URBAN GARDENING

"I made gardens and parks and planted

all kinds of fruits and trees in them"

-Ecclesiastes 2:5  

 

As a kid who grew up in Moscow, Tennessee, Freddie learned the importance of the land and what it gives to those who take care of it. This interest followed him through high school as a member of the Future Farmers of America and then to Tennessee State University where he majored in Plant Science.

 

This journey took him to the United States Department of Agriculture where it was his job to work with farmers to make their land yield its best potential. Throughout the years, he began to see that this model wasn't just for rural areas, but could be implemented in urban areas. He wondered what would happen if a community created a farm in its most blighted areas, partnered with members of the community to tend it, and eat the fruits and vegetables from it?

 

It was this question that pushed him to work with the city of Flint, Michigan in the promotion of urban gardening throughout the city. Freddie and his passion for urban gardening is largely credited for the creation of the Edible Flint: Food Gardening Network which suuports Flint residents in growing and accessing healthy food in order to reconnect them with the land and each other.

 

The Freddie McNeil Project will carry on Freddie's passion for urban gardening and will support those who look to create urban gardening projects in underprivileged areas and partner with members of the neighborhood to help sustain it.