TULSA, OK \u2013 [March 10, 2017] \u2013\u00a0Community volunteers will continue the work to install an edible food forest at the Challenger 7 Park, 3909 W. 41st. St., on Saturday, March 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
The food forest, which broke ground in November, is a self-sustaining, edible landscape that should require little maintenance, less mowing for the City of Tulsa and can serve as a source of nutrition to the community for years to come. The project is an initiative of the Tulsa Health Department and Pathways to Health, with funding from a Plan4Health grant. The Plan4Health grant provided funds and resources to help Tulsa County combat two determinants of chronic diseases \u2013 lack of physical activity and lack of access to nutritious foods.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe response from the community has been great,\u201d said THD Shared Use Specialist Chad Call. \u201cWhen we initially began working on the food forest, it was our youth volunteers who seemed the most interested and excited about the project. They would ask questions and initiate tasks without being asked to help. We hope the efforts and interest continue to increase, because our goal for this food forest is to be a sustainable source of fresh, healthy foods for local residents.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, volunteers will help install the garden by\u00a0marking tree sites, digging, planting trees,\u00a0gathering woody materials, mulching and learning about food forestry and permaculture gardening. The food forest can be expected to produce some ground crops beginning in the spring. Tree crops can be expected to produce within five years.<\/p>\n
Partners on the project include the Challenger 7 Community Garden Volunteer Coordinator Karen Nelson, the City of Tulsa Parks Department, the Tulsa Community Garden Association, OSU Extension Center, Cities of Service Resilience Americorps VISTA, Webster High School Athletics, Tulsa Food Security Council, Green Country Permaculture, and Greencore.<\/p>\n
For more information about food forests and the Plan4Health program, please contact Chad Call at\u00a0ccall@tulsa-health.org\u00a0or 918-595-4433.<\/p>\n
Plan4Health
\nPlan4Health is a multi-year effort that strengthens the connection between planning and public health. Seventy-five percent of the program\u2019s funding supports local and state coalitions working to advance public health through better planning and partnerships, specifically through leveraging skills and evidence-based strategies. The program is implemented in partnership with the American Public Health Association (APHA) and represents a major new collaboration between planners and public health professionals. Funding for Plan4Health was provided through an award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TULSA, OK \u2013 [March 10, 2017] \u2013\u00a0Community volunteers will continue the work to install an edible food forest at the Challenger 7 Park, 3909 W. 41st. St., on Saturday, March 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The food forest, which broke ground in November, is a self-sustaining, edible landscape that should require little maintenance, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n