The Giving Grove, a nonprofit that works with residents of under-resourced communities to grow orchards, announced in December they will translate their educational gardening materials into 12 different languages. Non-English speaking communities face barriers to accessing the free fruit and nuts because information about growing and harvesting has been printed only in English.
Dr. Barbara Johnson, 79, is getting her hands dirty with her gardening project on a recent December afternoon. She’s joined by more than a dozen volunteers who are composting the ground at the Asylum Orchard. The rows of apple trees are located in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Blue Hills overlooking U.S. Highway 71 off 48th St. in southeast Kansas City, Missouri. In this area, you really need a car to get to the nearest grocery store for fresh fruits and vegetables. This orchard is within walking distance for more than 1,000 residents and is a source of free organic fruits, berries and nuts.
“Keeping grocery stores in Kansas City’s minority communities has been a long struggle,” Johnson said. As she gathers branches and applies compost, she reminisces about her childhood as a the daughter of a Black farmer in rural Tennessee. It was during the era of Jim Crow and she said she learned to grow food at an early age. Shopping at a grocery store was not an option…