Meals Growing on Wheels

A plan for a mobile community garden earns a $10,000 grant, plus more of the week's health news

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When you can’t get to the green grocer, bring the greens to you.

That’s the thinking behind a garden on wheels designed to bring fresh veggies to some of Richmond’s underserved communities.

The vegetables will be grown in an EnviraGrow Modular Grow System, a patented device from Richmond-based Envirable Grow Systems LLC. Stacks of green, leafy vegetables will be grown aeroponically (in air with nutrients supplied in a mist at the roots instead of in a growing medium or hydroponically) in the 10-by-20-foot mobile trailer. The project was proposed by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, and on Tuesday the concept earned a $10,000 grant through the UnitedHealthcare Community Grant Award program for its construction and operation.

“I’m very excited. I think it’s going to make some significant impacts,” says Duron Chavis, community engagement coordinator for Lewis Ginter.

Making the garden mobile offers multiple advantages. Chavis notes that you’re able to reach more people and can make fresh produce available in areas that have limited space for a traditional garden or whose open spaces may have contaminated soil. The device also offers the additional advantage of providing a space where you can grow fresh produce year-round.

The project will provide more than 6,000 pounds of fresh produce annually for community distribution. According to the proposal, Lewis Ginter will coordinate and train volunteers for the project, a collaboration with the City of Richmond’s Office of Community Wealth Building’s Conrad Culinary Training Center program.

“It’s a good opportunity for the city to shine in terms of using urban agriculture as a tool to address [some] systemic issues,” Chavis says.

The box will have LED lighting to boost growth and will be solar-powered. Virginia State University will provide consultation on what to grow. Leafy, green vegetables do best in that environment, says Chavis, including mustard and kale. They are nutritionally dense, grow quickly and are suited to a variety of uses.

Chavis says the box should be in operation by spring.

The project was one of five finalists for the Community Care Award. The other finalists include Aviant Health, which proposed a partnership with Senior Connections to enact a range of programs to prevent diabetes in the elderly; BOHO Cycle Studio and BOHO Core, which offered to work with the youth mentoring nonprofit Team Excel in developing a program to promote proper nutrition and exercise for children; Sneed's Nursery, which proposed a partnership with the Chrysalis Foundation to create a meditation garden at the foundation’s new facility; and Woofy Wellness Ranch, which proposed an animal-assisted therapy program in conjunction with the nonprofit Rise Phoenix Rise.

HEALTHY DEVELOPMENTS

A roundup of the week’s health and medicine news

  • The young charges at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU got an early taste of Halloween on Wednesday, courtesy of Spirit of Children. About 30 children were treated to a Halloween party where they selected costumes, got goodie bags and painted pumpkins. It was a reverse trick-or-treat for some children who were unable to leave their rooms, as the party was brought to them. About $376,000 has been raised through Spirit of Children to benefit the facility’s Child Life Program, which seeks to provide children’s hospital patients with as normal a life as possible.
  • Richmond has been named to a list of America’s 25 healthiest cities. The list, released Wednesday, is from the website Healthgrades as part of its inaugural National Health Index. Richmond was No. 15, and earned higher than average marks for having an overall healthy population, a lower rate of risky health behaviors and for its access to primary care physicians. St. Paul/Minneapolis topped the list.
  • The Topping Out point has been reached in construction of the new, $87.3 million Allied Health Professions building at Virginia Commonwealth University. The eight-story building’s highest piece of steel framing has been set in place, “topping out” the construction. The 154,000-square-foot building is projected to open for the fall semester in 2019. It will be home to the school’s 11 academic units, which are currently housed in five buildings across two campuses.
  • Southside Regional Medical Center held a groundbreaking on Oct. 4 for its new Southside Emergency Care Center at 60 E. Roslyn Court in Colonial Heights. The 12,000-square-foot facility is set to open next year and will have 10 exam rooms, diagnostic imaging, and laboratory capabilities for use in treating patients in need of a higher level of care than is available in an urgent care or after-hours clinic.
  • The Level 11 trauma center designation for HCA's Chippenham Hospital, first earned in 2015 by the State Health Commissioner, has received verification for three years from the American College of Surgeons.
  • Pearls, Pumps and Polos Hope Breakfast, a fundraiser to benefit Fertility for Colored Girls, is set for 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the GRACE Center at Fifth Street Baptist Church, 1302 Victor St. The nonprofit seeks to promote awareness and support African-American women and couples facing fertility issues. Tickets for the event are $20.