‘Growing Connections’ Addresses Local Food Insecurity

Yes, Virginia, even on Bainbridge people go hungry.

In the past two years, the number of people coming to Helpline House food bank doubled. This spring, Helpline lost 40 percent of their funding to buy meat, dairy, and fruit and all of their funding to buy from local farms. Now SNAP individual food assistance is being cut, further stressing hard-working and hungry residents.

Food bank manager Lianne Ristow says that, although she meets a lot of people who don't believe there's poverty on Bainbridge, many people are struggling.

One of the goals of the BP Food Resilience Team is to address food insecurity because a disaster will only exacerbate the situation, and food insecurity will further challenge our community’s resilience at a critical time.

The Food Resilience Team's Growing Connections project matches experienced gardeners with underused garden beds to grow for Helpline's food bank.

Do you have growing beds but not enough time to tend them? Alternatively, are you an experienced grower who’d love more garden space? Want to help our very stressed neighbors and the food bank that helps them?

It’s not too late in the season to start growing. Plenty of greens grow well throughout the year. In addition, food banks rarely get donations of garlic, so it's much appreciated, and the ideal time to plant garlic is October. It then grows over winter to be harvested in July. It's also a low-maintenance crop.

To learn more, sign up at Growing Connections, and we'll contact you to answer your questions.

Featured photo shows Darren Murphy and Food Resilience Team Co-Lead Carol Appenzeller. Naomi Spinak volunteered her garden and Murphy, avid gardener and president of BI Fruit Club, stepped up to plant and tend crops as part of Growing Connections.