the Urban Farmer and Farm Youth Educator will be collected to gain an understanding of time spent. Finally, a completion of a holistic needs assessment document detailing areas of improvement and a future pathway with actionable items for Growing Roots is necessary. This will provide Growing Roots with the foresight and awareness of needs to be met in order to continue to serve our community.