SHIP stories
The Statewide Health Improvement Program
works with communities to increase access to and
consumption of fruits and vegetables.
• In 2012 - 2013 alone, SHIP communities
helped create 67 gardens helping over
17,000 people.
Bringing healthy food to those who need it most
How do you get fresh healthy produce to those who
need it the most?
“Fresh produce is hard to come by for food shelves,”
says Bemidji Food Shelf Garden Coordinator Jack
Judkins. “Fresh produce is perishable and hard to
keep fresh, so there isn’t always much to offer our
participants.” Northern Minnesota has the worst
socioeconomic and health disparities in Minnesota. “If
you look at the food people typically get at a food
shelf, you can notice fresh produce is not a big part of
what they receive,” Judkins adds.
Josh Larson with the North Country Health Alliance
(NCHA) approached Judkins after hearing the food
shelf was interested in starting a garden to supplement
their need for a larger, fresher food supply. “After
hearing [the] plan for the gardens, NCHA was able
to provide the guidance necessary for the food shelf
to fill the need for more fresh fruits and vegetables
and begin their start to a more sustainable future,”
according to Larson.
NCHA along with the University of Minnesota
Northwest Regional Sustainable Development
Partnership (NWRSP) office helped the Bemidji
Community Food Shelf develop a garden to
supplement their fast growing needs. Together, through
The Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) invests
in local solutions for better health. With the support of SHIP,
communities across Minnesota are making healthy eating, active
living and avoiding commercial tobacco use and exposure easier
for more people. Find out more at www.health.state.mn.us/ship
research and planning, a team from the Center of
Sustainable Building Research through the University
of Minnesota College of Design was able to help the
food shelf begin the groundwork to developing their
gardens.
“The team looked at the new space available and
worked together with the food shelf to design a way
to help them utilize their full space,” says Executive
Director for the NWRSP, Linda Kingery.
To start there is a half an acre of cultivation at the
food shelf thus far. The gardens have begun producing
lettuce, kale, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, carrots,
peppers, potatoes, onions, beets, beans and peas.
“Right now we have 20 raised bed tables, 10 pallet
beds, and 184’X4’ beds along the east wall of the
warehouse,” Judkins says. “In five years I would hope
to see an urban farm operating out here, which could
produce tons of food for the community.”
“This project helped a much needed entity develop
and plan a vision to potentially empower its users to
produce food for their community,” Larson adds.
***
8/2014