Our Community Garden is named after Jasmine Stewart a current member of Zion Missionary Baptist Church. She took home the title at age 12 of Master Chef Junior. In doing so she became the first African American winner of Master Chef Junior Competition and became the only contestant in the show’s history to win the show after having been eliminated.
The Community garden is a place where people can come together to grow a variety of vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers. We understand that the garden will require hard work and Jasmine is a perfect example of the result of hard work and sheer determination. We think that ROCD will be able to leverage both the talent and notoriety of Jasmine to inspire young and old to come visit the community garden. Our garden will provide opportunities for both recreational gardening and food production in what is now an underutilized space. We will structure community food give away programs in an effort to bring people within the community together. Our goal is to increase overall visibility of all members of the community by engaging citizens in positive initiatives. The Jasmine Stewart Community Garden will also contribute to our health lifestyles and cooking classes by:
- providing fresh, safe, affordable herbs, fruits and vegetables
- helping to relieve stress and increase sense of wellness
- getting people active, which improves overall physical health
- providing social opportunities that build a sense of community and belonging
- giving people an opportunity to learn and share knowledge on gardening, nature, and cooking
We have 2 master gardener’s within our community organization. We leverage the skills of these individuals to insure that we are creating an environment that connects people to nature. We will accomplish this by creating Community Gardening classes and storytelling projects that demonstrate various aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Our goal is to create a positive learning environment atmosphere where we can accomplish the following:
- educate young people on where food comes
- provide the opportunity for people to engage with fellow neighbors
- provide the opportunity for people, to engage with their food system
- provide an inclusive meeting area where people of all ages and cultural backgrounds can come together to share experiences and knowledge