Just Food and Gardener’s Supply Company Honor New York City Urban Farmers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 29, 2003

Contact: Just Food - Kathleen McTigue, 212.645.9880 ex.13

Eight urban farmers and have been recognized by Just Food for increasing food access in their neighborhoods.

An astounding number of New Yorkers have poor access to fresh produce. Just Food’s City Farms program, through our Grow More Food Campaign, fosters better access to healthy, fresh produce by encouraging people to grow their own. Hundreds of gardens throughout the city make critical contributions to their neighborhoods by providing rare and beautiful open space and by growing food for their neighborhood families. Many of these gardens further increase access by donating food to soup kitchens and food pantries and by marketing their urban harvest at farm-stands.

This is Just Food’s second annual Grow More Food Campaign. This year, for the first time, Gardener’s Supply Company of Burlington, Vermont has provided garden tools and equipment enabling Just Food to reward gardeners with useful prizes.

Just Food’s Grow More Food Campaign awards and award winners for 2003 are:

Trainer Award:
Classie Parker, 5 Star Garden, Harlem, New York passes on her extensive knowledge of pickling and preserving food to other gardeners and Community Supported Agriculture members and
Johanna Willins, Herbal Garden, East New York, Brooklyn passes on her gift of knowledge of medicinal & culinary herbs to members of her community to lead them toward a healthier life!

Market Development Award:
Taqwa Community Farm, Highbridge, Bronx has developed an amazing urban farm-stand. Tawqa sells urban & rural produced food to local families, WIC recipients and seniors in their community

Market Award:
Laura Washington, La Familia Verde Garden Coalition, East Tremont, Bronx and
Ena Nemley, La Familia Verde Garden Coalition, East Tremont, Bronx. Both are dedicated gardeners, community members and now, entrepreneurs – improving access to fresh local food by providing a market in a neighborhood where none previously existed.

Community Award:
Eliza Butler, New Visions Garden, East New York, Brooklyn brings together gardeners from her neighborhood and around the city to learn from and share ideas with each other. New Vision is also donating food and providing for others in their neighborhood.

Demonstration Site Award:
Bissel Gardens, Wakefield, Bronx has developed an amazing example of urban agriculture; growing large areas of food for donation, establishing an urban farm-stand and providing open space in its community.

Donation Award:
McKinley & Wajeedah Hightower-Beyah, God’s Battalion Loving Care Center, Far Rockaway, Queens provide healthy, nutritious food for those in need. McKinley & Wajeedah ensure the freshest food is available to food pantry clients by harvesting vegetables directly from the garden next door.

These are among the many skilled, creative and generous gardeners throughout the City. Jut Food hopes to honor more in years ahead.

Just Food’s City Farms program works to increase food production, marketing and distribution via community gardens throughout NYC. We collaborate with other NYC groups with expertise in horticulture, marketing, garden preservation, leadership development and emergency food relief. Our partners are Heifer International, Cornell Cooperative Extension-NYC, Green Guerillas, Green Thumb, City Harvest, and Northeast Organic Farmers Association-NY. Together, we provide workshops, training materials, and networking opportunities to enable NYC communities to grow more food. We believe that NYC’s community gardens, like the Victory Gardens of the 1940s, have the potential to supply a substantial portion of NYC’s fresh produce, particularly in the communities that need it most.

The City Farms program is made possible in part by grants from Heifer International, Merck Family Fund, Lawson Valentine Foundation, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, Love 4 One Another, Share Our Strength, Timberland and individual contributions.

For more information on these gardens and Just Food’s City Farms Program, please contact Kathleen McTigue at ph: 212.645.9880 ex.13 or e-mail: kathleen@justfood.org.