Mar 12, 2021
Organic brand Nature’s Path to award 21 $5K grants to community gardens in 2021
Certified organic breakfast and snack food brand Nature’s Path will support 21 community gardens with $5,000 each in 2021.
Applications will be accepted starting on February 5, with special focus on gardens founded by and serving, Black, Indigenous and communities of color, according to a news release from the company.
“Due to the pandemic, access to healthy, fresh food has become even more challenging,” said Jyoti Stephens, vice president of mission and strategy at Nature’s Path. “That’s why we decided to expand our grants to reach seven times the number of gardens we have supported in previous years. We believe community gardens feed more than just bellies, but also people’s hearts and souls.”
In the U.S. alone, more than 23 million people live in areas with reduced access to affordable, fresh food, half of which are considered low-income according to the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. Nature’s Path created the Gardens for Good program in 2010 to support the amazing impact local community gardens have in all neighborhoods, but especially ones with limited access to fresh foods, according to the news release.
Since the program’s inception, Nature’s Path has donated over $400,000 and supported 27 community garden projects. The beneficiaries of their support primarily include areas where affordable, nutritious foods are not widely available. Previous winners include The YAM Project in Sudbury, Ontario; Growing Roots in Pomona, California; Garden Joy in Ripon, California, among many others.
Applications for the program can be submitted through www.naturespath.com/gardensforgood and promoted for votes through April 7. Winners will be selected on National Gardening Day (April 14).
To learn more about the Gardens For Good Program, visit https://www.naturespath.com/en-us/gardens-for-good/ or follow them on Twitter @NaturesPath and Instagram @NaturesPathOrganic.
Photo: Nature’s Path
