Laveta Lockridge and Job Green work at the Lincoln University Extension office in Caruthersville.
This year, they started a community garden as a way to educate folks on nutrition, as well as provide them with free, fresh produce in an area where that can be hard to get.
The community garden that has already produced hundreds of pounds of fruits and vegetables, and Green said they’re currently getting ready to plant their next crop — lettuces and leafy greens for the fall.
For the month of August, we’re focusing on the health of those living in Missouri’s Bootheel.
Job Green: I began my work with Lincoln Extension this November, and that was the first thing that when I came to this outreach center that Laveta asked me. She was like, “Can you come out and look at this this big yard that we have? Do you think we can do a garden here?”
And I'm like, “Yeah, of course.”
So, we got started very very quickly — planted garlic in December that we harvested in June.
Some of the best soil that I've ever worked with — here in urban Caruthersville, where it still has all the years of sediment from the river and has not been farmed, not depleted by agriculture.
So yeah, it's been really fun. But as far as the dream goes, I mean, I'm new to the dream, but happy to help make it a reality.
Laveta Lockridge: So, I grew up in the beautiful city of Caruthersville, Missouri.
Laughter
I've been here my entire life, and so, of those 56, almost 57 years I’ve been here, I’ve spent the last 16 of them working directly with families in the community through nutrition education.
And it's just not simply telling people what they should eat, but I work with people to help them understand nutrition to make healthy choices that are more realistic for their families and their budgets.
So, our community garden, of course, it’s more than a garden. It brings such pride to our community. But anyhow, it's a source of fresh food, education, even physical activity.
Laughter
Yes, it's a community connection, and so we grow more than, like I said, than just groceries there.
It’s direct hands-on, you know? Families can get together, community members get together, children participate.
So, the garden, again, it helps address the food access in the community, as well, because — if you don't don't know, throughout the boot hill, especially here in Caruthersville, we have one grocery store, and so we are considered a food desert.
So, many families have difficulty having a good choice and varieties and affordability, so our community garden helps address food access in that way.
