What is sustainable is producing our own food, right here at home, and people in Mendocino County are embarking on a program to do just that. A powerful incentive is a recent report, instigated by the Mendocino County Hunger Task Force, demonstrating that a quarter of the children in the county live below the poverty line. Many of those kids are hungry at least some of the time, and many parents find themselves going hungry so that their children can eat.
In response, community gardeners throughout the county are gearing up to ensure that good, nutritious, organic food is available for all who need it. Various community groups, including some schools, are taking part and, given the level of enthusiasm and energy, the outlook is promising.
On the coast, Good Neighbors is establishing gardens, one at Redwood Elementary School in Fort Bragg, a community garden in Mendocino and one starting up at the Caspar Grange. North Coast Demonstration Gardens solicits a percentage of the produce from gardens they help create and maintain at businesses and in people's yards. The produce goes into the food bank or the food kitchen. They try to get people started with their gardens and then help them keep it up. Folks at the food bank in Fort Bragg have a gleaning program started; they're looking for a mini-van to help out with that effort. They are also pushing a plant-a-row arrangement for the food bank program and providing seedlings for food bank clients.
See accompanying article for inland activities.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2001
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited