Gardeners work to boost food access in Indianapolis food deserts
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A pair of homegrown operations are helping improve food access in some Indianapolis food deserts.
With many chronic illnesses tied to diet, the community gardeners hope to provide the tools to help people take control of their own health.
Access to food is a major hurdle for countless families across central Indiana, and, with fewer farmers, some fear there could even bigger problems on the horizon.
A couple of women with a love of community can now watch their garden grow. “There’s therapeutic nature in the soil,” Tysha Ahmad said.
She oversees Mother Loves Garden. It just wrapped up a youth summer gardening camp.
“We don’t want there to be a shortage of farmers because that’s something that’s on the horizon with not a lot of people really being interested. But, everybody has to eat. So, if you can grow your own food, you can feed your family.”
Around six years ago, before a boom in development, she started buying vacant derelict lots around her neighborhood, and began turning former dumping grounds into community gardens. The efforts were a form of neighborhood beautification but also education.
“That’s something when we have kids in the garden we push that: nutrition. If you’re not eating your fruits in your vegetables, where are you getting your vitamins?”
Communities considered food deserts often see the highest diet-related illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and even mental health. All can be tied to inadequate meals and nutrition.
“We’re also feeding the soul with education as well,” said Danielle Guerin.
She’s taken on a mission to curb that, too, with Soul Food Project. “It’s better to take advantage of that and have your own skill.”
A Peace Corps trip to Cameroon, a nation in Central and West Africa, opened her eyes that she also grew up in a food desert. Coming back home, she got to work growing. Since 2017, it’s blossomed to include teen apprenticeship programs centered on employment skills including resume building and financial literacy.
“After we did the youth program for a couple of years, we realized that adults were also needing the help, wanting to learn as well. So, we started last fall an adult apprenticeship program. So now, we train adults in the same thing.”
She says, with less access to food, families can close that gap themselves.
“We realized some people had the skills, but not the resources or the tools, and so we launched a tool share this past spring to help neighbors have beautiful gardens in their own homes,” Guerin said.
Ahmad and Guerin says it’s their part to play and hope their work takes on even deeper roots.
Ahmad said, “I think more of our communities are getting back in line with nature.”