City Seeds

Gateway Greening leads a collaboration of local non-profits, colleges, & universities to increase food security in St. Louis.

Mission Statement: The City Seeds mission is to foster self-sufficiency in addicted and chronically mentally ill homeless; increase production and distribution of locally grown fresh food for low-income residents, and provide nutrition and food preparation/preservation programs.

The purpose of the food distribution program is to create markets for local farmers by delivering their produce to low-income neighborhoods that lack access to fresh foods at affordable prices.

City Seeds collaborators on the pilot program are:

This component of the program serves to improve the economic well-being of both rural farmers and urban residents. Food Circles Networking Project, University of Missouri Extension connects rural farmers with inner city food distribution outlets to provide not only a new market for the farmers but a source for fresh, local and affordable produce. Community gardens are food distribution points while hosting cooking demonstrations.

The University of Missouri Extension Food Circles Networking Project coordinates produce purchases from eight to nine growers in the Troy and Warrenton area. The produce is delivered to a central location where it is sorted and packed into individual boxes. The produce is then brought to St. Louis twice a week and delivered to five distribution sites. The farmers are typically small, family growers who are seeking new markets for their crops with some beginning to farm for the first time.

In 2008, nearly 60 St. Louis families receive weekly food boxes of farm fresh produce for a low cost of $7 a week. We work with sites in five neighborhoods in the 63105, 63106, 63107, 63110 and 63115 zip codes. The distribution sites identify families in the area that want to participate. We ask them to commit to buying boxes for the season, from June to October. In return, we provide recipes and nutrition information based on the contents of the box. Operation Food Search hosts cooking demonstrations in conjunction with the distribution to illustrate simple, nutritious recipes that can be made from seasonal ingredients.

Many of the neighborhoods we work in have been abandoned by food retailers as populations dropped in the last several decades. In its wake, we find small corner and convenience stores that offer only a small assortment of fresh food, if any at all. Coupled with transportation isssues and high food prices, many inner-city residents do not have the option to buy produce at a grocery store or nearby farmers' market. As more people become attune to the importance of eating healthy and preventing diet-related disease, such as obesity and heart disease, it becomes increasingly important to find avenues to make fresh foods readily available.

If you would like more information about this program, please contact Lauren Maul at 588-9600 ext. 26 or send an email to Lauren@gatewaygreening.org.

Support is provided by USDA CSREES Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, USDA, Grant #2005-33800-16482.

The success of our program would not be possible without dedicated volunteers. More than 50 individuals and community groups have joined the effort!