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Project Food Forest (2020) Print
2020 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
Project Food Forest installed three sculptural trellises at the Prairie Ally Outdoor Center. Home to the community's food forest, garden beds at the five-acre site feature edible and medicinal plants. To commemorate Luverne's agricultural history, artists constructed each trellis out of old farm and garden tools. Project organizers also added signs displaying the common and scientific names for plants in the forest, as well as two picnic tables. Located near downtown, the site is accessible by a popular biking and walking path. The forest is open to the public daily and the Outdoor Center offers guided tours and workshops onsite.
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See More Projects Like This One
Center Township, IN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The Edna Martin Christian Center set out to provide food access, recreation options and income opportunities for residents of the Martindale-Brightwood area by creating a new urban garden space. To extend the growing season, project organizers built a hoop house at its Henry Blair Farm and Urban Gardens. The Center installed raised garden beds at the site, designed for gardeners to use while standing. New walking paths also ensured the gardens' accessibility. In addition, the Center created a labyrinth for prayer and medication, as well as a farm stand made from a repurposed shipping container. Project organizers envision residents using the beds for entrepreneurial projects, such as growing flowers or vegetable seedlings to sell at the farm stand. They also anticipate the gardens' operation needs will create employment opportunities for local older adults.
Anderson, SC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: To expose locals to art and grow food for people in need, Anderson Arts Center beautified its campus by creating a new mural and community garden. The first mural in Anderson, it depicts a rabbit alongside a colorful fruit and vegetables. Since its completion, it has inspired other local organizations to create their own murals around town. Project organizers say within the garden's first year, the Center taught nearly 500 children about growing fresh vegetables. The Arts Center, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, hosts gallery exhibitions featuring regional, national and international artists, orchestrates downtown public arts projects and is home to a summer arts camp and arts school for children and adults.
Norwalk, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2026
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Key walkways and work areas will be leveled and upgraded across Fairgate Farm. These changes will reduce fall risk and allow older volunteers to garden safely.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Sioux Falls, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: The City of Sioux Falls hoped to encourage residents to consider active transportation -- walking and biking -- as a way to get around. To do this, the City created a quick-build infrastructure kit, which it used to install a temporary protected bike lane at one location and a curb bump-out at another. The bump out -- a safe extension of the sidewalk into the street -- makes pedestrians more visible to drivers and shortens the distance needed to cross the street. City planners gathered feedback from cyclists in the community, who suggested possible future locations for protected bike lanes. Because the infrastructure kit is mobile, the City hopes to deploy it elsewhere in the future.
Sioux Falls, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: This demonstration project had the goal of calming traffic and improving the streetscape for pedestrians. Downtown Sioux Falls used paint to create temporary bumpouts -- or curb extensions -- at a local crosswalk, which shortened the distance pedestrians spent in the street. They also used large planters to create a physical barrier between pedestrians and cars and added reflective delineators to make crosswalks more visible at night. A camera installed onsite helped capture data about traffic and pedestrian behavior during the pop-up project. The result: Drivers actually slowed down said Joe Batcheller, the organization's president. The project helped reduce speeds by 20 percent on average. Project organizers say the demonstration sparked a cultural shift around pedestrian safety. Since the pop-up, the City has painted curb bumpouts in other locations.
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