South Carolina man starts urban garden to feed those in need, teach people how to grow food

Monday, June 04, 2012 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: urgan gardens, food, South Carolina

(NaturalNews) The relatively modest, two-and-a-half acre plot of formerly unused land behind the Wild Radish Health Store in Greenville, South Carolina, is quickly burgeoning into a cornucopia of organic squash, kale, blueberries and other fresh fruits and vegetables. Thanks to the vision of one local man with a heart for the needy, and the efforts of hundreds of his neighbors, the Greenville area will soon have access to free, organic produce as part of a new initiative known as The Generous Garden Project (GGP).

Bo Cable, Executive Director of GGP, has long had a heavy heart for the thousands of South Carolinians that go hungry each and every day because of a lack of food. Bewildered by a shortage of healthful food options -- most of the food served at food banks and homeless shelters, after all, is highly processed and devoid of proper nutrients -- Bo decided to take matters into his own hands and start an urban garden out of the kindness of his heart.

What began as a personal mission to feed the hungry fresh, nutritious produce quickly blossomed into a community-wide endeavor to establish a working, community farm where anyone in need can come and access free food, no questions asked. Eventually, Bo and his crew of several hundred local volunteers hope to begin teaching others how to grow food themselves.

"We are working to fight hunger in a slightly different way by growing and harvesting fresh produce and then giving it away to local ministries and food banks," says The Generous Garden Project website about its mission. "It is a known fact that if people get fresh fruits and veggies in their diet, they think more clearly, have more energy and live more fruitful lives. We are here to fight hunger one garden at a time."

Growing, gleaning, and gathering together

Besides growing food on their local plot, Bo and his comrades have also established partnerships with other local farms that permit volunteers to glean leftover crops from fields where they would otherwise rot or be plowed under after the growing season. Gleaning, of course, has been around since Biblical times, and has been utilized as a way to feed the poorer members of society and eliminate food waste.

A generous donor has already given GGP two greenhouses in which to grow indoor produce, and the plot has its own compost heap and worm farm for fertilizing crops naturally and organically. Bo also plans to expand the farm to other land that his group rents, and eventually GGP plans to teach local community members how to grow their own food in their own living spaces.

"Whether you live in an apartment building, or you live downtown and you have a small yard, or you have ten acres, we want to teach you how you can take what you have around you and grow organic food," said Bo in a recent piece put together by Bus52.com. "I believe we all have one life to live, and we need to live it to the fullest of our ability."

You can watch the Bus52.com GGP piece at:
http://youtu.be/sf-Ver7Gq7U

To learn more about GGP, visit:
http://generousgarden.org/

Sources for this article include:

http://foodfreedomgroup.com

http://www.thewildradish.com/