REO TOWN, LANSING, Mich.- The community of REO Town is slated to open its first community garden in May on land leased from the Ingham County Land Bank. According to the American Community Gardening Association there are about 18,000 community gardens in the United States and Canada. The property the garden will sit on in REO Town Lansing is at 1111 and 1117 S. Grand Ave. The property is owned by the Ingham County Land Bank but is leased to the Riverview Church. The church is lending the land to the project.
One of the Residents of Old Town Group’s primary activities is the community garden on Cedar Street. In fact, the garden is so important to the ROOT Group that it serves as its meeting place during warm months, which is why the meeting on Thursday, Sept. 22 was held there. The meeting was smaller than usual, probably because the date was changed. Only ROOT Group President Mike Davis Jr. and executive director of the Old Town Commercial Association Brittney Hoszkiw, attended.
East Lansing Farmer’s Market shoppers found great bargains from local vendors on fancy eggplant, zucchini, gourds and squash. By Jenny Kalish
Lansing Star staff writer
In lower income cities like Lansing or Detroit, the availability of healthy food is greatly reduced due to the lack of education, resources, and the overpricing of local, organic food. Over the past few years, however, non-profit organizations in Lansing have used health and nutrition initiatives, farmers’ markets, educational events and urban gardening to solve those issues while getting the community excited about growing healthy food locally. “There’s a lot of convenience stores, liquor stores, and places with snack foods, but the grocery stores are kind of restricted in certain areas of Lansing.” said Carrie Burns, the AmeriCorps Urban Gardens Coordinator for the South Lansing Community Development Association. The association is one of many non-profit organizations based in Lansing with the goals of providing lower-income families with opportunities to eat healthy local food while educating them about gardening and nutrition.