Unity Gardens mission to improve community health:

Physically by increasing accessibility of
  fruits and vegetables as well as providing education on nutrition and food
  preparation.

Socially by providing education, increased social capital,
  and opportunities for the disadvantaged

Economically: by developing a
  sustainable local food system, recapturing food waste, creating new jobs, and
  increasing per-capita productivity

Unity  Gardens provide fresh healthy food for anyone.
Unity Gardens brings diverse people together

Unity Gardens provides education empowering the community to grow its own healthy food



Each Unity Garden has two criteria: 
 Diverse people coming together to grow a garden.
 Sharing the food grown in the garden with the community. 

Our
  Story
The Unity Gardens Inc. is a collaborative network of
community  gardens originated to increase the availability, awareness, and
accessibility of  healthy, locally grown food. Each Unity Garden has two
criteria; diverse people  coming together to grow food and a sharing component.
The gardens provide food  for any in need & bring diverse people together to
grow, harvest, share, and  eat healthy food. The Unity Gardens Inc. surrounds
community gardens with the  resources and systems needed to ensure success with
growing food while  developing partnerships with area businesses, government,
universities, schools,  churches, nonprofits, and neighbors.
The
mission is to improve  community health -- physically, socially, and
economically. The Unity Gardens  will reduce chronic illness and obesity within
the community via education and  increased accessibility of fruits and
vegetables. The Unity Gardens will improve  social health by providing
unconditional free food and opportunities for the  disadvantaged. The Unity
Gardens will improve local economic vitality by  developing a sustainable local
food system, recapturing food waste, creating new  jobs, and increasing
per-capita productivity.

The first Unity Garden  started with an idea,
vacant land, conversations with local homeless residents,  and a bit of
gardening experience. Inspired to action by a seminar on urban  development and
the enthusiasm of area residents, I began "sprouting" the idea  of planting a
vegetable garden in the downtown South Bend area. As a  backyard
gardener and a public health nursing instructor, I had the skills to  both start
a garden and inform the community. In April, with help from  volunteers, I
started working the soil. I also started communication about the  garden's
progress, both in person and via e-mail. Messages of growing food and  growing
community, sowing seeds of sharing, and finally "We Are Growing More  than
Vegetables Here" permeated the garden stories. The enthusiasm grew  as
well, sprouting action and donations from service organizations, governmental
  entities, and local colleges. The media helped spread the word, and the
  community responded with more support. After three  seasons, there are now
close  to 50 Unity gardens in the South Bend area, and  with partners helping
such as  The Saint Joseph County Health Department, The Purdue Extension, The
Troyer  Group, Barnes and Thornburg, Memorial Hospital, The Center for a
Sustainable  Future, and the Indiana Department of Corrections Youth
Facility.

Health  care costs of chronic illness, obesity, and cardiac
disease, correlated to poor  nutrition and decreased per capita productivity is
a problem for our community.  In the St. Joseph Co. Community Health Assessment,
61% of county residents  reported being overweight or obese. 80% of these
reported not seeking the advice  of a health professional to improve or combat
this. In addition to providing  healthy food, Unity Gardens include an
educational component to help community  members improve their health.
Consistent with the objectives identified by the  USDA's Healthy People 2010 and
2020, Unity Gardens help reduce the incidence of  chronic illness and obesity
through prevention and education.

The  literature reveals ways that
community gardens revitalize communities. They  reduce crime, create income
opportunities, encourage neighborhood, economic, and  community development,
reduce family food budgets, stimulate social and  cross-cultural interaction,
and improve quality of life for residents.  Disadvantaged residents indicate the
gardens provide meaningful service  opportunities, increased community
connections, and a pathway for social change.  In 2008 and 2009 the gardens were
fully harvested.

Decreased  availability and accessibility of healthy
food cause people in poverty to suffer  disproportionately from chronic illness,
which further reduces their ability to  become productive community members.
Poverty is the 3rd leading cause of death.  Our entire community suffers from
lack of per capita productivity. We pay for it  literally through increased
indigent health care costs, and indirectly through  increased crime
rates.



