Planting for the Pantry
As we prepare for the 2018 growing season, I want to tell you about one of our favorite volunteers, Nona, who has a unique perspective because she is not only involved with CCUA’s Planting for the Pantry Program as a volunteer, but is also a recipient of the food we grow.
Nona loves vegetables. In fact, if you ask her what her favorite vegetable is, she will smile and say, “I just like all of them!” She joined CCUA as a volunteer after being introduced to the Urban Farm by her son, who knew how much she would love the work that we do. Nona is outgoing and easy to talk to, and as a part of the harvesting and washing team which prepares produce for the pantry, she quickly became known for her ability to entertain and lift the spirits of the entire crew.
Nona grew up in the country, part of a hard-working but poor community where gardening was a necessary part of everyday life. As a child, she loved helping in the garden, and has fond memories of working with her family and eating tomatoes right off the vine. Her early experiences led to a lifelong appreciation of vegetables, and as she raised her four children she made sure that fresh produce was an important part of her family’s diet as well.
When she reached her 40’s, Nona started paying closer attention to her body and her health, and it wasn’t long before she realized that she didn’t like the way she felt. She also noticed that many of her friends and family members were fighting illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, and she worried that she would end up with the same problems if she didn’t make some changes to her diet and lifestyle.
Nona took action. She began walking, increased the amount of fresh vegetables and fruits she was eating, eliminated sugar from her diet, and worked to learn as much as she could about nutrition. In the years since, she has become quite the expert, and will happily talk about the health benefits she’s seen from vegetables. “I didn’t go to school to study this,” she says, “I researched and experimented on myself!” Nona truly believes that health comes first from what you put in your body, and she believes that vegetables are the key to keeping her immune system functioning well. Nona will tell you, “I’m a believer that you can heal yourself with good food.” She enjoys vibrant health, rarely gets sick, and works to take care of herself so that she can better face any challenge that comes her way.
As many people discover when they switch to a healthier diet, though, it’s not always easy to get access to fresh, healthy produce. Now retired, Nona lives with a limited income, and she sometimes needs to go to the food pantry to get nutritious food.She’s glad that she’s able to get fresh CCUA-grown produce there, and will bringhome as much as possible, freezing the extra to use later. The fact that she helpedgrow the food makes it taste particularly good!
Here at CCUA, we are committed to helping our community gain access to fresh,healthy produce. Through Planting for the Pantry, we can donate the food grown onour Urban Farm directly to local hunger relief agencies.
How does it work? You, your service/social club, church, workplace, or business cansponsor a row or partial row for the season at the Urban Farm. Sponsorship for anentire row is $1,200, and you can sponsor any portion of a row down to a singlesquare foot for $5. Each dollar of your sponsorship brings fresh food to families inneed, supports CCUA’s educational programs, and builds an endowment for CCUA’s future.
In 2017, families facing hunger took home over 17,000 pounds of healthy vegetables thanks to Planting for the Pantry. This spring we need your help to meet our goal of securing sponsorship for all 50 rows at the Urban Farm. We’ve had a great start already, with 24 of 50 rows sponsored!
Will you sponsor a row or a partial row? With your gift, we can reach our goaland fill the shelves of local food pantries with top quality fresh fruits and vegetables.You can help people in Columbia, just like our friend Nona, improve their dietsand their health. If you would like to help, please visit our Planting for the Pantry page.
This winter Nona has been on a cabbage kick. “I don’t know what it is about cabbage,but I’m hooked on it,” she tells me with a smile. Experience has shown Nona thatwhen she craves specific vegetables it’s because there are nutrients in them that sheneeds, and so she’s happy to give in to those cravings.
“You’ve got to listen to your body. Your body will tell you what it needs.”