Urban Ag and Community Gardens Providing Healthy, Local Food Access Across Wake County
By Sara Merz and Michele McKinley, wakeaha.org
Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) presents its 8th-Annual Dig In! on Saturday, March 4, 2017, 8:15am-2pm, to help Wake County residents and workers “dig in” to grow fresh, healthy food and healthy, vibrant communities.
Dig In! features workshops in 4 tracks (urban agriculture, community gardens, school gardens and child care gardens), as well as networking, interactive educational booths that extend the learning, and a dynamic keynote address, “Uniting Neighborhoods: Growing Food and Community, Creating Art and Culture.”
Soyini Guyton, co-founder of Frogtown Farm, a public urban farm and food justice nonprofit in St. Paul MN, will keynote Dig In!, sharing how she and others intentionally incorporated food, art and culture in their neighborhood through the creation of this farm, and about creating and sustaining vibrant, dynamic and beautiful community-based projects.
Said AHA Executive Director Sara Merz:
“Wake County is home to a growing number of edible community gardens and urban farms; we’re so pleased to showcase these at Dig In! and teach our community how to start and maintain edible gardens in many settings and how urban ag is changing our food landscape.”
Local experts from a variety of urban farms and gardens at churches, schools and child care facilities will provide information for those considering digging in as well as those who are already growing and wish to deepen their knowledge.
Dig In! will be held at Marbles Kids Museum, 201 E Hargett Street, in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Sponsors, including Marbles Kids Museum and Purple Martin Community Farm at the new 5401 North development in Raleigh, support AHA in presenting Dig In! for the community.
Complete details and registration are online at digin2017.eventbrite.com.
Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) works to improve health in Wake County by increasing healthy eating and physical activity, through policy, systems and environment change. AHA is a collaborative of more than 75 diverse organizations and community members. For more information, visit AHA online at www.advocatesforhealthinaction.org, follow AHA on Twitter @WakeAHA or on Facebook.
Marbles Kids Museum opened in 2007 as a vibrant destination for hands-on, minds-on learning for children and families. Located in the heart of downtown Raleigh, Marbles serves a diverse population of families, school groups and community organizations with dozens of themed exhibits, daily programs, summer camps, IMAX educational and feature films, and special events year-round. Learn more at www.MarblesKidsMuseum.org.
