Thank You Partners! Ø  Good Neighbor Shoppe Ø  Lenoir City Schools &

Family Resource Center Ø  Loudon County Schools Ø  Boys and Girls Club of Loudon

County Ø  Lenoir City Seventh-day Adventist

Church Ø  Friendship Kitchen Ø  Mideast Community Action

Agency Ø  My Father’s House Ø  Martin and Frank Long Ø  Loudon High School Construction

Class Ø  Loudon High School

Greenhouse/ Agriculture Science Ø  Home Depot Ø  Meadow View Greenhouse and

Garden Center Ø  Loudon Parks & Recreation Ø  Loudon County Health

Improvement Council

Over the summer, we conducted a survey to get local residents’ response on a range of topics including:

Ø  Fruit and vegetable consumption Ø  Health education with a focus on preparation and

preservation of fresh produce Ø  Options for locally-grown fruits and vegetables

Ø  From farmers’ markets to community and school gardens to gardening at home

Funded by the Trinity grant, the University of Tennessee is providing data analysis as well as creating a map that breaks the county down by income, age race and other factors and will include a geographic map of food retail locations.

Distribution partners included the Lenoir City School System and Family Resource Center, Loudon County School System, Boys and Girls Club of Loudon County and the Lenoir City Seventh-day Adventist Church.

GET FRESH! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Loudon County XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is taking root…

“Delivering healthy foods

to Loudon County”

GetFresh! started with some casual conversations about launching a community garden program and has blossomed into a program that aims to give all Loudon County residents easy access to locally-grown fresh produce.   With early funding from the Good Neighbor Shoppe, PLAYLoudon—the Loudon County Health Improvement Council’s obesity prevention initiative—launched a couple of garden demonstration projects. In June, the council received a $13,300 grant from the Trinity Health Foundation of Knoxville to begin exploring the best strategy for improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables across the county, particularly for those with low income and lack of transport options. Here’s what we’ve done so far and the programs we’re hoping to expand or launch as a result.

…and now it needs additional watering

Community Survey

Top: A volunteer conducts a GetFresh! Community Survey. Bottom: Larisa Brass distributes GetFresh! Surveys at the Boys and Girls Club of Loudon County.

Summer Budget University of Tennessee data analysis & GIS mapping: $4,500

Delivery program produce: $4,000

Community survey: printing, supplies, incentives: $1,600

Research trip: $1,500

MPH assistants mileage: $1,100

Canning and cooking classes: $400

TOTAL -------------------- $13,100

Produce Delivery Program

This demonstration program, funded by the Trinity Grant, delivered fresh produce to recipients in our target populations of seniors and low- income families. We ended up serving about 140 households with 5-10 pound weekly boxes of locally grown vegetables for seven weeks.

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week period—which the Longs sold GetFresh! at wholesale rates. As a result, the produce cost less than half that of retail grocery prices. The goal is to increase deliveries to 85 low-income households with the program expanding to accept SNAP benefits for the family program.

The Food Project

Per Trinity Foundation requirements, part of the grant was targeted toward research of best practices at other programs that reflected similar goals.

In addition to site visits at Beardsley Farm in Knoxville, the GetFresh! coordinator attended a training institute hosted by The Food Project, which operates a community garden, a SNAP-funded CSA program, and local gardening support—all built on the foundation of a youth development program.

The experience offered a glimpse into the real-life realities of managing and funding a community garden program and has helped shape long-term plans for the GetFresh! program.

Ø Research Trip, Boston, Mass.

Local partners included the Friendship Kitchen, Mideast Community Action Agency for our senior deliveries and the Boys and Girls Club and My Father’s House for the family deliveries. Martin and Frank Long, farmers in Sweetwater, provided the produce for the program. The cost was $4,000 for 700-800 pounds of produce—$20 per senior household and about $60 per family for the seven-

Top Right: Truck loaded for delivery. Left: Farmer, Martin Long rinses fresh green beans in preparation for the fresh produce distribution program. Bottom Left: Family-size produce box ready for delivery to Loudon County residents.

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GARDENS, scholars �say, are the first sign of � COMMITMENT to a community. When people �plant corn they are saying, � let's stay here. And by �their CONNECTION to the land, they are connected � to one another.

- Anne Raver

Ø  Left: A small community garden in Boston, Mass. featured at The Food Project training institute. Right: The surrounding community gathers at a farmer’s market in Boston to purchase locally grown, fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, and more.

“ ”

GetFresh! Loudon County wwww.PLAYLoudon.com PLAYLoudon@gmail.com

Community Garden

Thanks to Loudon Parks and Recreation for donating land for the community garden, also a demonstration program, GetFresh! installed four raised beds at Loudon Municipal Park. GetFresh! also provided four, handicap-accessible, rolling raised beds at Loudon County Senior Center.

The Loudon High School construction class built both sets of beds and the high school agriculture program provided tomato plants for the projects. Home Depot in Lenoir City donated construction materials, Meadow View Greenhouse and Garden Center provided soil and plants. Volunteers from Loudon Parks and Recreation, the senior center and the Loudon County Health Improvement Council installed and have maintained the gardens.

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The programs precede a larger community garden launch planned for this fall and spring. Herbs and tomatoes grown at the Loudon M u n i c i p a l Pa r k h a ve h e l p e d supplement the weekly produce delivery boxes and been donated to the Good Samaritan Center in Loudon.

Sowing seeds for the future… Youth Development Program Planned launch: Summer, 2015

Program: To train local high school students seeking high school service learning credits to help manage and work in the gardens and assist in other GetFresh! programs for 4-6 weeks during summer break. The program would also focus on developing life and leadership skills among participants and utilize local university interns to assist and mentor.

Goal: To launch with 12 students from throughout Loudon county

Education & At-Home Gardens Planned launch: Fall, 2014

Offer garden supplies, garden structures and classes to residents who want to grow their own food Will work with youth programs such as 4-H and Boys and Girls Club to teach children about gardening and the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

Top Left: Community Garden at Loudon Municipal Park show casing flower beds built by Loudon High School Career & Technical Education students and tomato cages built by Energy Quest 2014 campers.

Bottom Left: Garden Kick-Off: Representatives from - Loudon Parks and Recreation, Loudon County Health Improvement Council, Loudon County Health Department, and Loudon and Lenoir City Coordinated School Health

Right: Handicap accessible flower beds at the Loudon County Senior Center built by Loudon High School Career & Technical Education students

GetFresh! Loudon County wwww.PLAYLoudon.com PLAYLoudon@gmail.com