ANC: Food and Nutrition  

Programs

Partners

Nurturing Nutrition
Creating Connections
Growing in Community

The goal of ANC's Food Team is to build connections between East Side residents & Lansing area farmers in order to bring fresh, local and affordable produce into the neighborhood as well as creating a measure of self-sufficiency with the construction of a public greenhouse.

Growing Nutrition

• Hunter Park Green House ~ The greenhouse is now underway! This new gardening space offers opportunities for neighborhoods to connect, groups to partner and fresh produce to abound. The greenhouse is constructed with hoop-shaped supports and heavy-duty plastic sheeting, and provides a place for Eastside residents and Garden Club Kids to plant, nurture, and harvest their own food, creating a unique community experience. Watch for continuing updates. The excitement is just beginning!
• Bread Basket ~ The Allen Neighborhood Center continues to offer free bread to Eastside neighbors every Tuesday, from 1:00-5:30 PM, providing a staple food supply to area residents. In partnership with The Garden Project and the Hunter Park GardenHouse, winter produce (such as potatoes, squash, and onions) will be available some weeks throughout the winter.
• Farmer's Market ~ Buy local. Eat well. The Allen Street Farmer's Market takes place every Wednesday from May through October. Take a look back at the 2005 market with the end-of-season video (WMV, 9 MB) put together by Amee Miller, our 2005 - 2006 Market Master. Look for the Market to reopen in May 2009! The Market is held at the corner of Allen Street & Kalamazoo. Market hours will be from 2:30 - 7:00 PM through August. Bridge Cards (EBT/food stamps) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Project Fresh coupons will be accepted.

Growing Connections

Imagine. Just imagine the entire Eastside neighborhood having easy access to fresh, wholesome food. With the addition of the Hunter Park Green House and promotion of self-reliant gardening, we cannot help but imagine a neighborhood full of wonderful fruits, vegetables, and flowers!

Workshops and classes, offering information from soil composting to food preservation; a facility that will serve the diverse needs of our neighborhood; all of these will soon be paying off in tangible food for families. Residents will become more secure in their food supply, and a broader sense of connectedness and friendship will evolve. Growing food together in community can and will create the neighborhood we imagine.

Another objective is to take a serious look at generation of young people who have lost track of where food comes from as we re-educate and excite them about the connectedness of nutrition and the responsibility toward our environment.