Gardens Grow Food for Families During COVID-19

Hi all,

Today on this Earth Day, we at SPI have been reflecting on the ways in which our relationship to the earth is, at its core, characterized by reciprocity. Nature is not something outside of us; the landscape is not something we are excluded from. Deep down, we are a part of the landscape. Cultivating a garden is one of the best ways to return to this knowing. When we grow a garden, when we tend to the earth, we build relationship with the landscape, and learn that just as the earth supports us, so do we support the earth. It is our aim to continue to strengthen this reciprocity.

Gardens provide food security, and sadly, in many parts of the US, food insecurity continues to be an issue. Since 2020, we have partnered with Conscious Alliance to build food security from the ground up in one of the most food insecure communities in the US: Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Pine Ridge Reservation covers 3,469 sq miles, and yet there is only one full-service grocery store for its 40,000 inhabitants. Calling it a food desert may be an understatement. Most families struggle with hunger and when there is access to food, the food is most often poor in nutritional value. This was the case prior to COVID-19, and in its wake, the situation has only gotten worse. 

Conscious Alliance's garden program on the reservation began in 2017. Due to the intense climate with a short growing season, compounded by poor, infertile soil, home garening has not been a common practice on the reservation. The primary community garden is located at the Pine Ridge School, with a plethora of raised beds, green houses, and various gardening systems. Pine Ridge youth manage the gardens during the summer, offering these young people an opportunity to build relationship with the earth, care for their community by providing fresh produce, and learn more about self-sufficiency and sustainability. Much of the produce is hand delivered to the doors of elderly in the community, as well as given to local families and children. Every year since 2017, ten new families receive a raised garden bed, an introduction to gardening, as well as all garden inputs, including seeds and starts. 

We at SPI have been honored to support this program with Conscious Alliance to help empower and support the 40,000 Oglala Lakota that call Pine Ridge home, and who continue to thrive in spite of centuries of marginalization. 

This year, our partnership with Conscious Alliance is off to a great start. We just got 3,500 pounds of potato seeds donation, all of which are going into the hands of Conscious Alliance. Pine Ridge Reservation receive preference in how many seeds are desirable and needed in their communities for gardens. Additionally, a large bulk of the seed is currently en route to Chicago Grows Food, a grassroots organization that is building food security from the ground up in urban communities in Chicago. Finally, many of the seeds will remain in Buncombe County, North Carolina to support local community garden projects in Appalachia. 

We are able to focus on food security at home here in the US thanks to supporters like you. We want you to know that your donation matters, and that everytime you donate, you are supporting full bellies one family at a time, and the resilience and wellbeing of a community.

Thank you for your commitment to that.