Garden to Table Garners Support

An effort to provide fresh fruits and veggies to families living near our very urban campus is gathering support — from Bank of America, Mayor Reed and you! (Sami Monsur photo)

An effort to provide fresh fruits and veggies to families living near our very urban campus is gathering support.

The CommUniverCity Garden to Table program will be highlighted prior to San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s State of the City Address on Feb. 7.

“Each council district chooses an organization … that has gone to extraordinary lengths to better the community and we are thrilled to recognize the great work Garden to Table is doing in our neighborhoods,” wrote Councilmember Sam Liccardo, whose district includes downtown San Jose.

Also, Bank of America recently made a $10,000 gift to the program, and organizers have initiated a Kickstarter campaign, spearheaded by Zach Lewis, who completed his master’s in urban planning this past December.

“I believe this is the future,” Lewis wrote, “not just because of the way it utilizes resources more efficiently, reduces our carbon footprint, and helps create healthier communities, but also because of the cultural force it represents in the heart of our cities, as well as the potential economics that could be generated by truly local food system.”

CommUniverCity builds community by engaging residents and students in service learning projects that accomplish neighborhood-driven goals. Garden to Table (G2T) is an urban agriculture project that aims to increase the access, availability and affordability of sustainably grown and harvested food resources in low income neighborhoods.

Among the program’s many achievements in just a few years are the following:

  • G2T has installed gardens in 19 homes and two gardens are shared with neighbors who do not have land to garden.
  • G2T is building a community garden and education center and two school gardens.
  • G2T has conducted nutrition and cooking classes for over 40 families, and launched an apartment gardening program with apartment managers and residents to build gardens and provide gardening workshops for growing, harvesting and preparing food (10 families and four at-risk youths are currently gardening at three apartment gardens established in 2012).
  • With the help of resident volunteers, CommUniverCity’s G2T has harvested over 15,000 pounds of surplus fruits and vegetables grown in Central San Jose neighborhoods and distributed fruit to the 150 families in need that participate weekly in the Olinder Food program, a community-run food bank.

Follow G2T on Facebook.