Plant to Plate Project

by Margaret A. Haapoja

With local food in the media spotlight these days, Grand Rapids is ahead of the curve with a project called Plant to Plate. Initiated six years ago by Itasca County public health nurses Holly Downing and Laurie Benge, the program brings together people of all ages and expertise to encourage and foster healthy eating as well as to provide fresh produce for the Grand Rapids Food Shelf. According to its mission statement, Plant to Plate unites members to work together to grow nutritious food and provide outdoor activity to impact health and provide hope for the hungry. It is a place to learn where our food comes from and form connections with each other and our natural world.

Downing and Benge were inspired by France Moore Lapp’s book Diet for a Small Planet which emphasizes organic gardening, vegetarian diets and local food. The book told of Alice Waters, owner of a restaurant in San Francisco, who volunteered to help with a school vegetable garden. The garden was so successful that the San Francisco school board made it mandatory for all the city’s schools to have vegetable gardens. “That was one of the stories that got us thinking about what we could do here in Grand Rapids,” says former Plant to Plate coordinator Joan Foster.

The University of Minnesota North Central Research and Outreach Center in Grand Rapids donated land for the garden, and research forester Tim O’Brien tills the beds, sets up the irrigation system and assists in keeping the plots watered every season. “The project mixes up a wide spectrum of folks, and the variety of ages and occupations working together is fun,” says Foster. “And the gardens are right down the hill from the cow barn so the soil there is so fertile. You plant a seed there, and it just explodes!”

Boys and girls from College for Kids classes at Itasca Community College scampered around the garden on a sunny June morning planting tomatoes and cabbages. Instructors Christa Berg and Jennifer Behm coached them to dig deep holes so tomato plants can root all the way up their stems and to carefully tamp the soil around cabbage seedlings. The young children in the summer program also set out pepper plants and built a bean tunnel.

For several years Southwest Elementary School’s fifth-graders have been involved in the project, and teacher Nancy Mike-Johnson knows former students now in high school who have had a home garden ever since they were in her class because of Plant to Plate. Former fifth graders Jace Mann and Nicole Uzelac loved working in the gardens. Now Mann helps his grandmother garden during the summer and wishes he could return to Plant to Plate. The experience has inspired Uzelac to garden at home, and she plans to continue volunteering with the project. “My students connect with all kinds of really interesting people,” says Mike-Johnson. “The adults work with the kids, so my kids get a lot of one on one time with some wonderful people.”

YMCA campers worked in the garden several hours a week last summer learning where their food comes from and giving back to people in need. Retirees Barb and Doug Veit have volunteered with Plant to Plate since the project’s inception. “We really like the idea of community coming together to produce healthy food,” says Barb, a former elementary school teacher. “That’s such an important thing for us. And we’ve always found the kids to be so enthusiastic and ready to help. If we can get healthy food for more people, that’s what motivates us to stay involved with Plant to Plate.”

Jeff Janacek, who has worked with the program ever since it began six years ago, marvels that so many children had no idea where corn came from, have never planted a seed in the ground. “I think we’re making an impact there,” he says. “Getting the kids’ hands dirty, when so much of what they do is sedentary and antiseptic these days, and getting them to plant something so they can see the fruits of their labor is pretty thrilling.”

A small grant from the Itasca County Public Health Fund supported the Plant to Plate coordinator and transportation for elementary students to the garden, but due to funding cuts, that grant will no longer be available next year. Almost all seeds, time, labor and equipment are donated. National companies like Seed Savers Exchange and Johnny’s Selected Seeds contribute seeds, and local businesses like Itasca County Farm Service and Bloomers donate seeds, plants and mulch that the city public works department delivers to the site. Volunteers take responsibility for planting, weeding and harvesting by adopting one of the 21 beds. Among the groups tending last year’s plots were Grand Rapids Garden Club, Home Depot volunteers, Target Store volunteers, Bridges Mentoring, Itasca County Master Gardeners, Northern Lights Charter School, Action Through Churches Together, RSVP, and the Teenage Parenting Program.
Sue Estee, Executive Director of the Second Harvest North Central Food Bank, hopes to find a volunteer coordinator who will plan the planting, tending and harvesting so children can continue to have this valuable learning experience.

Demand at Second Harvest North Central Food Bank is up 12% over last year, according to program manager Ellen Christmas. An average 555 families were served each month in 2007 and 633 each month in 2008. At the same time, supplies are down partially due to flooding, farmers growing ethanol-producing crops and increased demand from emerging markets in China and India. As a result, individuals who received 29 pounds a month last year are now getting only 15 pounds. “Food shelf clients were able to enjoy fresh produce on Tuesdays and Thursdays that was harvested from the garden that morning,” says Christmas. “Looking, talking about and selecting vegetables inspired some clients to think about starting their own gardens or at least connected them to a community effort that they could value.”

The Plant to Plate project will receive a Community Service Award from the Minnesota State Horticultural Society in Minneapolis next month. “Plant to Plate is a great community project,” says Lynn Cottingham, Nutrition Outreach Manager at Second Harvest North Central Food Bank and current Plant to Plate coordinator, “and it’s wonderful that so many people have stepped forward. I think they realize it’s important to be involved in something that’s good for kids.”