The growing number of urban gardens in the city of East Cleveland prompted the second annual Urban Gardens and Farmers Market Open House. Held last Saturday, the event highlighted the blossoming of urban farms and gardens in a community that lacks even a single major grocery store, says Nicole Wright, Program Coordinator with the Ohio State University Cuyahoga County Extension office, who helped to organize the event in collaboration with local residents.

Wright says the proliferation of local gardens is helping local residents to grow and eat healthier food, save money on food expenses, reuse and beautify vacant land, improve community health outcomes and potentially earn money by selling locally grown produce at the Coit Road Farmers Market.

"We're definitely making an impact," says Wright, citing the presence of nine community gardens in the city. "East Cleveland has an unusually high concentration of gardens for a small city. When you look at Cuyahoga County as a whole, it actually has the second highest number of gardens."

Three years ago, OSU Extension, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, and the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission applied for and were awarded a grant from the Center for Disease Control. The resulting program, Creating Healthy Communities, helps to address public health issues in East Cleveland and Euclid by providing better food choices and encouraging healthier lifestyles.

"We chose East Cleveland because it has low access to fresh foods and high rates of chronic, preventable diseases like heart disease, diabetes and obesity," says Wright. "We want to help people to become more self-reliant."

East Cleveland was also selected because of its Coit Road Farmers Market, a local institution that is not frequented often enough by local residents, says Wright. One of the goals of Creating Healthy Communities is to turn that trend around.

In recent years, the farmers market has been encouraging local residents to grow and sell their produce at the market. This fruitful partnership is helping to reengage local residents with this fresh food venue. "This is about promoting the market that's right there in the community," says Wright.

Source: Nicole Wright
Writer: Lee Chilcote