Quality of life decreases as community  members are less
connected. Unity Gardens primarily grow food, removing the  crisis of the
moment, yet the Unity Gardens also intervene multidimensionally.  They will be
hubs of activity year round as training centers, green houses and  processing
centers, providing areas to plan, educate, train, and employ people.  Produce
grown in the gardens will be used in restaurants, schools, hospitals,  pantries,
farmer's markets, and groceries, further increasing the appreciation  and demand
for locally grown, healthy food. Food waste will be recaptured and  composted to
increase the food yield and job production even more, while  simultaneously
reducing landfill waste. The entire community will become a model  of
sustainable growth!



The Unity Gardens will improve the  physical
health of the community through developing a collaborative network of  community
gardens; encouraging and supporting those growing food. Although the  Unity
Gardens grew from one garden to 13 in the 2009 season, the food supply was
  still less than the demand. So in 2010 we had 34 gardens . There was increased
  neighborhood involvement , and much more food to harvest. We will  continue
partner with other community members to grow more food in 2011.




The Unity Gardens will decrease rates of obesity and chronic
  illness through education and increased accessibility of healthy fruits and
  vegetables. This will be measured by counting the number of community gardens
& total square footage, conducting food surveys and diet plans, tracking
  USDHHS statistics on produce consumption (Healthy People 2020). By partnering
  with Memorial Hospital and the St Joseph County Health Dept, HP-NWS weight,
mean  cholesterol levels, county death rates from diabetes and heart disease
will be  compared each year.



The gardens will also improve the
  community's social health by developing opportunities for diverse and
vulnerable  populations to gather, collaborate, and support each other. The
Unity Gardens  will build community by bringing neighbors and groups together in
shared garden  activities and educational events. Sign-in sheets will track the
participation  rates. Greenhouse events will host groups to come together to
sprout seeds.  Educational events will highlight growing tips, composting,
nutrition, canning,  and food preparation. Schools, universities, and camps will
participate in  service learning, internships, and continuing education on a
variety of topics  including sustainable food systems, global petroleum issues,
and studies  investigating childhood malnutrition and hunger. Crime rates in
garden census  tracks or zip codes will be used to measure crime
reduction.



The  Unity gardens will stimulate economic development
through food processing, waste  recovery, and developing a marketable product
for sale, all of which create  jobs. Per capita income and unemployment rates
will be compiled to demonstrate  economic development stimulated from job
creation surrounding food processing,  food sales, and waste recapturing.
Numbers of industry consumers (businesses,  hospitals, schools, restaurants,
etc.) of the marketable Unity products will be  assessed to determine specific
Unity economic growth.



The Unity  Gardens is a unique and
holistic public health initiative, working with a  variety of organizations to
stimulate economic development in an action-oriented  and health focused manor
through developing a new, local, sustainable food  system. This has resonated as
something worthwhile to others. The Unity Gardens  continues to be propelled to
success through the support of the community;  media, collegiate, business,
local government, hospital, etc.

What is  most unique about the Unity
Gardens is an approach based on unconditional  sharing. Through empowerment
& facilitative education, the Unity Gardens are  vehicles for economic
recovery as well as health care promotion. The Unity  Gardens bring people
together in the garden space, then surround them with  resources and
opportunities for health, education, and internship. The Unity  Gardens
intervene simply (as in feeding a hungry family) or complexly, thwarting
  contextual barriers and other multidimensional factors contributing to poverty.
  The Unity Gardens have captured widespread support as an effective grass roots
  strategy to improve life for the entire community.

For more
information,  including volunteer opportunities, monetary donations, or starting
your own  Unity Garden please feel free to call or e-mail.

Looking
  Forward,

Sara Stewart RN MSN Executive Director Unity Gardens
Inc